Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Global Food Observatory ("GFO", "we", "us", or "our"), a product of Sequoia Analytics, collects, uses, and protects the personal data of visitors and subscribers to our websites at https://www.globalfoodobservatory.com and https://read.globalfoodobservatory.com.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable data protection law.

1. Who we are

Global Food Observatory is a professional intelligence service providing weekly signal scans and deep-dive reports on global food markets and agricultural commodities. GFO is a product of Sequoia Analytics, a business registered in Ireland (CRO). For data protection purposes, Sequoia Analytics (trading as Global Food Observatory) acts as the data controller for personal information collected through our websites and subscription services.

Contact: hello@globalfoodobservatory.com

2. What data we collect

Information you provide directly:

  • Email address — collected when you subscribe (free or paid) or sign up for our newsletter
  • Name — optional, collected at subscription
  • Payment information — billing details processed via Stripe when you purchase a paid subscription. GFO does not store your full card details; these are handled securely by Stripe under their own privacy policy

Information collected automatically:

  • IP address and browser/device information — standard server logs retained for security purposes
  • Pages visited and time spent — collected by Ghost's built-in analytics (anonymised, no cross-site tracking)

What we do not collect:

  • We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or any third-party advertising or tracking tools on our properties
  • We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes

3. How we use your data

  • To deliver your subscription — sending weekly signal posts and newsletters to your email address
  • To manage your account — processing payments, handling upgrades/downgrades, and responding to support requests
  • To improve our service — understanding which content is most useful to our readers (using anonymised analytics only)
  • Legal compliance — retaining transaction records as required by applicable law

4. Legal basis for processing

Under GDPR, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

  • Contractual necessity — processing required to deliver your subscription and manage your account
  • Legitimate interests — sending our newsletter to subscribers who have opted in and improving our editorial service
  • Legal obligation — retaining financial records as required by law

5. Cookies

Our Ghost-hosted publication (https://read.globalfoodobservatory.com) uses a single session cookie to keep you logged in to your subscriber account. This is a strictly necessary cookie and does not require consent.

Our main landing page (https://www.globalfoodobservatory.com) loads fonts from Google Fonts. Google Fonts serves fonts without setting cookies or tracking individual users when loaded via standard CSS. No other third-party scripts run on our landing page.

We do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or tracking pixels.

6. Data retention

  • Subscriber email addresses and account data are retained for as long as you hold an active subscription, plus 12 months after cancellation
  • Payment transaction records are retained for 7 years as required by tax and accounting law
  • Server logs are retained for 90 days

7. Your rights

Under GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Correct any inaccurate data
  • Erase your data (right to be forgotten) — you can delete your account at any time from your subscriber settings
  • Restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances
  • Data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Withdraw consent — you can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@globalfoodobservatory.com. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection supervisory authority.

8. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services to operate GFO:

  • Ghost Pro — our publishing and subscriber management platform. Ghost processes subscriber data on our behalf under a data processing agreement. Ghost Privacy Policy
  • Stripe — payment processing. Stripe processes payment information under their own privacy policy. Stripe Privacy Policy
  • Netlify — hosting of our main landing page. Netlify Privacy Policy

9. International transfers

Our service providers (Ghost, Stripe, Netlify) may process data in the United States and other countries. Where data is transferred outside the EEA, appropriate safeguards are in place (Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent).

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify active subscribers of any material changes by email. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

11. Contact

For any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data:

Email: hello@globalfoodobservatory.com
Website: https://www.globalfoodobservatory.com