PRIVACY POLICY

Who we are

Hottest Take (“Hottest Take,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an independently operated online publication located at hottesttake.com (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect from visitors, how we use it, and the choices you have. By using the Site, you agree to the practices described here.

Information we collect

We collect a few different kinds of information:

• Information you give us directly. If you contact us by email, or in the future submit a form on the Site, we receive whatever information you choose to include, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message.
• Information collected automatically. Like most websites, our server and the tools we use automatically log certain technical information when you visit, including your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring page, the pages you view, and the date and time of your visit.
• Voting and engagement data. If you vote “Hot” or “Cold” on an article, we record that vote against the article. We do not attach votes to your name or email — the only identifier involved is a marker your browser stores locally so you can’t vote twice on the same article.

Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files a website can store on your device. We use them, and allow certain third parties to use them, for a few purposes:

• Preferences. A cookie-free local storage setting remembers whether you prefer the Site’s light or dark (“day/night”) theme, and whether you’ve already voted on a given article.
• Advertising. As described below, Google and its advertising partners may set cookies to serve and measure ads. You control these through the cookie banner described below.

Most browsers let you block or delete cookies through their settings. Blocking cookies may affect how some features of the Site work, though the Site will generally remain usable without them.

Advertising

The Site displays advertising served through Google AdSense, including Google’s Auto ads, which places ads on the Site automatically. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies, web beacons, IP addresses, device identifiers, and similar technologies to serve, personalize, and measure ads based on your visits to this Site and other websites. You can learn more about how Google uses this information, and manage your personalized-ad settings, at Google’s page on how information is used in advertising and through Google’s Ad Settings.

When you first visit the Site, a cookie banner lets you accept, reject, or customize non-essential cookies — including the advertising cookies described above — before they are set. You can change your choice at any time using the “Consent Preferences” option available on the Site.

Analytics

We do not currently run Google Analytics or any other analytics/tracking service on the Site. We do use Google Search Console, which helps us understand how the Site appears in Google Search results (for example, which search terms lead to the Site) but does not track individual visitors’ browsing activity on the Site itself. If we activate Google Analytics or a similar tool in the future, we will update this policy to describe it before doing so.

Service providers we use

Operating the Site means relying on a small number of outside services to actually run it. As of the date above, that list is:

• IONOS — web hosting and server infrastructure.
• WordPress and its plugins — the software the Site runs on, including Rank Math (search engine optimization and sitemaps) and Google Site Kit (which connects Search Console and, if activated later, other Google services).
• Google AdSense — advertising, as described above.
• Contact Form 7 — a contact-form plugin that is installed but not yet active anywhere on the Site. If we add a live contact form, submissions through it will be handled by this plugin and delivered to our email.

We will keep this list current as our tools change, and we won’t list a service here unless it’s actually installed and in use.

How information is shared

We do not sell personal information for money. We may share information with the service providers listed above to the extent necessary for them to do the job we use them for (for example, our host storing the Site’s data, or Google serving ads). We may also disclose information if required to by law, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Site, our visitors, or others.

Some advertising activity — such as allowing Google to use cookies to personalize ads based on your activity across sites — may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of information under certain state privacy laws, even though no money changes hands. Where applicable, you may opt out of this through your browser’s cookie controls or Google’s Ad Settings linked above.

Data retention

We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy — for example, operating the Site, maintaining security, and complying with legal obligations. Exact retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the service involved (for example, how long our host retains server logs).

Security

We use reasonable measures to help protect information from unauthorized access, but no website or method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we can’t guarantee absolute security.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to object to or opt out of certain uses of it. To make a request, email us at the address below. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

California residents: California law gives residents additional rights over their personal information, including the right to know what categories of information a business collects and the right to request deletion. We do not sell personal information for money, as noted above.

Other states and countries: If you live somewhere else with its own privacy law — elsewhere in the U.S., the EU, the UK, or otherwise — you may have similar rights under that law. Contact us and we’ll do our best to honor applicable requests.

Some browsers and extensions send an automated “Do Not Track” or Global Privacy Control signal. We don’t currently have a system in place to detect or respond to these signals, so the Site may not respond differently when one is present.

Children’s privacy

The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we’ll take steps to delete it.

Links to other sites

Articles on the Site may link to, or embed content from, other websites (for example, a linked news source or an embedded post from X). Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we don’t control and this policy doesn’t cover.

Accessibility

We want Hottest Take to be usable by as many readers as possible, including readers using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technology. We try to build the Site with accessibility in mind, but we know we won’t always get it right. If you run into something on the Site that’s difficult or impossible to use because of a disability, please email us at admin.ceo@hottesttake.com and let us know what page you were on and what happened — we’ll do our best to fix it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as the Site changes. When we do, we’ll revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Significant changes may be noted more prominently.

Contact us

Questions about this policy, or privacy requests, can be sent to admin.ceo@hottesttake.com.