Last updated: 8 October 2026
Fight to FIRE is my personal blog about financial independence. This page explains what data is collected when you visit, why, who gets to see it and what your rights are. I have kept it as short and concrete as I could.
Who is responsible?
Fight to FIRE is run by a private individual in Belgium, who is the controller of your data. For any question about your data, email support@fighttofire.com or use the contact form.
What data and why
| When | What data | Purpose | Legal basis | How long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You visit the site | IP address, browser, requested page, time (server logs) | Running and securing the site | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) | At most 2 months |
| You consent to statistics | Pseudonymous visitor ID, pages visited, device, approximate location (Google Analytics) | Seeing which articles get read | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) | 2 months |
| You see ads | Cookie IDs, IP address, device data (Google AdSense and partners) | Showing ads that help pay for the blog | Consent; without it, only limited, non-personalised ads | Per Google’s policy |
| You leave a comment | Name, email address, comment, IP address, time | Showing your comment and stopping spam | Consent and legitimate interest (spam prevention) | As long as the comment is online |
| You use the contact form | Email address, subject, message | Answering your question | Consent (the checkbox in the form) | Until I’ve replied, then at most 5 years |
| You subscribe to the newsletter | Email address, first name if given, whether you open emails and click links | Sending the newsletter | Consent | Until you unsubscribe |
Polls on the blog are anonymous: nobody keeps track of who votes for what.
I never sell your data and I don’t use it to build reader profiles.
Cookies and the consent window
On your first visit, Google shows a window where you choose whether to allow cookies for statistics and advertising. Google Analytics and personalised ads only start after you agree. You can change your choice at any time via the privacy and cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.
| Cookie | From | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga |
Google Analytics | Telling visitors apart | 2 years, only after consent |
_ga_<ID> |
Google Analytics | Keeping track of your session | 2 years, only after consent |
| Advertising cookies | Google and ad partners | Showing and measuring ads, fighting fraud | See how Google uses cookies |
| Consent cookie | Remembering your choice in the consent window | See Google | |
comment_author_* |
WordPress | Filling in your name and email next time, only if you tick that box | About 1 year |
| reCAPTCHA | Stopping spam and bots in the comments | See Google |
You can also refuse or delete cookies in your browser. The site stays fully readable.
Who receives your data?
I work with a few service providers that process data on my behalf or, in Google’s case, also as an independent party:
- A2 Hosting (now Hosting.com), where the site and database live and which sends the site’s emails.
- Google (Analytics, AdSense, reCAPTCHA). How Google uses data from sites like this one is explained here.
- Automattic for the Akismet spam filter and profile pictures (Gravatar) next to comments.
- MailerLite for the newsletter.
Partner links
Some links and banners on the blog are partner links, for example for American Express or through the financeads network. When you click one, the partner knows you came from Fight to FIRE and I sometimes earn a commission. From then on, that partner’s privacy policy applies. The financeads banners load an image from their server, which means your IP address reaches them too.
Transfers outside the European Union
A2 Hosting, Google and Automattic are American companies. Where data goes to the United States, this happens under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.
Your rights
You can always ask me to access, correct or delete your data, restrict its processing, take it with you, or object to processing based on legitimate interest. You can withdraw consent at any time. Email support@fighttofire.com and I will reply within a month.
If you’re not satisfied with my answer, you can file a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.
Children
The blog is meant for adults. If your child left personal data here anyway, let me know and I will delete it.
Security
The whole site runs over HTTPS, gets regular updates, and the admin area has extra protection. Nobody can guarantee full security, but I do what is reasonable.
Changes
When this policy changes, I update the date at the top. For major changes I’ll post a notice on the site.