No accounts, no sign-ups, no comments and no ads. This page sets out exactly what is counted when you read a scene, who counts it, and how to switch it off.
This site never asks for your name, your email address or anything else about you. Two analytics tools count visits, so that it is possible to see which plays and scenes are actually being read. One uses no cookies at all. The other, Google Analytics, does use cookies — and for visitors in the EU, the UK and Switzerland it stays switched off unless they agree to it.
GoatCounter records which page was opened, the page you came from, your browser and screen size, and your country, which it works out from your IP address without keeping the address. It sets no cookies and does not build a profile of individual visitors.
Google Analytics 4 gives a fuller picture: which pages were read, how far down a scene readers scroll, how long they stay, roughly where in the world they are, what kind of device they use, and how they found the site. It uses cookies to tell a returning reader from a new one. Google Analytics does not store IP addresses. Its advertising features and Google signals are switched off, so none of this is used to build advertising profiles, and the data is kept for no longer than 14 months.
If your browser is set to a European time zone, you will have seen a small prompt asking whether analytics cookies are all right. Visitors in the EU, the UK and Switzerland are not counted by Google Analytics unless they say yes. Anyone, anywhere, can change their choice here:
Turning analytics off also removes the Google Analytics cookies this site has already set. To block Google Analytics on every website, Google offers its own opt-out browser add-on.
Two small settings are saved in your browser's local storage: the text size you chose in the reader, and your analytics choice. They stay on your device, are never sent anywhere, and disappear if you clear your browser data.
The site is hosted by Cloudflare, which — like any web host — handles your IP address in order to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks. The fonts come from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's servers when a page loads.
Many readers are at school. Because there are no accounts, forms or comments, the site never asks anyone, of any age, for personal information.
If you write to contact@shakespeareinplainenglish.com, your address is used only to reply to you.
There are no ads on the site today. If that changes, this page will be updated before any appear, and they will follow the same consent rules.
Readers in the EU and the UK have the right to ask what data is held about them and to have it deleted. Since the site holds no names, email addresses or accounts, there is usually nothing that identifies you — but if you have a question, write to contact@shakespeareinplainenglish.com and it will be answered.
Last updated 26 October 2026.