Privacy Policy

This policy covers what the site collects, who helps run it, and how to see, correct, or delete your data.

Last updated October 7, 2026

Elon, Explained (elonexplained.com) is an independent publication operated from Arizona, United States. Elon, Explained decides how the information described here is used, which makes it the controller, the party responsible for your data, under European data protection law.

What we collect

When you subscribe to The State of Elon, we store your email address, the address of the page you signed up from, and the time.
When you send a note through the Beta button, we store the note, the page you sent it from, the time, your browser's user-agent string (the line that names your browser and operating system) and your email address if you add one.
Google Analytics records the pages you view, how you arrived, your device and browser type, and an approximate location that Google works out from your internet protocol (IP) address. Google Analytics uses cookies. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland it loads only after you choose Accept on the cookie bar, and everywhere else it loads after the page finishes loading unless you choose Decline under Cookie choices.
Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views without cookies and builds no profile of you.
Cloudflare, the site's host, handles your IP address and browser details whenever it delivers a page, and it uses them to serve the site and block attacks.
When paid products are open, Stripe collects your email address and card details at checkout, and this site never sees or stores your card number. Paid products are paused today.

The site has no accounts or logins.

Why we use it, and the legal basis

We send The State of Elon to people who subscribed, based on their consent, which they can withdraw at any time.
We read feedback, fix mistakes, and reply when you leave an email, based on our legitimate interest in running an accurate site.
We measure which pages people read. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland the basis is your consent, which you give or refuse on the cookie bar; elsewhere it is our legitimate interest in improving the site.
We protect the site from attacks and abuse, based on our legitimate interest in keeping it running.
When paid products are open, we deliver what you buy and keep the records tax law requires, based on our contract with you and our legal obligations.

Who helps us run the site

Cloudflare, Inc. hosts the site, delivers every page, stores signup and feedback records, and runs Cloudflare Web Analytics. Its cdnjs.cloudflare.com service also supplies the code that builds the downloadable plan on the Algorithm Tool.
Google LLC runs Google Analytics. Google explains its use of this data in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
Webflow, Inc., the site's former host, can hold a private backup copy of the subscriber list when that backup is switched on.
Stripe, Inc. processes payments when paid products are open and keeps the details you enter at checkout under its own privacy policy.
X Corp. serves the posts embedded on many pages. When an embedded post loads, X receives your IP address and browser details and can set cookies on its own domains. Every embed on this site asks X not to use the visit to personalize suggestions or ads.
Esri supplies the map images on the Tesla and Boring Company pages, and unpkg.com supplies the map code. Both receive your IP address when a map loads.

These companies process data in the United States and other countries. Where European law requires a safeguard for these transfers, they rely on the Data Privacy Framework between the European Union and the United States or on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

We do not sell your personal information or use it to target ads, and the site shows no display ads.

Cookies and browser storage

Google Analytics sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_8TZFEVKT8X, to tell one visit from another. Each lasts up to 2 years.
X can set its own cookies when an embedded post loads.
When you choose on the cookie bar, the site saves eeConsent in this browser's local storage, which remembers Accept or Decline for 12 months.
The site's host sets ee_cc, a cookie that holds the two-letter code of the country your visit comes from, for 1 hour. The site reads it only to decide whether to show the cookie bar.
When paid products are open, the site saves the unlock for anything you buy in this browser's local storage under the name ee_brief_tokens, so the purchase stays open on this device.
Visitors from before August 21, 2026 may still have eeNotice2026 in local storage, which remembered that they closed an old signup banner. The site no longer sets it.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and Google offers a browser add-on that turns off Google Analytics on every site.

Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland see a small bar at the bottom of the page on their first visit. Google Analytics stays off for them until they choose Accept, and Decline keeps it off. Everyone else gets Google Analytics after the page loads and can turn it off with the button below. The site remembers the choice in this browser for 12 months, and a footer link marked Cookie choices brings the bar back for visitors who were asked.

Do Not Track and tracking across sites

The site loads the same scripts whether or not your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal. Google and X can collect information about your activity on this site and on other sites over time. To keep Google Analytics off, choose Decline under Cookie choices, use Google's add-on, or block cookies for this site.

How long we keep it

Subscriber emails stay until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
Feedback notes stay until you ask us to delete them or we clear them out by hand. Neither kind of record expires automatically.
Google Analytics keeps event data for up to 14 months.
When paid products are open, Stripe keeps purchase records for as long as tax law requires.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us what personal information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct it or delete it. We answer within 30 days.

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you can also ask us to restrict or stop a use of your data, ask for a copy in a portable format, withdraw your consent at any time, and complain to your local data protection authority. In the United Kingdom, that authority is the Information Commissioner's Office.

If you live in California, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose, to have it deleted or corrected, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of it. We will not treat you differently for using any of these rights.

Contact and requests

Open the Beta feedback form (the Beta button in the lower left corner of every page), say what you want us to do, and include the email address the request is about so we can reply. You can also send a direct message to @Elon_Explained on X. Before we act, we may ask you to confirm the request from that email address.

Paid products

Investor briefs and premium features are paused. When they return, each purchase is a one-time payment with no subscription and no account. After you pay, the unlock is saved in this browser, so clearing your browser data can remove it; send us your Stripe receipt through the Beta form and we will restore access. The Terms of use cover refunds.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13, or under 16 in Europe, and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, tell us through the Beta form and we will delete it.

How we use artificial intelligence

This site is researched and written with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and a person reviews and publishes every page. The site has no public AI chat.

Changes

When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.

Privacy policy.