I started building Jottings because I was frustrated. I wanted a place to share my thoughts online, but every platform I looked at treated my readers like products. Google Analytics tracked every click. Ad networks profiled visitors. Cookies followed readers across the web. Even "privacy-focused" platforms collected more data than they admitted.

There had to be a better way.

The Data Collection Problem

Let's be honest about how most blogging platforms work. When someone visits your Medium story or your WordPress site, you're not just serving content. You're running:

• Analytics trackers that log every page view, scroll, click, and time spent
• Ad networks that build profiles of your readers across the entire web
• Third-party cookies that follow visitors to other sites
• Marketing pixels that report back to Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn about who read your content

The platform gets rich data. They know who is reading your content, when they read it, what device they use, and what they do next. They sell this data (directly or indirectly) or use it to target ads.

Your readers? They lose privacy. And you become complicit in that loss.

This isn't a conspiracy. It's the business model. Platforms need to show advertisers that tracking users is valuable. So they build tracking systems. And most bloggers don't realize what's happening on their own sites.

Why Privacy Matters for Bloggers

Here's what changed my perspective: I realized that the readers visiting a site matter just as much as the content on it.

If you care about your readers—really care—you should protect their privacy. Not because you're running ads and targeting them. But because it's the right thing to do. Your site should be a place where readers feel safe exploring ideas without being profiled.

Privacy also builds trust. Readers can tell when a site respects them. There are no intrusive pop-ups, no data collection notifications, no "accept cookies" banners. They just arrive, read, and leave. No friction. No feeling of being watched.

For writers, privacy matters too. If you're publishing controversial ideas, personal essays, or niche content, you might not want massive platforms tracking who reads your work. You want your readers to have plausible deniability. A private blog platform lets you (and them) operate with dignity.

The Jottings Difference

When I designed Jottings, I made a deliberate choice: no ads, no trackers, no data collection beyond what's necessary to run the service.

Here's what that means in practice:

No external analytics. Most platforms use Google Analytics (which tracks users across the web) or similar services. Jottings uses Umami—a privacy-first analytics tool that runs on our servers. It gives you essential data (page views, referrers, popular posts) without selling reader data or building cross-site profiles. Readers aren't tracked. They're just visitors.

No third-party scripts. If you look at the HTML of a Jottings site, you won't find Google Fonts loading resources, Facebook pixels reporting activity, or ad networks profiling readers. We inline critical CSS, serve fonts locally, and keep your site lean. It's just your content.

No cookies needed. We don't use cookies to track sessions or users across visits. That data doesn't help you as a blogger. It helps advertisers. We skip it entirely.

No data collection beyond the basics. We store your published content, your site settings, and your reader count. That's it. We don't track what your readers do after they leave. We don't analyze their behavior across multiple sites. We don't create profiles. We don't sell data.

GDPR compliant by default. You don't need a 14-page privacy policy or cookie consent banners. Your site respects visitor privacy automatically. No legal theater required.

How This Works Technically

I get asked this frequently: How can you run a blogging platform without collecting data?

The answer is that data collection for its own sake isn't necessary. It's profitable, but not required.

We use static site generation. When you publish, we generate HTML and upload it to a CDN. Readers request static files. We count requests and store minimal logs. That's our entire analytics pipeline.

We don't need JavaScript trackers because we're not trying to build a behavioral profile. We're not trying to understand which ads resonate or where to nudge users next. We're just publishing content and counting views.

For features like comments, we use simple solutions (Giscus, which is GitHub-backed and privacy-respecting). For search, we use client-side indexing (nothing leaves the reader's browser). For ads? We don't run them, so the entire infrastructure is unnecessary.

What Readers Get

When someone visits your Jottings site, here's their experience:

• Fast loading. Static HTML from a CDN (100ms response times).
• Privacy by default. No tracking scripts, no external requests, no profiling.
• No friction. No cookie banners, no newsletter popups, no dark patterns.
• Offline access. Because the site is static, many browsers can cache and display it without internet.
• Control. They can block analytics scripts if they want (because there are minimal external scripts to block).

They get to read your thoughts without being commodified.

The Business Model

Here's the question everyone asks: How do you make money if you're not collecting data or running ads?

We don't—not yet. Jottings has a free tier and a paid Pro tier. The free tier is fully functional. The Pro tier unlocks features (custom domains, advanced analytics) and supports the platform.

People pay for features they value, not for surveillance. This is a different business model than the attention-extracting platforms. It's smaller, more sustainable, and aligned with user interests.

GDPR and Data Portability

Privacy-focused platforms should also respect data ownership. With Jottings:

• You own your content. Export anytime as markdown or HTML.
• You can port your site. Full backup, static files, ready to move elsewhere.
• You have rights. GDPR data access requests are straightforward (you can download everything you've created).
• You can delete easily. Your data doesn't haunt you after you leave.

This isn't radical. It should be standard. But most platforms make it deliberately hard to leave. We do the opposite.

Who This Is For

Privacy-first blogging makes sense if:

• You value your readers' privacy
• You don't need targeted advertising
• You want a simple, fast site
• You're tired of cookie banners and tracking scripts
• You believe the web should respect people

You don't need to be technically savvy. You don't need to understand analytics. You just need to care that your platform isn't harvesting data from your audience.

The Larger Point

There's been a quiet shift. People are realizing that the surveillance-based internet isn't inevitable. Privacy-focused email (ProtonMail), search (DuckDuckGo), and messaging (Signal) prove that alternatives work.

Blogging can be the same way. You don't need a platform that harvests data to have a successful blog. You need good writing, a respectful audience, and a place that gets out of the way.

Jottings is built on that principle. Your readers deserve privacy. Your content deserves to be served fast. And you deserve a platform that doesn't treat your audience as a product.

Start blogging privately. Jottings respects your readers and helps you own your platform.