Privacy Policy
Last updated November 5, 2026
The short version: this site has no accounts, no advertising and no tracking cookies. We don’t sell your personal information. What you write in the practice reflection is not sent to us.
Who we are
This site is run by Alphein Koshy, doing business as The Hard Look, in New York, United States. He is responsible for the personal information described here. You can reach him at hello@thehardlook.co.
What we collect
- What you send us
- If you email us, we receive your address and whatever you include in your message.
- The email sign-up form
- The sign-up form is not connected to an email list yet. Anything you type into it is not sent or saved. Before that changes, we will update this policy.
- The practice reflection
- What you type into the practice reflection is not sent to us, and we can’t see it. If you choose Allow on our cookie notice, your browser keeps it on your device so it’s there when you come back. If you choose Decline, it isn’t saved.
- Technical information
- Like any website, this one can’t reach your device without some basic information. When you visit, your browser sends details such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time. Our host, Cloudflare, processes this to deliver and protect the site.
- Analytics
- For visitors outside the European Union, we use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count page views and visits and to measure how fast pages load. It doesn’t place cookies or store anything in your browser, and Cloudflare says it doesn’t use it to fingerprint individual visitors. We see totals, not profiles of individual people.
Why we use it
We use this information to run and protect the site, understand in general how it’s used, answer your messages, and meet our legal obligations.
If privacy laws such as the GDPR or UK GDPR apply to you, our legal bases are our legitimate interests in running, securing and improving the site and answering people who contact us; your consent, for saving your practice reflection in your browser; and legal obligations, where they apply.
Who else handles it
We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t share it for targeted advertising. We share it only as needed with:
- Cloudflare, which hosts the site, protects it, provides the analytics above and forwards email sent to our address.
- Google, which provides the email inbox that messages to our address are forwarded to.
- Authorities or others, when the law requires it, or when it’s needed to protect rights, safety or the site.
If the ownership of The Hard Look ever changes, this information could pass to the new owner, who would need to keep honoring this policy.
How long we keep it
We keep emails for as long as we need them to deal with your message and keep sensible records. Your saved practice reflection stays in your browser until you clear it, choose Restore sample, or choose Decline. Cloudflare keeps technical records according to its own policies.
Your choices and rights
You can change your choice at any time through Cookie settings, and you can clear your browser’s stored data whenever you like.
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what personal information we hold about you, and to have it corrected, deleted or sent to you. You may also have the right to object to or limit how we use it, to withdraw consent, and to complain to your local data protection authority. To make a request, email hello@thehardlook.co. We may need to confirm who you are first. We won’t treat you differently for using these rights.
Where it’s processed
We’re based in the United States. Our service providers operate around the world, so information may be processed in other countries, which may have different privacy laws from yours.
Children
This site isn’t meant for children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information. If you think a child has sent us personal information, please email us and we’ll delete it.
Security
The site is served over an encrypted connection. No website is perfectly secure, so we can’t promise that information sent over the internet is completely safe.
Other sites
This policy covers thehardlook.co only. Sites we link to, such as Substack, have their own privacy policies.
Changes
When we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change is significant, we will make that clear on the site.