Your choice
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The same switch is in the simulator, under Conditions: Share anonymous usage stats. If your browser sends Global Privacy Control, nothing is counted at all.
What is collected
Only in the simulator (the pages of the book collect nothing):
- Two random numbers made up by your browser: one kept in its local storage to tell a return visit from a new one (replaced with a new number after 13 months), and one for the current visit, which is forgotten when you close the tab.
- About your device: whether it is a phone, tablet or computer, the operating system's name (not its version), the size of the window, your time zone (as hours ahead of or behind UTC) and the game's version.
- Where you came from: the name of the site that linked to the simulator, if any.
- What happens in the game: the modes and lessons chosen, how far you get (casting off, hoisting sail, sailing for ten seconds), where in the harbour boats run aground, how long loading took, the frame rate, and any errors.
- Your country, which Cloudflare (the site's host) works out from the connection.
Not collected: your IP address, your browser's identity string, your name, email or any account, your exact location, or anything you type.
Why
To see where people get stuck, what is slow on which devices, and what breaks, and to count whether people come back. It is used for those statistics and nothing else: not for advertising, not to build a profile of anyone, and it is not combined with any other information.
Who can see it
Chris Paton, who makes the Textbook of Sailing, on a password-protected page. It is stored in a database run by Cloudflare, which hosts the site on his behalf. There are no third-party analytics or tracking services.
How long it is kept
Each record is deleted automatically 13 months after it was made. The random number in your browser is replaced after 13 months, and you can remove it at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser.
Your rights
Because nothing collected names you, the records can't be looked up by name. The switch above deletes everything sent from this browser, and stops any more being sent. If you have a question or a concern, contact Chris Paton through chrispaton.org. You can also complain to your privacy regulator: in New Zealand the Privacy Commissioner, in the UK the Information Commissioner's Office, and in the EU your country's data protection authority.
Last updated 23 October 2026.