Policy
This policy explains what data reviewcatalog.com collects when you visit, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have to see, change, or delete it.
ReviewCatalog (“we”, “us”, “the site”) is operated by Alex, an individual based in the United States. The site URL is reviewcatalog.com. For any question about this policy, including data access and deletion requests, write to hello@reviewcatalog.com.
Information we collect
We collect two kinds of data: information your browser sends automatically when you visit any website, and information you choose to give us directly.
- Standard server and analytics data. Pages visited, time on page, approximate location (country and city level, from IP), device type, browser, operating system, and the referring site or search query that sent you here. We do not store full IP addresses for longer than 14 days.
- Information you provide. If you email us, leave a comment, ask a question on a review, vote on a product, or sign up for any future newsletter, we receive whatever you choose to share (typically a name or display name, an email address, and the content of your message).
- Cookies and similar identifiers. We set cookies to keep you logged in if you comment, to remember your accessibility settings, and to measure traffic. Details in the cookies section below.
We do not collect government IDs, payment card data, health data, or precise GPS location. We never ask you for them.
How we use the information
We use the data above to run and improve the site, respond to your messages, moderate comments and Q&A, measure which content is useful, fix bugs, prevent spam and abuse, and meet our legal obligations. Specifically:
- Analytics data tells us which reviews readers actually finish, which helps us decide what to test next.
- Email and comment data is used to reply to you and to keep a thread of conversation in moderation.
- Cookie data is used to keep the site working as you expect from page to page.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with data brokers. We do not run targeted advertising on the site.
Cookies and analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 for traffic measurement. Google Analytics sets its own cookies (typically _ga and _ga_*) and processes the data on Google’s servers under Google’s terms. We use IP anonymization where the option is available. You can opt out of Google Analytics site-wide using Google’s opt-out add-on.
We may also set a small number of first-party cookies for site functionality: keeping you signed in to comments, remembering your dark-mode or accessibility choice, and preventing duplicate vote submissions. None of these are used for advertising or cross-site tracking. You can disable cookies in your browser; some features (comments, votes, accessibility toggle) will stop working if you do.
Affiliate link tracking
When you click an outbound product link, the destination (typically AliExpress) sets its own affiliate-tracking cookies under its own privacy policy. That tracking is what lets us earn a commission if you buy. We do not see your purchase details, payment information, or shipping address. We only see aggregated commission reports from the affiliate program. Read the full affiliate disclosure for context, and check AliExpress’s own privacy policy for what they do on their side.
Your rights under GDPR (EU/EEA/UK readers)
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation gives you the right to:
- Ask what personal data we hold about you (right of access).
- Ask us to correct anything wrong (right of rectification).
- Ask us to delete your data (right to erasure / “right to be forgotten”).
- Object to specific uses, including analytics (right to object).
- Receive your data in a portable format (right to data portability).
- Lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
Our legal bases for processing are: legitimate interest (running and securing the site, basic analytics), consent (where required for non-essential cookies), and contract / pre-contract (when you email us and we reply).
Your rights under CCPA / CPRA (California readers)
If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete it, the right to correct inaccurate information, and the right to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no opt-out link required. If you want confirmation in writing, email us and we’ll send one.
Children’s privacy
This site is intended for adult buyers. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us (for example through a comment), write to hello@reviewcatalog.com and we’ll remove it within five business days.
How long we keep your data
- Email correspondence: kept while the conversation is active and for up to 24 months after, for context if you write back.
- Comments and Q&A: kept indefinitely unless you ask us to remove yours.
- Analytics data: standard Google Analytics retention is 14 months for user-level data.
- Server logs (IP, request URL): rotated within 14 days.
Data security and transfers
The site is hosted on shared infrastructure in the United States. If you write to us from outside the US, your email and any data you choose to send is transferred to and processed in the US. We use HTTPS site-wide, password-protected admin access, and routine backups. We are a small operation, which is a real constraint. We try to compensate by collecting as little as possible in the first place.
Changes to this policy
When this policy changes, we update the “last updated” date at the top and, for significant changes, post a notice on the site for at least 30 days. We don’t email past visitors about routine updates because we don’t run a mailing list for that purpose.
Contact for privacy questions
For any access, correction, deletion, or opt-out request, write to hello@reviewcatalog.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line, or use the contact page. We aim to respond within five business days, and we’ll always tell you what data we acted on. Our broader testing and editorial process is documented on the methodology page.