diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/analytics.js b/frontend/src/lib/analytics.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bff4f44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/analytics.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+// Privacy-respecting, first-party analytics. The visitor token is a random
+// localStorage string — never email, IP, or a fingerprint. It only lets the
+// admin dashboard tell "new vs returning" in aggregate. Server hashes it.
+const VISITOR_KEY = 'goodnews:visitor';
+const VISITDAY_KEY = 'goodnews:visitday';
+
+function visitorId() {
+  try {
+    let v = localStorage.getItem(VISITOR_KEY);
+    if (!v) {
+      v = crypto?.randomUUID ? crypto.randomUUID() : String(Math.random()).slice(2) + Date.now();
+      localStorage.setItem(VISITOR_KEY, v);
+    }
+    return v;
+  } catch {
+    return '';
+  }
+}
+
+export function track(kind, articleId = 0) {
+  try {
+    const body = JSON.stringify({ kind, article_id: articleId || 0, visitor: visitorId() });
+    if (navigator.sendBeacon) {
+      navigator.sendBeacon('/api/events', new Blob([body], { type: 'application/json' }));
+    } else {
+      fetch('/api/events', {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+        body,
+        keepalive: true,
+      }).catch(() => {});
+    }
+  } catch {
+    /* best-effort, never throws */
+  }
+}
+
+// Count a visit at most once per day per device.
+export function trackVisit() {
+  try {
+    const today = new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10);
+    if (localStorage.getItem(VISITDAY_KEY) !== today) {
+      localStorage.setItem(VISITDAY_KEY, today);
+      track('visit');
+    }
+  } catch {
+    /* ignore */
+  }
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/components/ArticleCard.svelte b/frontend/src/lib/components/ArticleCard.svelte
index 34f87bf..10f02e0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/components/ArticleCard.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/components/ArticleCard.svelte
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 <script>
   import { auth, savedIds, toggleSave } from '$lib/auth.svelte.js';
+  import { track } from '$lib/analytics.js';
 
   let { article, onaction, onreplace, ontag, onimageerror, onview, hero = false } = $props();
+
+  function opened() {
+    onview?.(article);
+    track('open', article.id);
+  }
   let isSaved = $derived(savedIds.has(article.id));
 
   const humanize = (s) => (s || '').replace(/-/g, ' ');
@@ -52,6 +58,7 @@
   async function nativeShare() {
     try {
       await navigator.share({ title: article.title, url: shareUrl });
+      track('native_share', article.id);
     } catch {
       /* user cancelled */
     }
@@ -80,7 +87,7 @@
   data-topic={article.topic ?? ''}
 >
   {#if showImage}
-    <a class="media" href={safeHref} target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick={() => onview?.(article)}>
+    <a class="media" href={safeHref} target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick={opened}>
       <img src={article.image_url} alt="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"
            onerror={() => { failed = true; onimageerror?.(); }} />
     </a>
@@ -101,7 +108,7 @@
     </div>
     <div class="src">{article.source}</div>
 
-    <h3><a href={safeHref} target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick={() => onview?.(article)}>{article.title}</a></h3>
+    <h3><a href={safeHref} target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick={opened}>{article.title}</a></h3>
 
     {#if hero && article.description}
       <p class="desc">{article.description}</p>
@@ -139,10 +146,10 @@
             {#if canNativeShare}
               <button role="menuitem" onclick={nativeShare}>Share…</button>
             {/if}
-            <button role="menuitem" onclick={() => copy(shareUrl, 'link')}>
+            <button role="menuitem" onclick={() => { copy(shareUrl, 'link'); track('share_ub', article.id); }}>
               {copied === 'link' ? 'Copied!' : 'Copy link'}
             </button>
-            <button role="menuitem" onclick={() => copy(article.url, 'source')}>
+            <button role="menuitem" onclick={() => { copy(article.url, 'source'); track('copy_source', article.id); }}>
               {copied === 'source' ? 'Copied!' : 'Copy source link'}
             </button>
           </div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/+page.svelte
index 430ee0e..7fb66eb 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/+page.svelte
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
   import BoundariesPanel from '$lib/components/BoundariesPanel.svelte';
   import SignIn from '$lib/components/SignIn.svelte';
   import { auth, savedIds, refresh as refreshAuth } from '$lib/auth.svelte.js';
+  import { trackVisit } from '$lib/analytics.js';
 
   let moods = $state([]);
   let topics = $state([]);
@@ -302,6 +303,7 @@
     dismissed = new Set(P.loadJSON(DISMISSED_KEY, []));
     history = P.loadJSON(HISTORY_KEY, []);
     refreshAuth(); // resolve any existing session (non-blocking)
+    trackVisit(); // anonymous, once/day
     try {
       moods = await getJSON('/api/moods');
       topics = (await getJSON('/api/categories')).topics;
diff --git a/goodnews/api.py b/goodnews/api.py
index 877d2c8..920af47 100644
--- a/goodnews/api.py
+++ b/goodnews/api.py
@@ -336,6 +336,23 @@ class PrefsBody(BaseModel):
     prefs: dict = {}
 
 
+class EventBody(BaseModel):
+    kind: str
+    article_id: int | None = None
+    visitor: str | None = None
+
+
+# The only event kinds we record (per the agreed vocabulary).
+_EVENT_KINDS = {"visit", "open", "share_ub", "copy_source", "native_share", "source_click"}
+
+
+def _visitor_hash(token: str | None) -> str:
+    token = (token or "").strip()[:200]
+    if not token:
+        return ""
+    return hashlib.sha256(f"{SESSION_SECRET}:{token}".encode()).hexdigest()
+
+
 # --- App --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
@@ -666,6 +683,20 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
             _kick_summary(aid, background_tasks)  # generate for next time; page polls
         return HTMLResponse(share.render_share_page(dict(row), PUBLIC_BASE_URL, summary=summary))
 
