Debasement Basement Subscribe

Privacy & cookies

Last updated October 18, 2026. This policy covers debasementbasement.com. Plain English throughout; where something has not been switched on yet, this page says so rather than pretending otherwise.

The short version

What the tools do with what you type

Every calculator on this site — the gold-to-silver ratio, the silver quarter, the salary and purchasing-power tools — computes its answer in your own browser using JavaScript. The numbers you enter are never transmitted to this site or to anyone else, and are not logged.

So that your numbers are still there when you come back, your browser keeps your last entries on your own device (in its local storage, not a cookie). They never leave it. On the junk silver and premium calculators you can see this happening and control it: a Remember my entries switch turns it off and erases what was kept; Forget everything erases everything this site has stored in your browser; and the spreadsheet, print and backup buttons build their files on your device, without sending anything. Clearing your browser’s data for this site erases your entries too.

Two price lookups, and what they can see

So that the prices are current rather than whatever was typed into a file last week, the tools ask two outside services for a number when a page loads: gold and silver spot prices from api.gold-api.com (plus the copper price, from the same service, on the coin melt value chart), and exchange rates from api.frankfurter.dev, which publishes the European Central Bank’s daily reference rates. Both requests are made by your browser, so both services can see your IP address and the fact that a page on this site asked them for a price. Neither request contains anything you typed — they ask only “what is gold worth” and “what is a euro worth”, and the arithmetic happens afterward on your own machine. Answers are stored in your browser for twenty minutes (prices) and twelve hours (exchange rates) so that moving between pages does not ask again.

If either service is unreachable — you are offline, or a network blocks it — the page uses a stored price instead and says so, with the date attached. Nothing here stops working because a price lookup failed.

Cookies and advertising

This site intends to carry advertising served by Google. When that is live, the following applies, and this section will be dated accordingly:

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland

Before any personalised advertising cookie is set, you will be shown a consent notice and asked to choose. That notice is provided through a consent management platform certified by Google under the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework. You can decline, and you can change your answer later through the same notice. Declining means you may see non-personalised advertising instead — it does not lock you out of anything on this site.

If you are in California

This site does not sell personal information for money. Under the CCPA and CPRA, certain personalised-advertising cookie practices can count as a "sale" or "sharing" even where no money changes hands. You have the right to opt out, to know what is collected, and to request deletion. Use the Google Ads Settings link above to switch off personalisation, or email hello@debasementbasement.com and I will action the request.

Analytics

Measurement tools may be used to count visits and see which pages are read — for example Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These set cookies or similar identifiers and record things like the pages you viewed, roughly where you are in the world, and what kind of device you used. They are used to decide what to write next, not to identify you personally. You can block them with the consent notice above or with any standard browser or extension control.

The newsletter

The newsletter is sent by Substack. The subscribe buttons on this site are plain links to debasementbasement.substack.com; no Substack script or form loads on these pages. If you subscribe, your email address is held by Substack under its own privacy policy, and is used to send you the newsletter and nothing else. It is never sold, rented, or passed to an advertiser. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe, which works immediately and permanently.

Hosting and server logs

The site is hosted on Hostinger. Like effectively every web host, the server keeps standard access logs — IP address, timestamp, page requested, browser type — for security and troubleshooting. These are ordinary operational records and are not used to build a profile of you.

Links out

Pages here link to outside sources — the Treasury, the BLS, the Federal Reserve, dealers and data providers. Once you follow a link you are on somebody else's site under somebody else's policy. Where a link is a commercial one, it is disclosed next to the link, as described on the disclaimer page.

Children

This site is written for adults and is not directed at children under 13. No information is knowingly collected from them. If you believe a child has provided information, email the address below and it will be deleted.

Your rights, and how to use them

Depending on where you live you may have the right to access what is held about you, correct it, delete it, object to processing, or withdraw consent. To exercise any of these, email hello@debasementbasement.com. Requests are answered within 30 days and there is no charge.

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes the date at the top changes with it. Material changes — switching advertising on, adding a new analytics provider — will be noted on the page rather than slipped in quietly.

This policy is written to be accurate and readable, not to be a substitute for legal advice. If your circumstances require a lawyer's review, get one.