Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 20, 2026

BiomedFacts is an independent science communication and health information publication.

Protecting the privacy of visitors is an important principle in the operation of this website.

This Privacy Policy describes the services used by BiomedFacts, the categories of information that may be processed and the choices available to visitors regarding cookies, analytics and advertising technologies.

Google Analytics

BiomedFacts uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how the website is used and to improve its content and functionality.

Google Analytics is activated only when the visitor provides the relevant consent through the website’s consent system.

Before Analytics consent is provided, BiomedFacts uses consent settings designed to prevent Google Analytics from loading for measurement purposes that require consent.

After consent, Google Analytics may collect information such as:

• page views,
• session duration and characteristics,
• approximate geographic location,
• device type,
• browser information,
• traffic source,
• interactions with the website,
• events collected through Enhanced Measurement.

Google Analytics may also use first-party cookies such as _ga and _ga_<id> to distinguish users and sessions.

Google’s use of data is also governed by Google’s own policies and terms.

More information about how Google uses information from websites and apps that use its services is available at:

How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services

Analytics consent

When visiting the website for the first time, visitors may be presented with choices regarding the use of non-essential cookies and measurement technologies.

Visitors may accept or reject Analytics according to the options available through the website’s consent system.

The selected preference may be stored locally in the browser so that the website does not need to ask for the same choice on every page.

Visitors can change their choice at any time through the “Cookie settings” link or button, where available on the website.

If consent is withdrawn:

• further Google Analytics collection by BiomedFacts for which consent is required is stopped,
• Google Analytics will not load on subsequent visits while the relevant choice remains rejected,
• the website may attempt to remove accessible Google Analytics cookies associated with the BiomedFacts domain.

Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before consent was withdrawn.

Google AdSense and advertising

BiomedFacts may use Google AdSense, a service provided by Google, to display advertisements on the website.

When Google AdSense is active, Google and other third-party advertising technology providers may use cookies, local storage or similar technologies for purposes such as:

• displaying advertisements,
• measuring advertising performance,
• limiting repeated exposure to the same advertisement,
• preventing fraud and abuse,
• providing and measuring personalized or non-personalized advertisements, depending on the user’s choices and applicable law.

Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertisements based on a user’s previous visits to BiomedFacts or other websites.

Google’s use of advertising cookies may enable Google and its partners to serve advertisements to users based on their visit to BiomedFacts and/or other websites on the internet, where permitted and where the required consent has been provided.

Users can manage their preferences regarding personalized advertising through:

Google Ads Settings

More information about how Google uses cookies for advertising is available at:

Advertising – Google Privacy & Terms

The display of non-personalized advertisements does not necessarily mean that no storage or data-processing technologies are used. Certain technologies may still be used for functions such as measurement, security, fraud prevention or frequency capping, depending on applicable law and the user’s consent choices.

Advertising consent and CMP

For visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom and Switzerland, consent relating to advertising technologies is managed, when the relevant services are active, through a Consent Management Platform (CMP) that meets the applicable Google requirements.

The consent system may allow visitors to:

• accept or reject specific processing purposes,
• manage preferences relating to personalized advertising,
• view information about advertising technology providers,
• change or withdraw their choices.

Where applicable, the consent platform may use the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) to communicate consent choices to relevant providers.

Relevant consent parameters, including:

• ad_storage,
• ad_user_data,
• ad_personalization

remain in a non-consented state where required until the user makes the relevant choice.

Available choices and providers may vary depending on the visitor’s country, website configuration, active services and applicable legal requirements.

Cookies and local storage

BiomedFacts uses cookies and/or browser local storage for certain website functions.

Information may be stored relating to:

• Analytics consent choices,
• advertising consent choices,
• light or dark mode preference,
• language preference,
• other necessary technical preferences.

This information is used so that the website can remember visitor choices and preferences.

If Analytics consent is provided, Google Analytics may create cookies for website measurement purposes.

When Google AdSense is active, Google and other advertising technology providers may also use cookies or similar technologies in accordance with the user’s choices and applicable law.

Visitors may also manage or delete cookies through their browser settings.

Newsletter

BiomedFacts uses beehiiv to operate its newsletter.

When a visitor chooses to subscribe to the newsletter, they may provide information such as their email address.