+    # --- Privacy-respecting first-party analytics -------------------------
+
+    @app.post("/api/events")
+    def record_event(body: EventBody) -> dict:
+        if body.kind in _EVENT_KINDS:
+            with get_conn() as conn:
+                conn.execute(
+                    "INSERT OR IGNORE INTO events (kind, article_id, visitor_hash, day) "
+                    "VALUES (?, ?, ?, date('now'))",
+                    (body.kind, body.article_id or 0, _visitor_hash(body.visitor)),
+                )
+                conn.commit()
+        return {"ok": True}  # always identical; dedup'd by the unique key
+
     @app.get("/api/summary/{article_id}")
     def article_summary(article_id: int, background_tasks: BackgroundTasks) -> dict:
         with get_conn() as conn:
diff --git a/goodnews/db.py b/goodnews/db.py
index ee2bddc..cdc1d91 100644
--- a/goodnews/db.py
+++ b/goodnews/db.py
@@ -205,6 +205,24 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS article_summaries (
     model TEXT,
     created_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
 );
+
+-- Privacy-respecting, first-party analytics. NO IP / user-agent / referrer / raw
+-- URL. visitor_hash is a hash of a random localStorage token (never email/IP).
+-- The UNIQUE key dedups to one row per (kind, article, visitor, day) — that both
+-- caps volume and makes counts mean "distinct visitor-days". Groupings are derived
+-- from article_id at query time, never stored here.
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events (
+    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+    kind TEXT NOT NULL,
+    article_id INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+    visitor_hash TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+    day TEXT NOT NULL,
+    created_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+    UNIQUE (kind, article_id, visitor_hash, day)
+);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_events_day ON events(day);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_events_kind ON events(kind);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_events_article ON events(article_id);
 """
 
 
diff --git a/goodnews/share.py b/goodnews/share.py
index ec5e187..716ad7e 100644
--- a/goodnews/share.py
+++ b/goodnews/share.py
@@ -72,6 +72,21 @@ def render_share_page(article: dict, base_url: str, summary: str | None = None)
   }}
   go();
 }})();
+</script>"""
+
+    # Fire a privacy-respecting 'source_click' when the reader heads to the source
+    # (reuses the SPA's anonymous visitor token from same-origin localStorage).
+    src_click = f"""<script>
+(function(){{
+  var b=document.querySelector('[data-src-click]'); if(!b) return;
+  b.addEventListener('click',function(){{
+    try{{
+      var v=localStorage.getItem('goodnews:visitor')||'';
+      var body=JSON.stringify({{kind:'source_click',article_id:{aid},visitor:v}});
+      if(navigator.sendBeacon) navigator.sendBeacon('/api/events',new Blob([body],{{type:'application/json'}}));
+    }}catch(e){{}}
+  }});
+}})();
 </script>"""
 
     return f"""<!doctype html>
@@ -134,6 +149,7 @@ def render_share_page(article: dict, base_url: str, summary: str | None = None)
       </div>
     </article>
   </main>
+  {src_click}
   {poll}
 </body>
 </html>"""
diff --git a/tests/test_events.py b/tests/test_events.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ba5c40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_events.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import pytest
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def app_db(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    db = tmp_path / "t.sqlite3"
+    monkeypatch.setenv("GOODNEWS_DB", str(db))
+    monkeypatch.setenv("GOODNEWS_SESSION_SECRET", "test-secret")
+    import importlib
+    import goodnews.api as api
+    importlib.reload(api)
+    from goodnews.db import connect, init_db
+    connect(str(db)).close()  # creates schema lazily? ensure init
+    c = connect(str(db)); init_db(c); c.close()
+    return api.create_app(), db
+
+
+def _count(db, **where):
+    from goodnews.db import connect
+    c = connect(str(db))
+    clause = " AND ".join(f"{k}=?" for k in where)
+    sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM events" + (f" WHERE {clause}" if where else "")
+    n = c.execute(sql, tuple(where.values())).fetchone()[0]
+    c.close()
+    return n
+
+
+def test_event_recorded_and_deduped(app_db):
+    app, db = app_db
+    tc = TestClient(app)
+    for _ in range(3):  # same (kind, article, visitor, day) → one row
+        assert tc.post("/api/events", json={"kind": "open", "article_id": 5, "visitor": "tok"}).json() == {"ok": True}
+    assert _count(db, kind="open", article_id=5) == 1
+    # a different visitor is a distinct row
+    tc.post("/api/events", json={"kind": "open", "article_id": 5, "visitor": "other"})
+    assert _count(db, kind="open", article_id=5) == 2
+
+
+def test_visitor_token_is_hashed_not_stored_raw(app_db):
+    app, db = app_db
+    TestClient(app).post("/api/events", json={"kind": "visit", "visitor": "secret-token"})
+    from goodnews.db import connect
+    c = connect(str(db))
+    vh = c.execute("SELECT visitor_hash FROM events").fetchone()[0]
+    c.close()
+    assert vh and vh != "secret-token" and len(vh) == 64  # sha256 hex
+
+
+def test_unknown_kind_is_ignored(app_db):
+    app, db = app_db
+    assert TestClient(app).post("/api/events", json={"kind": "evil", "visitor": "x"}).json() == {"ok": True}
+    assert _count(db) == 0