Privacy Policy
Effective: June 2026. Global Debt Clock (global-debt-clock.com) is an independently produced data resource. This page explains what data we collect, how cookies and local storage are used on this site, and your rights.
1. What we collect
We collect very little. There are no user accounts, no newsletter, and no forms that collect personal information anywhere on this site.
- Standard server logs. Our host, Cloudflare, automatically logs requests (IP address, user-agent, requested URL, timestamp) for security and operational purposes, in line with Cloudflare's own privacy policy.
- Approximate country. To show you debt figures in a sensible default (e.g. your own country first), we read a coarse, IP-derived country code that Cloudflare attaches to each request (
request.cf.country). This value is used to render the page and is not stored in a database or file — it exists only for the duration of that request. As a fallback, if that signal is unavailable, the page makes a client-side request to a third-party IP-geolocation service (see the Third-Party Services table below).
2. Cookies & local storage
Here is the complete inventory of what this site stores in your browser:
pwa_dismissed(localStorage) — remembers that you closed the "install app" prompt, so it doesn't reappear. No personal data.gdc-consent(localStorage) — remembers your choice ("accepted" or "declined") from the cookie/ad-consent banner described below, so we don't ask again on every visit._gaand_ga_<property>(cookies, set by Google Analytics) — distinguish one browser from another so repeat visits are not counted as new people. Set only where analytics storage is permitted; see the regional rules immediately below.- Advertising and session-replay cookies — set by Google (AdSense) and Microsoft (Clarity), described in the next section. These are never set unless you actively accept the consent banner, in any region.
How consent defaults are set, by region
This site uses Google Consent Mode v2, and the default depends on where you are, because the law does:
- EEA, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Quebec. Prior consent is required before non-essential storage, so everything is denied until you accept. Until then Google Analytics runs cookieless: aggregate, non-identifying pings only, no cookies, no cross-site identifiers. Declining leaves it that way.
- Everywhere else (including the rest of the United States and Canada). The applicable rules are notice-and-opt-out rather than opt-in, so basic first-party analytics starts enabled, and this page plus the banner are your notice. Choosing Decline on the banner switches analytics off and reloads the page without it.
Advertising storage is denied by default in every region, including regions where analytics is not. Advertising and Microsoft Clarity load only after you explicitly accept.
We honour Global Privacy Control. If your browser or extension sends a GPC signal, all storage — analytics and advertising alike — is denied regardless of your region, and the banner is not shown, because you have already answered.
Your choice is stored in the gdc-consent localStorage key described above. You can change it at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page — withdrawing is exactly as easy as granting, and takes effect immediately.
3. Advertising
This site runs, or intends to run, display advertising through Google AdSense. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve personalized ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices. For more detail on how Google's advertising partners use data, see Google's partner sites policy.
The AdSense script is only loaded in your browser if you accept the consent banner. If you decline, no advertising script or advertising cookie is loaded.
4. Third-party services
The table below lists every third-party service this site currently uses (or is configured to use) and what each one receives.
| Service | Purpose | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosting, CDN, security | Standard request logs (IP, user-agent, URL) for every page load. See Cloudflare's privacy policy. |
| Google AdSense | Display advertising (once consented / when active) | Advertising cookie identifiers and standard ad-request data, subject to Google's advertising policies. |
| Google Analytics | Aggregate site-usage analytics (page views and in-page interaction events such as calculator use) | Analytics cookie identifiers and usage events, subject to Google's privacy policy. |
| Microsoft Clarity | Session-behavior analytics (anonymized click/scroll heatmaps and session recordings), loaded only after you accept the consent banner | Session-replay cookie identifiers and in-page interaction events, subject to Microsoft's privacy statement. |
| Google Fonts | Loads the site's typefaces | Your browser requests font files directly from fonts.googleapis.com/fonts.gstatic.com, which receives standard request data (IP, user-agent). |
| geojs.io | Client-side fallback country detection | Your IP address, to return an approximate country code, used only when the server-side signal is unavailable. |
| The Guardian API | Server-side fetch of news headlines shown on the site | No user data is sent — this is a server-to-server request made by our Cloudflare Worker, not your browser. |
5. Your rights (GDPR / UK GDPR & CCPA)
GDPR / UK GDPR. If you are in the UK or EEA, our legal basis for the limited processing described above is legitimate interest (operating and securing the site, showing a sensible default country) and, for advertising and analytics cookies, your consent given via the cookie banner. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page, which reopens the banner. Declining after having accepted also revokes consent for advertising and session-analytics cookies and reloads the page without them. You have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of any personal data we hold about you (in practice, this is limited to what's in server logs), and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
CCPA/CPRA and other US state privacy laws. If you are a resident of California — or of another state with comparable rights, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon or Montana: we do not sell your personal information. Basic first-party analytics is enabled by default in these states, which the notice-and-opt-out model these laws use permits; this page and the consent banner are that notice, and Decline is the opt-out. Advertising cookies are never set unless you accept, and any that are set afterwards may constitute a "share" for cross-context behavioral advertising, which you can revoke at any time using the links in Section 3 or the Cookie settings link in the footer.
We also honour Global Privacy Control as a valid opt-out signal, as required in California, Colorado and Connecticut and applied by us everywhere. If your browser sends GPC, analytics and advertising storage are both denied automatically and you do not need to do anything else. You have the right to know what personal information is collected and to request its deletion by contacting us at the email below.
6. Embedded widget
Global Debt Clock provides a free, embeddable iframe widget that other websites can include on their pages (see the widget builder). When a page embedding our widget loads, the visitor's browser fetches a small data file from our servers directly. We receive only standard server request logs for that fetch (IP, user-agent, referring page) — no data about the embedding site's visitors is retained beyond typical, short-lived Cloudflare request logs.
7. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the site changes — for example, when Google AdSense is formally activated, or if we add new data sources. Material changes will be reflected by updating the effective date at the top of this page.
Questions about this policy or a privacy request? Contact us at [email protected].