The Long View

Privacy policy

Last updated 4 November 2026

Who is responsible for your information

The Long View, at https://longview.me.uk, is run privately by its administrator as a non-commercial tool for people they invite. The administrator is the data controller for the personal information described here. You can contact them at philip.marsden@gmail.com.

Information from your Google account

When you sign in, Google confirms who you are to Cloudflare Access, the sign-in service this site uses, and Cloudflare passes your email address to the site. The site uses your email address only to:

• check that you are on the list of invited people, and
• show you which account you are signed in with.

If you choose to save your scenarios to Google Drive (it is off unless you turn it on), Google will ask you to allow the site to "see, create and delete its own configuration data in your Google Drive". Your scenarios are then stored as one file in a hidden folder in your own Drive that only this site can use, sent directly between your browser and Google. The site cannot see your other Drive files, and the scenarios never pass through the site's server, so the administrator cannot see them. You can disconnect at any time, and remove the site's access in your Google Account settings (Security, then Third-party apps with account access), which also lets you delete the saved file.

Google may also share your name and profile picture with Cloudflare as part of signing in; the site does not use or store them. The site never receives your Google password and does not access your emails, contacts, calendar or any other Google data; the only files it can reach are its own, in the hidden Drive folder described above, and only if you turn on saving to Google Drive. The site's use of information received from Google adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Information the site stores

• The list of invited people: each person's email address and the date they were added, kept in Cloudflare's storage until the administrator removes them.
• Requests for access: if you ask for access, your email address, your optional message and the time, until the administrator approves or rejects the request.
• Shared data the administrator publishes: historical market returns and gilt prices. These are not personal information; each publication records the administrator's email address and the time.

Your plans stay on your device

Everything you enter about your household and finances (people, dates of birth, salaries, accounts, spending and your scenarios) is saved in your web browser's storage on your device, and in your own Google Drive only if you choose to save it there (see above). It is never sent to the site, so the administrator cannot see it and cannot recover it. The administrator can preview the site as a particular user sees it (for example, to check what is available to them); this shows only the site itself, never that person's scenarios. Clearing your browser's data for this site deletes it; you can export your scenarios to a file to keep a copy.

Technical information and cookies

The site is hosted by Cloudflare, which processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and sign-in events (your email address, the time, and whether sign-in succeeded) to run and protect the service. Cloudflare Access sets a cookie (CF_Authorization) that keeps you signed in; it is strictly necessary for the site to work. The site uses no analytics, tracking or advertising cookies.

Downloads from public sources

When the administrator presses a download button, the site fetches publicly available data (gilt prices from giltsyield.com; historical returns and inflation from the Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory Database, the Kenneth R. French Data Library, FRED and the Office for National Statistics). Anyone may fetch the latest inflation rate in the guided set-up in the same way. These requests come from Cloudflare's servers and include none of your personal information.

Who your information is shared with

Only the services that run the site, acting on the administrator's behalf: Google (sign-in) and Cloudflare (hosting, storage and sign-in). Your information is not sold, used for advertising or shared with anyone else, unless the law requires it. Google and Cloudflare may process information outside the UK; they use recognised safeguards for international transfers, such as standard contractual clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.

Legal basis

Under UK data protection law, your email address is processed on the basis of legitimate interests: giving the people the administrator has invited secure access to the site, and keeping the site secure.

How long information is kept

• Your email address stays on the list of invited people until the administrator removes it, which they will do if you ask.
• Cloudflare and Google keep their own records of sign-ins for the periods set out in their privacy policies.
• Information in your browser stays until you delete it.
• If you save to Google Drive, the file stays in your Drive until you delete it, or remove the site's access in your Google Account (Security, then Third-party apps with account access), which also lets you delete it.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information held about you, to have it corrected or deleted, or object to how it is used, by contacting philip.marsden@gmail.com. If you are unhappy with how your information is handled, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Children

The site is not intended for anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with a new date at the top.