Effective October 5, 2026
This policy explains what information the Clemson Law Review collects when you visit clemsonlawreview.org, how we use it, and the choices you have. The Review is an independent student organization run by undergraduate students at Clemson University. It is not operated by Clemson University, and the University’s own privacy policies do not apply to this site.
The short version
- You can read everything on this site without creating an account or telling us who you are.
- We measure readership with our own reader statistics, which run on this site, and with three analytics tools: Matomo, Google Analytics, and Cloudflare Web Analytics.
- Cloudflare sits in front of the site to deliver it quickly and protect it from attacks.
- We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
- If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, we do not load Matomo or Google Analytics. Our own reader statistics still count your visit, because they stay on this site and are never sold, shared, or used for advertising.
Information you give us
When you email the editors or use the contact form, send a manuscript, propose an interview, or apply to join the staff, we receive what you choose to send: usually your name, email address, affiliation, and the documents you attach, such as a manuscript, abstract, or CV. We use this only to respond to you, to review and edit submissions, and to run the Review. Published pieces show the author’s name and the affiliation the author approves. Material that is not published is shared only with the editors and advisors who need it.
The Contact, Submissions and Report an error forms on this site send what you enter, and any files you attach, by email to the editors’ mailbox at lawreview@clemson.edu. The messages are delivered by Cloudflare’s email service. The website itself does not keep a copy of your message, your files, or your contact details; it only keeps a running count, so that each submission gets a reference number. A photo sent with a submission is resized before it is sent. If you report an error, your email address is optional. The forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, a check that tells people from automated programs; it looks at technical information about your browser and device, and Cloudflare handles it under its privacy policy.
Staff members have website accounts so they can write and edit. For those accounts we store a name, email address, and password (stored in scrambled, hashed form), along with a record of the pieces each person writes or edits.
Information collected automatically
Analytics
We use analytics to learn which pieces people read, how they find us, and which pages need work. Analytics records things like the pages you view, when you visited, the page that referred you, PDF downloads, your approximate location (country or region), and your type of browser and device.
- Matomo. Matomo is an open-source analytics software. The copy we use runs at analytics.citronnetwork.com, a server the Review has access to, so the data it collects is not shared with an analytics company. Matomo processes your IP address to estimate your location and can set cookies to recognize repeat visits.
- Google Analytics. Google Analytics 4 is provided by Google LLC. It uses cookies to distinguish visitors and sends information about your visit to Google. Google states that Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. Google’s use of this information is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. You can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on to stop Google Analytics on every site you visit.
- Cloudflare Web Analytics. Cloudflare Web Analytics counts visits in aggregate without cookies and without identifying individual visitors.
Our own reader statistics
The site also counts its readers itself. These statistics are stored on the server that runs this site, are seen only by the Review’s editors, and are never sold, shared, or used for advertising. For each page view they record:
- the page or piece you read, when, and the website that sent you (its name only, such as google.com, not the full address) or the campaign named in the link;
- your country, and, outside the European Union, the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, your approximate region and city;
- your type of device, browser and operating system, screen size, language, time zone, light or dark mode, whether you opened the site from your Home Screen, and how fast the page loaded;
- how you read: how long the page is in front of you, how far you scroll, which sections you reach, which footnotes you open, which links you follow, citation copies, PDF downloads, printing, and passages you copy from the page (the copied text of our own pages);
- searches typed into this site’s search box, and the result you choose; and
- addresses that led to a “page not found” message.
Your IP address is used only for a moment and is never stored. It is combined with your browser details and a random code that changes every day to count unique readers, and to group the pages, downloads and links you follow into visits (a visit ends after 30 minutes without activity), for that day only, so the count cannot follow anyone from one day to the next. Outside the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland, your IP address is also used to look up the network you are on, so we can see that readers come from, for example, a university, a court, or a law firm. Home, mobile, cloud and VPN networks are not recorded. Network names come from DB-IP’s IP to ASN Lite data (db-ip.com, CC BY 4.0).
Outside the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland, the site also keeps a cookie (clr_vid) holding a random code, so it can recognize returning readers and the order in which pages are read, PDFs downloaded and links followed during a visit. These codes are never linked to your name, email address, or any account. Readers in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland, and readers whose country cannot be determined, are counted only in totals: no cookie, no city or region, no network, and no visit history.
Security and delivery
Cloudflare, Inc. operates the network in front of this site. Every request to the site passes through Cloudflare, which sees your IP address, browser details, and the page you asked for so it can deliver the page, block attacks and automated abuse, and keep the site available. Cloudflare may set a short-lived cookie to tell people from bots, and it may occasionally ask you to complete a quick check. Cloudflare’s handling of this information is described in the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
Like nearly every website, our web host also keeps standard server logs, including IP addresses, pages requested, and times, which are used to operate and secure the site.
Cookies
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. This site uses the following. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you do so, the site will still work, though analytics will not recognize repeat visits.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| _pk_id, _pk_ses | Matomo | Recognize repeat visits and group page views into a visit | Up to 13 months; 30 minutes |
| _ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics | Distinguish visitors and sessions | Up to 2 years |
| clr_vid | This site | Recognize returning readers for our own reader statistics (not set in the EU, EEA, UK or Switzerland) | Up to 13 months |
| __cf_bm, cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Tell people from bots and remember a completed security check | Usually 30 minutes |
| wordpress_*, wp-settings-* | This site | Keep staff signed in and remember their editor settings | Staff only; up to 1 year |
How we use information
- to publish the Review and respond to authors, applicants, and readers;
- to understand readership and improve the site;
- to keep the site secure and available; and
- to meet legal obligations.
When information is shared
We share information only with the service providers that run the site on our behalf (our web host, Cloudflare, Backblaze, which stores our encrypted backups, Google for Google Analytics), with editors and faculty advisors who need it to do their work, when the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of the Review, our readers, or others. If the Review ever transfers the site to a successor organization, this policy will continue to apply to information collected under it.
How long we keep information
Emails and submissions are kept as long as Clemson University’s retention policies allow. Detailed analytics records are kept indefinitely–Google and Cloudflare have their own policies. Our own reader statistics keep visit-by-visit records for 13 months; totals by day are kept indefinitely. Staff accounts may be removed when a staff member leaves; however, their published work stays online with their name. Encrypted backups of the site, which can include this information, are kept by our backup storage provider, Backblaze, for up to 3 years and are then deleted automatically. Information removed from the site stays in earlier backups until they expire.
Your choices
- Turn on Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track in your browser, and this site will not load Matomo or Google Analytics. Our own reader statistics still count your visit.
- Block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Matomo, Google Analytics, and our own reader statistics will then not recognize repeat visits.
- Use the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
- Ask us to see, correct, or delete information you have sent us by writing to lawreview@clemson.edu. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under the law, and we will honor requests that the law requires.
Children
This site is written for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
Security
We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), encrypted off-site backups, Cloudflare’s protection, and limited staff access to keep information safe. NO WEBSITE CAN GUARANTEE PERFECT SECURITY, so please do not email sensitive personal information you would not want exposed.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and the effective date at the top.
Contact
Questions about this policy can go to lawreview@clemson.edu.