Legal
Last updated: September 2026
The short version: Galactic uses Google Analytics to understand how many people visit the site and which pages they read. We have no accounts, no logins, and collect no personal information beyond standard, anonymized traffic analytics. You are not personally identified by this site.
Galactic does not require accounts or registration to browse the site. There are no user accounts, no comment systems, and no newsletter sign-ups. We do not collect personal information such as your name or email address unless you choose to provide it yourself — for example, by submitting the Contact page form.
This site uses Google Analytics, which sets cookies in your browser to help distinguish you from other visitors and measure how the site is used in aggregate. These cookies do not identify you personally. You can block or delete them at any time through your browser's settings, or opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites using Google's official browser add-on, available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Galactic uses Google Analytics (GA4) to understand overall site traffic — for example, how many people visit, which pages are read most, and roughly what country or device they're browsing from. This data is aggregated and is not used to identify you as an individual. We do not use it to track you across other websites, build an advertising profile, or sell any information to third parties. You can read Google's own explanation of how Analytics handles data in Google's Analytics data privacy documentation.
COSMOS loads a small number of resources from third-party providers to function correctly. These are:
Google Analytics — As described in Section 2, we use Google Analytics to measure site traffic. Google may process this data in accordance with their privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.
Google Fonts — We use Google Fonts to display the typefaces used on this site. When your browser loads a page on COSMOS, it makes a request to Google's servers to download the font files. Google may log this request as part of their standard server logging. You can review Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.
YouTube (Google LLC) — The hero background video on COSMOS's homepage is embedded from YouTube. When you visit the homepage, your browser connects to YouTube's servers to stream the video. YouTube may collect data about this playback in accordance with their own privacy policy. You can review it at policies.google.com/privacy. COSMOS has no control over the data YouTube collects.
COSMOS may contain links to external websites such as NASA, ESA, Hubble Site, and other scientific resources. Once you click an external link and leave COSMOS, this privacy policy no longer applies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any external website and encourage you to review their policies individually.
Galactic is designed as an educational resource suitable for all ages. The site requires no account, registration, or personal information to use, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Google Analytics collects aggregated, anonymized usage data from all visitors regardless of age, as described in Section 2 — this data is not used to identify any individual visitor, including children.
If this privacy policy is ever updated, the revised version will be posted on this page with an updated date at the top. Continued use of Galactic following any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or wish to request deletion of information you've submitted via the Contact form, you can reach the Galactic team via the Contact page. Since Google Analytics data is aggregated and anonymized, it is not tied to your identity and cannot be individually looked up or deleted on request — you can, however, opt out of it entirely at any time using the method described in Section 1.