Privacy Policy
01 About The Instant
The Instant (theinstant.cc) is an experimental athletic science and computational tools lab offering free, in-browser utilities including the DIY Energy Gel Calculator, Cycling Handlebar Geometry Visualizer, 3D Bikepacking Gear Planner, GPX Ride Weather Simulator, and PDF Measuring Tool.
We do not maintain user accounts, require logins, sell customer profiles, or process commercial payment transactions on this website. Our data collection is intentionally minimal, focusing solely on understanding site usability and feature adoption.
02 Analytics & Session Insights
To understand user journeys, diagnose interface bugs, and discover which athletic tools provide the most value, we utilize two third-party analytics services:
- Google Analytics (GA4): We use Google Analytics to measure aggregate, anonymized traffic indicators including page views, session duration, device operating system, browser type, and approximate geographic location (at city/country level). Google Analytics does not collect personally identifying information like names or home addresses. You can prevent Google Analytics from identifying you by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
- Microsoft Clarity: We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Sensitive Data Masking: Microsoft Clarity’s session recordings automatically apply intelligent text and input field masking so that arbitrary keystrokes are obscured from playback.
03 Cookies & Local Browser Storage
Our website uses standard browser storage mechanisms to ensure preferences persist and analytics function properly:
| Type | Name / Key | Purpose & Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie (Google) | _ga, _ga_* |
Distinguishes unique visitors for aggregate telemetry (2 years). |
| Cookie (Microsoft) | _clck, _clsk, CLID |
Persists Clarity user ID and ties pageviews into a single session recording (1 year / 1 day). |
| Local Storage | theinstant_cookie_consent |
Remembers that you have seen and dismissed the cookie notice banner. |
| Local Storage | theinstant_plan_theme, theme |
Remembers your preference for dark mode or light mode across visits. |
| Local Storage | gel_form_mode |
Stores your active mode preference in the DIY energy gel calculator. |
You can delete or disable cookies at any time through your web browser's privacy and security settings. Disabling cookies will not affect the functionality of any computational tools or calculators on this site.
04 External Services & Network Requests
Some specialized tools make client-side network calls to external public services:
-
Open-Meteo Weather API: In the GPX Ride Weather Planner (
ride.html), your browser queriesapi.open-meteo.comto fetch historical and forecasted weather conditions for coordinates along your route. Only numerical latitude, longitude, and timestamps are transmitted; no personal identifiers are attached. -
Buy Me A Coffee: If you choose to tip the creator via our external link to Buy Me a Coffee (
buymeacoffee.com/theinstant), your transaction and payment details are processed entirely on their independent platform under their privacy policy. - Public Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Web fonts and public JavaScript libraries (e.g. Google Fonts, Three.js) may be loaded from reputable CDNs to improve load speeds and caching efficiency.
05 Your Choices & Controls
We respect your sovereignty over your web browsing experience:
- Cookie Controls: Use your browser settings to reject cookies or delete them when you close your browser.
- Do Not Track / Global Privacy Control: We respect standard browser privacy signals.
- Analytics Opt-Out: You may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on or enable ad-blockers / tracking protection (such as uBlock Origin or Brave Shields), which will block Clarity and Google Analytics scripts from firing without hindering tool usability.
06 Contact & Policy Updates
We may occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our tools, third-party analytics services, or applicable regulatory standards. Any revisions will be reflected with an updated "Effective Date" at the top of this page.
If you have questions, feedback, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how data is treated on The Instant, please reach out directly:
Email: g@theinstant.cc
Website: theinstant.cc