Privacy policy
Last updated .
HostSlate ("we", "us") is an independent editorial site that reviews and compares managed WordPress hosting. This policy explains what data we collect when you visit, why, and the choices you have. We collect as little as we can, and we never sell your personal information.
What we collect
- Analytics. When analytics is enabled, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand traffic in aggregate, such as which pages are read, device type, and approximate (city-level) location derived from your IP. This helps us improve the content.
- Advertising attribution. If you arrive from a Google ad, we store the ad click identifier (a cookie named
hv_gclid) and a randomly generated, non-identifying referral id (hv_subid) so we can measure which content and ads are useful and credit any referral correctly. - Your consent choice. We remember whether you accepted or declined non-essential cookies (a cookie named
hv_consent) so we don't ask on every visit. - Email, only if you ask. If you subscribe to our Buyer's Checklist, your email address is sent to our email service provider so we can deliver it and the occasional update. You can unsubscribe in one click from any email.
These cookies are first-party and typically last between 90 and 180 days. We do not run fingerprinting, session recording, or cross-site tracking of our own.
Your consent comes first
Non-essential cookies (analytics and advertising) do not load until you allow them. We use Google Consent Mode v2, so tags stay off by default and only run after you opt in through our cookie banner. Visitors in the EEA and UK are asked before anything non-essential is set. You can change your choice at any time by clearing the site's cookies.
Third parties
We rely on a few processors, each governed by its own privacy policy: Google (Analytics and Ads), our email service provider, and our hosting/CDN platform. When you click an affiliate link, you leave HostSlate for the merchant or its affiliate network; what happens there is covered by their policies, not ours. See our affiliate disclosure for how those links work.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data, to opt out of its sale or sharing (we do neither), and to withdraw consent. We honor browser signals such as Global Privacy Control. To make a request, reach us through our contact page.
Children
HostSlate is intended for a business and professional audience and is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from them.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, we will update the date above and note the change. Continued use of the site after an update means you accept the revised policy.