This information may be used for:

• sending the newsletter,
• managing subscriptions,
• maintaining the subscriber list,
• basic email delivery and engagement statistics according to the functionality provided by the service.

Newsletter subscription is voluntary.

Subscribers can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in newsletter emails.

beehiiv processes information according to its own terms and privacy policy.

Comments through Giscus and GitHub

Comments on BiomedFacts articles are powered by Giscus, which uses GitHub Discussions.

To publish a comment, a visitor may need to use a GitHub account.

Comments that are published may be publicly visible.

Processing related to GitHub accounts and GitHub Discussions is also governed by GitHub’s own policies and terms.

BiomedFacts does not ask visitors to publish sensitive personal information or medical information in comments.

Website hosting

BiomedFacts is hosted through GitHub Pages.

When the website is accessed, GitHub may process certain technical information necessary to provide, secure and operate its hosting services.

Such processing is also governed by GitHub’s policies.

Third-party services

BiomedFacts uses or may use third-party services including:

• Google Analytics,
• Google AdSense,
• Google Consent Management Platform / Privacy & Messaging,
• beehiiv,
• GitHub Pages,
• GitHub Discussions,
• Giscus.

These providers may process technical data, identifiers, cookies or other information according to their own privacy policies, terms and the visitor’s consent choices.

Some providers may process data using infrastructure located outside the European Economic Area, subject to the data-protection and international-transfer mechanisms implemented by the relevant provider and applicable law.

Information BiomedFacts does not request

Reading BiomedFacts articles does not require visitors to create a BiomedFacts account.

For ordinary use of the website, BiomedFacts does not ask visitors to provide:

• medical histories,
• diagnoses,
• laboratory results,
• identity document numbers,
• financial information,
• passwords.

Visitors should not submit sensitive personal or medical information through comments or other public website features.

Purposes of processing

Information arising from the use of the website may be processed for specific purposes including:

• operating and securing the website,
• understanding website traffic after consent, where consent is required,
• improving content and user experience,
• operating the newsletter,
• enabling comments,
• remembering visitor choices and preferences,
• displaying, measuring and managing advertisements,
• preventing fraud and abuse in advertising services.

Legal basis

Where consent is required, including for non-essential Analytics cookies or certain advertising technologies, the relevant processing takes place in accordance with the visitor’s choice.

Consent may be withdrawn at any time through the available consent settings without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Newsletter communications are based on the user’s decision to subscribe.

Technologies and services necessary for the basic operation, security and protection of the website may be used to the extent necessary for those purposes and in accordance with applicable law.

Data retention

Retention periods depend on the service used and the purpose of processing.

Google Analytics data is retained according to the settings of the GA4 property and Google’s applicable policies.

Data and identifiers relating to Google AdSense and advertising services are retained and processed according to the policies, settings and retention periods of Google and the relevant providers.

Newsletter information may be retained while a user remains subscribed and in accordance with the operational requirements of beehiiv.

Comments made through GitHub Discussions may remain available according to GitHub’s functionality and policies unless they are deleted or modified using the options provided by that service.

User rights

Depending on applicable data-protection law, users may have rights relating to their personal data, including:

• the right to be informed,
• the right of access,
• the right to rectification,
• the right to erasure,
• the right to restrict processing,
• the right to object,
• the right to data portability where applicable,
• the right to withdraw consent.

Choices relating to Analytics and advertising technologies may be changed through the website’s available cookie or consent settings.

Users may also manage Google advertising personalization through:

Google Ads Settings

Users may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data-protection supervisory authority, including the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) where applicable.

Children

BiomedFacts provides general scientific and health information and is not designed for the purpose of collecting personal data from children.

Minors are not asked to provide personal or sensitive information through the website.

Advertising services, where used, are also subject to Google’s applicable policies and requirements relating to the protection of minors.

Security

BiomedFacts aims to use reliable services and appropriate technical practices for operating the website.

However, no transmission or storage of information over the internet can be considered completely secure.

Privacy-related contact

For questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the protection of personal data, visitors may use the contact information provided on the:

Contact page

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated when:

• the services used by BiomedFacts change,
• new website functionality or advertising services are introduced,
• data-processing practices change,
• changes are required because of law, provider policies or regulatory requirements.

The date of the latest update is displayed at the top of this page.