Stats4U - Free Counters

In short

The counter sets no cookies and by default reads nothing from your device. Only where the site operator switches it on does its script read three values — the screen resolution, the width of the browser window and the pixel ratio; see 3. The IP address is not stored in the statistics; it feeds into a salted daily hash whose salt is deleted after 2 days.

No advertising profiles are built, and no raw data is sold or passed to third parties. Because the counter number feeds into the hash, the same visitor cannot be recognised as the same person across two different sites.

The overview further down is generated from the system configuration, not maintained by hand. It therefore describes the actual state rather than the intention.

1. Controller

The controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR for the processing on the pages of www.stats4u.net is:

LW IT Solutions Company Lukas Wójcik, al. Tadeusza Kościuszki 80/82, lok. 301, 90-437 Łódź, Poland, NIP: PL7252266190, REGON: 369859995. E-mail: stats4u@lukaswojcik.com. Further particulars are in the imprint.

No data protection officer has been appointed; there is no obligation to do so under Art. 37 GDPR. Please address enquiries to the above or use the enquiry form available on every page.

2. Two processes that must be kept apart

This policy concerns two different things, and responsibility for them is not the same.

2.1 The counter on someone else's site. Where a webmaster embeds the counter on their site, they are the controller for the data collected there. They decide whether and how counting takes place, and they must inform their visitors about it. Stats4U processes that data solely on their behalf and is a processor under Art. 28 GDPR. The details are in the data processing agreement.

2.2 Visiting www.stats4u.net itself. For everything that happens on these pages — calling up the home page, creating a counter, viewing a statistics page, the enquiry form — the operator named under 1 is itself the controller. That is covered under 5.

If you arrived here because you saw a counter image on someone else's site: sections 3 and 4 concern you. The operator of that site is your point of contact; they can instruct us to erase your data.

3. What the counter collects

Since 27 August 2026 the counter measures nine further things: how long a page was visible, how far down it was visible, which page was the last of a visit, which was the first, how long the individual page held its readers, how fast it loaded, what screen the device has, how wide the window was, and how many real pixels are behind it.

The first six are stored without an identifier and collected without any access to your device. Whether a report on them comes from a counted visit is, however, checked by the server against the daily hash (see below the table). The last three are different: for those the counter's script queries your device. That is an access to your terminal equipment, and we put it here rather than in the small print — the details are below the table. Since 11 September 2026 this happens only on sites whose operator has switched it on (data-screen="1" in the embed code); on www.stats4u.net itself only after your consent.

What is stored is, in all nine cases, only a band, an address or a value with a count per day. There is no row that describes a single visit.

Events (only if the site operator sets them up). An event is a click or a call that the site operator gives a name, for example “contact” or “form-sent”; where the automatic link-click option is switched on, it is named after the target of a link (the path for the site’s own pages, the host for other sites). What is stored, per counter, day and name, is only a number — no identifier, no IP address, no order. From “contact: 14” it is impossible to tell who clicked. The name must not contain personal data. The service rejects names that contain an @, a long run of digits or a long code; it cannot recognise a plain personal name. Anyone who builds names from what a visitor typed is not using the function as intended and is themselves responsible for that as controller. The names appear on the counter’s statistics page and are public there unless the operator has set the counter to private. To protect against abuse, the server keeps, per address, a salted checksum and the times of the requests of the last hour, for events as well as for the reports on time on page and device values, for failed password entries (admin area and password-protected statistics) and for failed deletion attempts; that record is deleted after about two hours, at the next opportunity.

Goals (only if the operator defines them). A goal is an event or a page that the site operator defines as a success, for example “contact” or “/thanks”. Unlike an event, a goal counts each visitor only once per day. To do so, the server keeps, for a goal reached, the visitor’s daily hash — the same one with which it counts the visitor anyway — and deletes it together with the other daily hashes after 2 days. What is stored beyond the day, for 400 days, per goal and day, is only the number of visitors who reached it and how often it was triggered, plus a count per characteristic: country, device, browser, operating system, language, the domain of the referring page and the entry page of the visit. These characteristics come from the row that the server keeps during a visit for the “online now” display; it contains country, city, the page last opened, browser, operating system, device and language, and since 25 September 2026 also the domain of the referring page and the entry page. It is deleted at the nightly clean-up once its last request is one hour in the past — at the latest about 25 hours afterwards. An event only counts as a goal if the same browser was counted as a visitor for this counter on that day. After 2 days there is no longer any row that links a visitor to a goal.

