Privacy policy
This is the personal portfolio site of Alexander Nicholas ("Sketch"). It is small, and I try to collect as little as possible. This page says exactly what is collected, why, and who handles it.
The short version
- Analytics only run if you accept them in the cookie banner.
- If you use the chat, what you type is processed by an AI model running on my own hardware. It is not sent to a third-party AI company.
- I don't sell your data or use it for advertising.
- You can ask me to delete anything I hold about you at hello@alexandernicholas.me.
Cookie consent
The site uses CookieYes to ask for your choice and to remember it. It stores your decision in your browser. You can change it at any time with the round cookie icon at the bottom left of the screen, which appears after you make a choice.
Analytics (Microsoft Clarity)
If you accept analytics, the site loads Microsoft Clarity. Clarity records how visitors use pages, such as clicks, scrolling and navigation, as heatmaps and session replays, so I can find confusing parts of the site. It sets cookies in your browser and sends this usage data to Microsoft, which handles it under its own privacy statement. If you decline, Clarity is not loaded. If you withdraw consent later, it stops loading on your next page view.
The chat ("Chat with virtual me")
- What I receive: the messages you type, a random session id, the page you were on, and a hashed (not readable) form of your IP address used to limit how many messages one visitor can send.
- How it is handled: your message is sent from this site to my own automation server (n8n). Email addresses, phone numbers and card numbers are masked before anything is saved. The reply is written by an open-weight AI model running on my own hardware.
- What is kept: a log of the exchange (masked) is stored in my own n8n database so I can check that the assistant behaves and fix problems. Rate-limit counters are kept in a Redis database used by my automation server. Please don't put sensitive personal information into the chat.
- In your browser: the recent conversation is kept in your browser's session storage so it survives page changes. It is cleared when you close the tab or start a new chat.
- The assistant is an AI, not me, and its answers can be wrong.
Hosting and security
The site is hosted on Cloudflare, which processes requests (including your IP address) to deliver pages, protect against abuse and apply rate limits. See Cloudflare's own privacy policy for how it handles that data.
Things stored in your browser
- Your cookie choice (CookieYes).
- Analytics cookies from Clarity, only if you accepted analytics.
- Accessibility preferences (animations and custom cursor on or off) in local storage, so the site remembers them. These stay on your device.
- Chat transcript in session storage, as described above.
Contacting me and booking
If you email me, I get your email address and whatever you write, and I use it only to reply. The "Book 15 minutes" button opens Google Calendar's booking page, which Google runs under its own privacy policy. Links to LinkedIn and GitHub lead to those services.
Embedded YouTube videos
The home page embeds my YouTube channel's latest videos using YouTube's privacy-enhanced domain (youtube-nocookie.com). When that part of the page loads, YouTube receives your IP address and basic browser details, and it may store information if you play a video. The "Quick intro" video is hosted on this site and sends nothing to YouTube.
Your choices
You can change your cookie choice any time, clear your browser storage, or ask me to delete or send you what I hold about you. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or California) you may have additional rights, and I will honour reasonable requests wherever you are. Email hello@alexandernicholas.me.
Changes
If the site starts collecting something new, I will update this page and the date above.