Privacy Policy

The short version

WattPicks is a static content site. We do not ask you to create an account, we do not have a newsletter signup, and we do not sell personal data. The only data we process is what is needed to serve the pages, understand which comparisons are useful, and attribute affiliate referrals.

What we collect

• Server logs. Our web server records standard request data — IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp — for security and operational purposes. Our access logs are rotated daily and kept for 14 days. They are used for security and to detect abuse.
• Cookie preference. Your response to our cookie notice is stored in a cookie in your own browser so we do not ask again on every page.
• Analytics — only if you accept. If you choose Accept analytics, we load Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-7CKSKJW6WB) to see which comparisons get read. That sends Google the pages you view, an approximate location derived from your IP address, standard device and browser information, and first-party Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) measured in your browser and reported to the same GA4 property. If you choose Reject non-essential, or simply do nothing, the Google script is never requested at all and no analytics data leaves your browser.
• Email. If you email us, we hold your message and address in order to reply and to action corrections you report.

What we do not collect

• No accounts, passwords or payment details — there is nothing to buy on this site.
• No advertising or cross-site tracking pixels, and no data broker feeds.
• No data about you sold, rented or shared with advertisers.
• No user reviews, ratings or profiles, because we do not operate a review system.

Cookies and analytics

There are two possible cookies. The first is essential: it records your cookie choice so we do not ask on every visit. The second — Google Analytics — is strictly opt-in and loads only after you accept.

No Google Analytics script is requested until you accept. Until then, your browser does not contact googletagmanager.com or Google Analytics endpoints from this site, and no _ga cookie is written. You can confirm in developer tools: with analytics declined or unanswered, there is no request for gtag/js and no _ga cookie. Accepting loads GA4 immediately without a page reload, and starts first-party web-vitals reporting into that same GA4 property. Clearing site cookies resets the choice, and the banner asks again.

Google’s handling of analytics data is governed by Google’s own privacy policy. You can also install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. We do not combine analytics data with any other information, and we do not use it to identify individuals.

Affiliate links

WattPicks is reader-supported and may earn commission from qualifying purchases made through links to manufacturer websites. When you follow one of those links, the merchant or their affiliate network may set a cookie in your browser so that a subsequent purchase can be attributed to this site. That cookie is set by the merchant, not by us, and is governed by their privacy policy.

We do not receive any personal information about you from an affiliate network, and we cannot see what you bought. We receive aggregate commission reports only.

Third parties

• Cloudflare provides our CDN, DNS and security filtering. It processes request metadata to deliver pages and block abusive traffic, and it runs a global network, so this may involve processing outside your country under its own safeguards. We do not enable Cloudflare Web Analytics (no static.cloudflareinsights.com beacon); page-performance RUM stays on the consent-gated GA4 path above. Same-origin Cloudflare helpers such as email-address obfuscation may still run under our Content-Security-Policy.
• Our hosting provider runs the web server that produces the access logs described above.
• Manufacturers see a visit only after you click an outbound link.

Product images are served from our own domain rather than hot-linked from vendors, so visiting a page here does not notify the manufacturer. Outbound merchant links carry a rel="sponsored" marking so search engines and the destination both know the link is commercial. We do not share personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not sell it.

Data retention

• Access logs: rotated daily and kept for 14 days, then deleted.
• Analytics data: held by Google for the retention period configured on the GA4 property, under Google’s privacy policy. Clearing your cookies or withdrawing consent stops further collection.
• Email: kept only while needed to answer you and to action a correction, then deleted on request.

Your rights

Where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation applies, you have the right to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to our processing of your data, to receive it in a portable form, to withdraw consent at any time, and to complain to your supervisory authority.

Where the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA) applies, you have the right to know what we collect, to request deletion or correction, to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information — we do neither — and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights.

In practice the only personal data we are likely to hold is an email you sent us. Write to [email protected] and we will action a request.

Legal bases for processing (GDPR)

We rely on legitimate interests to run a secure, working site and to prevent abuse, on consent for analytics cookies, which you can withdraw at any time by clearing the cookie, and on legal obligation where we must keep records.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS with HTTP Strict Transport Security enabled, and it is a static export with no database, no login and no payment flow. We keep the data we hold to the minimum described above.

Children

This site is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, the “last updated” date above changes with it. Continue to use the site after a change and the revised policy applies.

Contact

Questions about this policy: [email protected]. See also our terms of use and methodology.