Polls (only if an operator creates one). A poll consists of a question and two to six answers or a star rating, set by the person who creates it. It appears as an image on their page; votes are cast on www.stats4u.net under /poll/. The image is a counter image: every display is collected and counted as described above. Whoever votes sends the chosen answer to www.stats4u.net. Stored per poll, day and answer is only a count, plus a count per answer by country and device type. So that each visitor votes only once per poll and day, the server keeps a daily hash — formed like the counter's, but with the number of the poll — without the chosen answer, and deletes it after 2 days. At no point is there a row that links a person to their answer. The voting form carries a check value computed from the number, the date, the IP address and the browser identifier; it is not stored and prevents another site from making its visitors vote unnoticed. Question, answers and vote counts remain stored until the poll is deleted; whether the result is publicly visible is decided by its creator. When a poll is created, Google reCAPTCHA checks the transmission to protect against automated submissions; the script required for this is loaded only when the form is sent, not when the page is called up. Legal basis for this: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

4. Legal bases and objection

4.1 The legal basis for counting is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR — the legitimate interest of the site operator in measuring the reach of their own site. The interest is in knowing whether and how the site is found; no overriding interests of visitors stand against it, because no identifier is set, the IP address does not enter the statistics and cross-site recognition is technically impossible.

4.2 The counter stores nothing on the device, and by default it reads nothing from it either — neither for the counting nor for the six measurements under 3 that need no access to the device. For these, Section 25 TDDDG and Art. 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive do not apply, and consent is not required. The screen resolution, the width of the browser window and the pixel ratio are different (see 3): the counter's script reads these three values from the device, but only where the site operator has switched this on. That is an access to terminal equipment within the meaning of those provisions. Whether it requires the visitors' consent on a particular site depends on the law that applies there; that assessment, and obtaining consent where it is needed, is for the site operator who switches it on.

4.3 The legal basis for providing the service to the counter owner and for answering enquiries is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a use relationship); for preventing abuse and for operational security, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; for legally required retention, Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR; and for anything for which consent is obtained, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR.

4.4 Right to object. You may object at any time under Art. 21 GDPR to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Address the objection to the operator of the site on which you encountered the counter; they are the controller. You may also contact stats4u@lukaswojcik.com — we will pass the objection on and act on instruction.

4.5 Excluding one's own visits. The operator of a counter may exclude their own IP addresses and ranges from counting. Those entries are held in plain text, because a range cannot be compared as a checksum, and remain stored until the operator withdraws them.

5. When you visit www.stats4u.net itself

5.1 Web server access log. Every request is logged with the full IP address, time, address requested, response code, volume transferred, referrer and user agent. The log serves fault diagnosis and defence against attacks and is deleted after 14 days. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. This applies to every request, including the retrieval of a counter image.

5.2 Session cookie. When you create or change a counter on www.stats4u.net, a session cookie is set, and likewise when you enter the correct password on a password-protected statistics page. It contains a random identifier, serves solely to hold the steps of the wizard together or to keep those statistics unlocked, and expires when the browser is closed. The password form itself does not set one, and on the privacy policy and imprint pages, none is set, deliberately.

5.3 Advertising. On the statistics pages under /live, advertising from Google AdSense (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is displayed. In doing so Google may process data about your device and, with the corresponding consent, store and read identifiers on your device. The home page carries no advertising.

5.4 Consent management. For visitors from the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google's consent management (“Privacy & messaging”, fundingchoicesmessages.google.com) is loaded. It asks for consent and makes the result available under the IAB TCF standard. Where no consent is given, Google serves advertising without personalisation and without access to your device. You may withdraw your consent at any time using the control in the consent manager.

5.5 Session recording (MousePlayer). On the pages of www.stats4u.net — and only there — a session recording may run that captures mouse movements and clicks and stores something on the device for that purpose. It is loaded only after your consent. It does not run on the pages of customers who embed the counter.

5.6 Own counter. www.stats4u.net counts its own visitors with the same counter it offers, with the measurement of screen resolution, window width and pixel ratio switched on. This too is subject to your consent; the counter stores nothing on the device.

