Privacy Policy

You agree to the privacy policy below, and the Privacy Policy for Substack, the technology provider.

As an advocate for safe and responsible technology use, I take reader trust seriously. In the spirit of transparency, I share here exactly what my publication tracks, what I do with it, and how I’m thinking about privacy.

Important note: Philly’s AI Pharmacist is focused on U.S. health policy and does not currently target or expect significant European (EU/EEA) traffic. I’ll revisit and modify my policies if this ever changes.

1. What’s being measured

This site/newsletter uses the following tools to understand readership and improve content:

Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

GA4 collects aggregate traffic data such as how people find the newsletter (search, social, direct), which posts get the most engagement, device types, geography at a high level, and conversion behavior (e.g., signups). It is configured with minimal settings: IP anonymization is enabled, and I do not attach personally identifying user IDs or any sensitive profile data. GA4 helps me prioritize relevant topics, improve titles and headlines, and understand what’s resonating without building individual profiles.

Read more about GSC here and BWT here.

2. Why this data is collected

The goals are simple:

Surface what content is useful to readers so I can make more of it.
Detect and fix technical issues before they degrade discoverability.
Improve headline/description phrasing to increase clarity and click-throughs for people genuinely searching for insights (especially around AI, health policy, and governance).
Measure newsletter growth and subscriber conversion paths so I can make the experience smoother for readers.

3. Target audience & geographic assumption

This publication is aimed at U.S. health policy and healthcare governance professionals. I do not currently target or expect substantial traffic from the European Union. Because of that, I have not implemented a formal consent banner for analytics. If I observe that EU/EEA traffic becomes material (meaningful percentage of visits) or my audience mix shifts, I will re-evaluate and update this policy, potentially adding opt-in consent mechanisms, limiting or disabling GA4 for those visitors, or adopting a more privacy-first analytics alternative.

4. What you can do (opt-out & control)

If you prefer not to be counted in analytics:

Use browser tracking protection / “Do Not Track” features; many modern browsers and extensions block GA4 automatically.
- I’ve attached how-to links for the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Brave.
Install privacy tools such as uBlock Origin (download link here), Privacy Badger (download link here), or similar that block third-party tracking.
Disable cookies or use private/incognito browsing (note: this may affect some functionality).

Search engine tools (Search Console, Bing) do not require opt-out mechanics because they do not track individual visitors.

5. Data sharing and transfers

GA4 data is handled by Google, which processes data on servers that may be located outside the U.S. (including the U.S.). For now, given my U.S.-centric audience and low risk profile, I rely on Google and Substack’s standard data protection terms. If the site’s audience becomes more international (especially in jurisdictions with stricter data transfer rules) I’ll revisit how data is handled and add disclosures or adjustments as needed.

6. Changes & updates

This policy is a living document. If tracking practices change (e.g., adding new pixels, enabling more granular event tracking, or materially shifting audience targeting), I’ll update this post and note the date of change at the top.

7. Contact

If you have questions, requests, or want to know what, if any, data about you is inferred, you can reach me at: [email protected].

Last updated: Saturday, August 2nd, 2025 (Version 1.0)

Philly's AI Pharmacist