Letters from Cyrus

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 16 July 2026

Who runs this site

This website is operated by Dwayne M Cyrus, Im Westfeld 13, 4055 Basel, Switzerland. Privacy questions can be sent to hey@dwaynecyrus.com.

Dwayne M Cyrus is responsible for deciding why and how personal information described in this policy is processed.

Information collected

The information collected depends on how you use the website and its services.

The audience choice, first name, last name and email address you submit when joining Letters from Cyrus.
Subscription details such as your IP address, referral information and subscription time, as recorded by Buttondown.
Email engagement information. Buttondown open tracking is enabled and uses a tracking pixel to record when an email is opened. Buttondown click tracking is also enabled and records when a link in an email is selected. These records may include technical details such as IP address and email-client information.

Scorecard

The answers and contact details you choose to submit through Tally.
Your answers may include personal information about your emotional life, relationships, family, beliefs and other circumstances you choose to describe.
Tally-generated submission and respondent identifiers and basic form activity needed to operate and protect the form.

Website use

Privacy-focused, aggregated page-view and performance information through Cloudflare Web Analytics. Cloudflare states that this service does not collect or use visitors' personal data.
Anonymous, aggregated page-view information through Vercel Web Analytics, including the requested page, referrer, filtered query parameters, approximate location, browser, device and operating system. Vercel states that these records are not associated with an individual visitor or IP address and cannot reconstruct a browsing session across websites.
Anonymous real-user performance measurements through Vercel Speed Insights, including the requested route, browser and device details, approximate country, network speed and Web Vitals. Vercel states that these measurements are not associated with an individual visitor or IP address and cannot reconstruct a browsing session across pages.
Technical request, security and diagnostic information that Cloudflare or Vercel may process when they deliver and protect the website, such as IP address, device or browser information, requested page and request time.

How and why information is used

Information is used only as reasonably needed to:

Manage subscriptions and send Letters from Cyrus to people who asked to receive them.
Measure newsletter opens and link selections to understand engagement and improve the letters.
Deliver and explain scorecard results.
Review scorecard submissions and their context over time.
Decide through human review whether a private Freeze Diagnostic Audit invitation may be appropriate. Completing the scorecard does not guarantee an invitation.
Operate, secure and understand basic use of the website.
Respond to privacy requests and meet applicable legal obligations.

Depending on the activity and the law that applies, processing may be based on your consent, your request for a service, the legitimate need to operate and protect the service, or a legal obligation. You may withdraw consent at any time, but this does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

Newsletter consent

Newsletter subscription is optional. Completing the scorecard does not automatically subscribe you to Letters from Cyrus. If you choose to subscribe, you can unsubscribe through the link in every email.

Automated score and human review

The scorecard may calculate or display a result from the answers you provide. It does not make a decision with legal or similarly significant effects. Any decision about a possible private Audit invitation is made by Cyrus through human review and remains discretionary.

Service providers and data locations

The following providers process information needed to deliver the website and its services:

Buttondown manages newsletter subscriptions, email delivery and engagement measurement. Buttondown is based in the United States and uses subprocessors to provide its service.
Tally hosts the scorecard and stores responses on behalf of Dwayne M Cyrus. Tally is based in Belgium and states that form data is stored in Europe. Tally responses are not forwarded by Dwayne M Cyrus to email, spreadsheets, automation tools, a CRM or another response destination.
Cloudflare provides website delivery, security and privacy-focused Web Analytics.
Vercel hosts and delivers the website and provides anonymous Web Analytics and Speed Insights measurement.

Some providers and their subprocessors may process information outside Switzerland or the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Buttondown states that transfers from Switzerland to a country without an adequate level of protection are governed by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses with the modifications required by Swiss data-protection law. Provider privacy notices describe their processing and other transfer safeguards in more detail.

Cookies and similar technologies

This website does not use advertising cookies or behavioural advertising tools. Cloudflare Web Analytics is used for aggregated website measurement. Vercel Web Analytics measures anonymous page views without third-party cookies and uses a request-derived visitor hash that Vercel says is discarded after 24 hours. Vercel Speed Insights measures anonymous website performance. Newsletter emails use Buttondown's open-tracking pixel and tracked links as described above. The separately hosted Tally scorecard may use browser storage or other technology needed for its form features under Tally's own privacy notice.

Data retention

Newsletter subscription and engagement information is kept in Buttondown while the subscription is active and afterwards as needed to honour an unsubscribe request, maintain appropriate records, resolve issues or meet legal obligations.
Scorecard submissions are kept indefinitely in the Tally archive so Cyrus can review a submission and its history over time. A respondent may request deletion. Tally states that responses deleted from the account are permanently removed from its backups within 90 days, unless the account trash is emptied sooner.
Website security, request and aggregate analytics information is kept according to Cloudflare's and Vercel's applicable service settings and retention practices.

Information may be kept longer when required by law, needed to resolve a dispute or necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Your choices and rights

Depending on the law that applies, you may ask whether information about you is being processed, request access or a copy, correct inaccurate information, request deletion or restriction, object to processing, request portability where applicable, or withdraw consent. Some requests may be limited when information must be kept by law or there is another lawful reason to continue processing.

To protect personal information, reasonable steps may be taken to verify your identity. When possible, send the request from the email address connected with your subscription or scorecard submission. You may also raise a concern with the data-protection authority that applies to you, including the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Contact: hey@dwaynecyrus.com

Security

Reasonable technical and organisational measures are used to protect information, and the service providers describe additional security measures in their documentation. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

External links

This website and the letters may link to websites not controlled by Dwayne M Cyrus. Those services are responsible for their own content and privacy practices.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated when the website, providers or legal requirements change. The updated date at the top of the page will show when the latest version took effect.