5.7 Enquiry form. If you use the form, we process what you write into it: the topic, your name, your e-mail address, a counter number where given, and your message. The submission is stored so that it can be dealt with, and is additionally sent as a notification to a messenger service (Telegram) through which the operator receives it. To protect against automated submissions, Google reCAPTCHA checks the transmission; the script required for this is loaded only when you open the form, not when the page is called up. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR.

5.8 E-mail addresses of counter owners and subscribers. For counters dating from before 2026 an address is sometimes on file; one may be given voluntarily in the wizard or in the owner section of your statistics page. Such an address is used to send the administration link on request — to precisely that address; no other address can be entered. For anything else it is used only once it has been confirmed through a link sent to it, which is valid for 24 hours. A confirmed address receives a single notice if the counter falls silent and a check of its page confirms the problem (at most once per counter), and, if you switch them on in the owner section, the weekly summary of the counter, an e-mail on unusual days and a message when the counter reaches a threshold you set. Independently of ownership, anyone may subscribe to the weekly summary of a single counter from its statistics page; here too only a confirmed address receives it. For each subscription the counter number, the address, the language and the time of confirmation are stored. The letters contain only the counter's statistics — no IP addresses and nothing about individual visitors. Every weekly summary carries a link that unsubscribes with one click; the e-mail on unusual days is switched off in the owner section, and a threshold is removed there or deleted automatically once it has been reached. The addresses are stored in plain text, are not passed on and are not used for advertising. There is no automatic erasure period for the owner's address; you can remove it yourself at any time in the owner section, and the letters to it as owner end with it. Legal basis: for the weekly summary, the subscription to it, the e-mail on unusual days and the threshold message, your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, which you can withdraw at any time with effect for the future by unsubscribing, switching them off or removing the threshold; for the administration link, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR; for the notice about a silent counter, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

5.9 Sending e-mail. All e-mail — the administration link, the confirmation links and the letters under 5.8 — is sent via an outgoing mail service (PrivateEmail, Namecheap, Inc.). There is no advertising by e-mail and no bulk mailing: a letter goes only to an address confirmed for it under 5.8, and the administration link only on request. To prevent abuse, the server keeps, per counter, per IP address and per e-mail address, a salted checksum and the times of the requests; these records and addresses that have not been confirmed are deleted after two days at the latest (see 8).

5.10 Automatically generated summary. At the top of a statistics page, two or three sentences about the counter's development may appear. The language model is given exclusively already aggregated figures and the most visited page addresses of that counter — no IP addresses, no visitor identifiers and nothing that could be assigned to an individual person. The processing takes place on the operator's own infrastructure.

5.11 Fonts and embedded files. Fonts, images and scripts on these pages are served from our own server. No fonts are loaded from third-party servers.

5.12 Protection against automated requests (Google reCAPTCHA). Requests from certain forms and switches on www.stats4u.net are checked by Google reCAPTCHA v3 (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). These are: the enquiry form (5.7), creating a poll, requesting the administration link, entering an e-mail address for a counter or for the weekly summary, recovering a counter through its page, checking whether a page carries the counter, joining the web ring, and switching the e-mail on unusual days on or off. The script is loaded only when such a form is opened, clicked into or sent, or such a switch is operated, not when a page is called up; pages without them do not load it at all. When it runs, it creates an entry in the browser's local storage (“_grecaptcha”), and the browser sends Google information about the device and its use, including the IP address. From this, Google assesses whether the request comes from a human and returns a score. www.stats4u.net itself does not send Google the IP address, but the token generated in the browser, and receives the score in return. If there is no valid result, if Google cannot be reached or if the score is below a threshold, the request is rejected. The enquiry form is the exception: a submission with too low a score is stored together with the score, marked as suspected spam and not forwarded to Telegram; if Google cannot be reached, it is accepted unchecked. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is protecting the forms, the server and outgoing mail from abuse. For the transfer to the USA see 7.

5.13 Where new counters come from. When a counter number is taken on www.stats4u.net — with the first step in the wizard, which includes copying the code — the following is stored with that number: the time; where the visitor came from, that is the domain of the referring site (never its path or search terms) or the value of utm_source in the address; the path of the wizard page and of the page before it on www.stats4u.net; and the time the code was first copied. A further counter created in the same session takes over this information; for a number requested through the WordPress plugin, only that fact is recorded. No IP address is stored with the number. To count how many different people create counters, the server keeps, on the day a number is taken, the visitor’s salted daily hash — formed from IP address, user agent, date and the daily salt, with a purpose marker of its own — together with a running number for that day, and stores only this running number with the counter number. The hash is deleted together with the other daily hashes (see 8); after that, the running number shows only that two counter numbers were taken by the same visitor on the same day, and no longer leads to anyone. Whether the counter is used later is read from its own figures. The purpose is to see which ways of finding the service lead to counters that are actually used.

