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Last updated: May 2026
BrainHealth.news ("BHN") is a free, ad-free weekly newsletter on the neuroscience of cognitive performance, published by Michael Cummings. This page explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who sees it, and the choices you have over your data.We've written it in plain English. If anything is still unclear, email brainhealthnewsletter(at)gmail.com for direct response.
We collect the minimum we need to send you the newsletter and figure out whether it's any good. That's your email address, plus the open and click data your email client generates when you read.We will never knowingly sell, rent, or hand over your personal information to a third party for their independent use.We use Beehiiv as our newsletter platform. Beehiiv processes subscriber data on our behalf under its own privacy policy and security program.You can unsubscribe any time from the link at the bottom of every email. You can also ask us to delete your data outright, and we will.We don't run affiliate links, supplement promotions, or sponsor placements at launch. If that ever changes, this policy will change with it, and you'll be told.We are the data controller for your subscriber data. Our newsletter platform, Beehiiv, Inc., is our data processor.
Your email address, when you subscribe. That's the only thing required to receive the newsletter.Anything else you choose to share later: replies to issues, referral activity, occasional survey responses. Replies are treated as private unless you give us permission to quote you.
When you open the newsletter in your email inbox, Beehiiv records whether it was opened, which links were clicked, what device and email client you used, and a rough geographic region (typically inferred from IP at the city or country level). The collection happens through a tiny invisible image in the email and through unique URLs on the links.If you visit brainhealth.news, Beehiiv logs basic visit data: which pages you viewed, where you came from, approximate location, and device type.A practical note on email tracking: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection and similar tools deliberately distort open data by pre-loading every email. We know our open numbers are inflated and don't treat them as ground truth. If you'd rather not be tracked at all, most email clients let you turn off remote image loading.
If you use the BHN referral program (a built-in Beehiiv feature), we keep a record of who you referred so we can credit you toward rewards. Your identity isn't shown to the people you refer, and theirs aren't shown to you.
We don't ask for your location or any medical information. We don't ask for payment information because BHN is free. We don't run third-party advertising trackers, retargeting pixels, or social media tracking beacons on the email or the website.
1) We send you the newsletter and any transactional emails tied to your subscription (welcome series, referral reward fulfillment, occasional updates about BHN itself).
2) We look at engagement data to figure out whether the writing is working: which topics get read, which links get clicked, where readers drop off. This helps us pick better topics and write better. No individual subscriber is profiled or graded.
3) We use referral data to fulfill rewards when you cross the thresholds.
4) We comply with legal obligations: CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA, and whatever replaces them.
5) We investigate abuse: fraudulent signups, bot activity targeting the list, that kind of thing.What we don't do with your data: build advertising profiles, train AI models, or sell to data brokers.
ONLY Beehiiv, Inc., our newsletter platform, who sees your email address, engagement data, and referral activity, because that's what it needs to deliver the newsletter and provide analytics. Beehiiv operates under its own privacy policy and security program. Email infrastructure providers that Beehiiv uses (for sending, deliverability monitoring, spam reputation) see your email address and delivery metadata. This is what gets the email into your inbox instead of bouncing. Legal and regulatory authorities see whatever a valid legal request (subpoena, court order) specifically requires, or whatever we're required to disclose under applicable law.That's the whole list. We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal information. We do not share it with sponsors, advertisers, partner newsletters, or anyone else for their independent marketing use.If BHN is ever acquired or transferred (for example, if it grows into a business and someone buys it), subscriber data may transfer as part of that transaction. If that ever happens, we'll notify subscribers in advance, your data will remain subject to a privacy policy at least as protective as this one, and you'll have the option to unsubscribe before any transfer completes.
We're calling these out explicitly because they affect what data is processed and where. Beehiiv Boosts and Recommendations let newsletters recommend each other to readers. If you click a recommended newsletter, you'll land on its signup page and that publication's privacy policy will apply. We do not share your email address with recommended publications unless you sign up to them directly.The Beehiiv referral program tracks referrer-referee relationships inside Beehiiv. Referee email addresses are not exposed to the referrer. Beehiiv's ad network is not in use at launch. If we ever opt in, this policy will be updated before any ad serves, and the change will be summarized to subscribers. Reader polls and surveys happen occasionally. Responses are anonymous unless we ask for permission to attribute, and we never use survey responses to change the content you personally receive.
Beehiiv may set a small number of cookies for essential site function and analytics: whether you arrived through a referral link, which page you landed on, basic session continuity. These are first-party and don't track you across other websites. In the email itself, we use a tracking pixel and unique click-tracked URLs, as described in Section 2. You can disable remote images in your email client to block the pixel. Links will still work but click tracking will continue if you click them.We do not use third-party advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or social media tracking pixels.
Regardless of where you live, you can:Unsubscribe at any time. Use the link at the bottom of every issue. One click, instant.Update your email address by unsubscribing the old address and subscribing the new one, or by emailing us.Ask what data we have on you and request a copy.Ask us to correct or delete your data. Deletion removes your email from the list and from beehiiv's records on our behalf. Some residual logs (deliverability metadata, for instance) may persist for a limited period in backups before being overwritten.Opt out of specific tracking by disabling remote images in your email client. To exercise any of these rights, email brainhealthnewsletter(at)gmail.com. We'll respond within 30 days. We don't charge for these requests.
You have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation: access, rectification, erasure, portability, restriction of processing, objection to processing, and the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.Our legal basis for processing your subscription is your consent, given when you signed up. You can withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing. You can also use Beehiiv's DSAR form to submit a data subject access request directly to Beehiiv as our processor.
You have the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete it, the right to correct it, and the right to opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of personal information.We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law. To exercise your rights, email brainhealthnewsletter(at)gmail.com or use Beehiiv's California privacy notice. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
Beehiiv maintains industry-standard security controls for subscriber data: encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, monitoring, and regular audits. Details are in Beehiiv's security overview. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your data, we'll notify you as required by applicable law and tell you what happened and what we're doing about it.
We keep your subscriber data for as long as you're subscribed, plus a short period after unsubscribe to honor your suppression status (so we don't accidentally re-add you). Engagement and analytics data is retained on Beehiiv's standard schedule. Backup retention may extend this by a limited additional period.If you ask us to delete your data, we'll do so within 30 days, subject to legal retention requirements.
Beehiiv is based in the United States. If you're subscribing from outside the U.S., your data will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. Beehiiv maintains appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable) for international transfers under GDPR. See Beehiiv's privacy policy for details.
BHN is written for adult knowledge workers. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If you're a parent or guardian and believe your child has subscribed, email us and we'll delete the record.
BrainHealth.news provides educational information only. Nothing in the newsletter constitutes psychological, psychiatric, or medical advice. We do not collect health information from subscribers, and we do not provide individualized health guidance. Consult a qualified professional for decisions about your health.This disclaimer isn't strictly a privacy matter. It's here because the topic of the newsletter sits adjacent to health, and we want there to be no confusion about what BHN is and isn't.
If we change this policy in any material way (adding sponsors, changing what we collect, adding third-party tools), we'll update the date at the top and notify subscribers in the next issue. Material changes won't apply retroactively to data already collected. You'll always have the option to unsubscribe before any change affects you.Minor changes (typos, link updates, clarifying language) may be made silently. The effective date at the top will always reflect the most recent version.
Questions, requests, complaints, or anything we should change? Email: brainhealthnewsletter(at)gmail.com
160 J Street #2001 Fremont, CA 94536
—Michael Cummings, BrainHealth.news