5.14 First source of a visit. Many visitors reach the wizard only after several pages. So that the source is not lost, the server keeps, when a page of www.stats4u.net is called up from another site or with utm_source in the address, the visitor’s salted daily hash — formed from IP address, user agent, date and the daily salt, with a purpose marker of its own, so that it matches no counter’s hash — together with that domain or utm_source value and the path of the page reached. Only the first source of the day is kept, and requests recognised as automated are not recorded. If the same visitor takes a counter number that day, this source is stored with the number (5.13) and marked as such. No cookie is set, and nothing is stored on or read from the device; the server uses only what the browser sends with every request anyway. Legal basis for 5.13 and 5.14: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the legitimate interest lies in knowing which ways of finding the service lead to counters that are actually used. An objection can be sent to stats4u@lukaswojcik.com.

5.15 Live chat (reactive.chat). On the pages of www.stats4u.net — and only there — a chat window may appear through which you can write to us. It is a product of the same operator and runs on the operator’s servers in Poland. It is loaded only after your consent; if you decline, it is not loaded at all. The chat window stores entries in your browser’s storage whose names begin with “rc_”: a random identifier of the conversation, the state of the window, messages not yet sent and — if you provide them — name, email address and telephone number from the form shown before the chat. It sets no cookies. When it connects, it transmits the page being viewed (address and title), the referring page, language, time zone, screen and window size, the type of device and the pages visited earlier during this visit; once the chat is opened, also the visible text of the page, so that a reply can refer to it. Your messages and uploaded files are stored, together with the browser identifier (user agent), language and country. Email addresses, card numbers, IBANs, telephone and tax numbers in messages are masked in the browser before sending. The IP address is used only briefly, in working memory, to protect against abuse. Replies are generated by a language model on a computer of the operator’s own in Poland; no AI provider receives your messages. Under “Your data” in the chat window you can see at any time what is stored, withdraw your consent and delete everything. Legal basis: for loading and for storing on the device, your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG; for handling your enquiry, Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR.

6. Recipients

The counter data processed on behalf of controllers does not leave the server in Łódź. It is neither sold nor passed to third parties nor written into anyone else's cloud.

Recipients exist only for the ancillary services named under 5:

• Google Ireland Limited — advertising on the statistics pages, consent management, protection of the forms against automated requests (5.3, 5.4, 5.7, 5.12),
• Telegram FZ-LLC — notification of incoming enquiries (5.7),
• Namecheap, Inc. / PrivateEmail — sending e-mail (5.8, 5.9),
• MousePlayer — session recording on www.stats4u.net, only with consent (5.5).

Beyond this we disclose data where we are legally obliged to do so — for instance to law enforcement authorities on a valid order.

7. Transfers to third countries

Processing takes place in Poland and therefore within the European Union.

A transfer to a third country occurs only with the recipients named under 6. For Google, the European Commission's adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework applies, supplemented by standard contractual clauses. For Namecheap, standard contractual clauses apply. For Telegram (United Arab Emirates) the transfer is based on Art. 49(1)(b) GDPR; it concerns exclusively the details you yourself write into the enquiry form. Anyone who does not use the form is not affected.

For third countries without an adequacy decision, access by state authorities cannot be ruled out with the same certainty as within the EU. That is why this is stated here, and why the scope is kept this small.

8. Retention periods

The periods are set out in the overview under 3. In summary:

• web server access log: 14 days,
• online row of a visit: until the nightly clean-up, at the latest about 25 hours after the last request,
• visitors' daily hashes, including those for goals reached: 2 days; the salt is deleted with them,
• first source of a visit to www.stats4u.net (5.14): 2 days, together with the other daily hashes,
• live chat (5.15): conversations 12 months after the last message, after which a nightly run deletes them; in the browser, the details from the form shown before the chat for up to one year, the conversation identifier for one day,
• source of a counter number (5.13): as long as the counter exists — it is erased with it; for a number with which nothing was ever counted, 400 days,
• aggregated evaluations (pages, page transitions, referrers, languages, events, goals and their characteristics, time on page, scroll depth, entry page, last page of a visit, time per page, load time, screen resolution, window size, device pixels): 400 days,
• polls: question, answers and vote counts per day, country and device type until the poll is deleted; the voters' daily hash 2 days,
• excluded addresses: until withdrawn by the counter owner,
• counter owner's e-mail address and the settings for letters to it: until erased by them,
• subscriptions to the weekly summary: until unsubscribed,
• unconfirmed e-mail addresses and the records for preventing abuse of the e-mail forms: deleted at the nightly clean-up once they are 24 hours old, i.e. after two days at the latest,
• submissions from the enquiry form: until dealt with, and beyond that for as long as commercial or tax retention obligations exist,
• total counter reading: permanently — it is a figure with no personal reference.

A nightly run deletes what has expired. Erasure is not suspended on request.

9. Your rights

You have the following rights against the controller:

• Access (Art. 15 GDPR) — what data concerning you is processed,
• Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) — correction of inaccurate data,
• Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR) — where no retention ground stands against it,
• Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR),
• Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) — for data based on consent or contract,
• Objection (Art. 21 GDPR) — against any processing based on legitimate interests,
• Withdrawal of consent (Art. 7(3) GDPR) — with effect for the future; processing carried out until then remains lawful.

9.1 What limits us here. The statistics contain no IP addresses; the visitor hashes are salted, and the salt is deleted after 2 days. After that, a record can no longer be assigned to any person — not even if you give us your IP address. Under Art. 11(1) GDPR we are not obliged to collect additional data solely in order to answer a request. As Art. 11(2) GDPR requires, we will tell you so and explain why, rather than invent an answer.

9.2 Where to send the request. If your concern relates to the counter on someone else's site, the operator of that site is your point of contact (2.1). You may still contact us; we will pass it on and act on their instruction. If it relates to www.stats4u.net itself, contact stats4u@lukaswojcik.com directly.

10. Complaint to a supervisory authority

Under Art. 77 GDPR you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, without prejudice to other remedies.

The competent supervisory authority for the controller is:

Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych (UODO), ul. Stawki 2, 00-193 Warsaw, Poland, uodo.gov.pl.

You may equally contact the supervisory authority of your place of residence or of your workplace.

11. No automated decision-making

There is no automated decision-making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR and no profiling. No advertising profiles are built, no interests are inferred and no assessments of individual persons are made.

The detection of automated requests (“bots”) evaluates the user agent of a request, not a person, and has no legal effect for anyone.

The reCAPTCHA score (5.12) decides only on the individual request; beyond that, no one is assessed. A rejected request can be sent again, or the matter can be addressed to stats4u@lukaswojcik.com; a submission from the enquiry form is never rejected because of its score.

12. Is provision required?

There is neither a statutory nor a contractual obligation to provide data. Without processing the items named under 3, however, a request cannot be counted — that is the function itself, not a condition.

Providing an e-mail address is voluntary. Without one, only the administration link and the letters under 5.8 cannot be sent.

13. Security

All pages and the retrieval of the counter image run exclusively encrypted over HTTPS. The server is located on the operator's premises; the database accepts no connections from outside. Credentials are held outside the directory reachable over the network.

Visitor recognition works with a secret salt that changes daily. Because the counter number feeds into the hash, the same visitor produces two different hashes on two different sites — cross-site recognition is therefore technically impossible, not merely prohibited.

The full description of the measures under Art. 32 GDPR is in Annex 1 of the data processing agreement.

14. Children

The service is aimed at operators of websites, not at children. No data of children is knowingly collected. The counter does not distinguish by age, because to do so it would have to collect exactly the kind of data it does not collect.

15. Changes to this policy

This policy is kept up to date when the processing changes. The version published at www.stats4u.net/privacy governs; it carries a version number and a date.

The overview under 3 is generated from the system configuration on every request. If the technology changes, the overview changes with it — it cannot become outdated without the code changing too.

This policy is published in several languages. Only the English version is binding; the other language versions are translations. In the event of any discrepancy, the English version prevails.

16. Further documents

The following apply in addition:

• the terms of service — what the service does, what it does not do, and who is answerable for what,
• the data processing agreement — for everyone who embeds the counter on their own site,
• the Privacy text for your site — a ready-made paragraph for your own policy, tailored to your own counter, in every language of this website,
• the imprint.

Version

Version 1.18, dated 27 September 2026.