Privacy Policy

The short version: we measure how this site gets used, and we use what we learn to write better reviews and to advertise. We never sell your data for money. Everything we do is listed below, and you can switch the measuring off whenever you want.

What we collect when you just read

You can read every review and comparison on ReviewCatLitter.com without typing anything. While you do, our analytics provider records:

• The pages you open, how long you stay, and how far down you scroll.
• The site or search that sent you here, and the search words you type into our own search box.
• Your device, browser, screen size, language, and operating system.
• Your rough location worked out from your internet address, usually accurate to the city. We do not store the internet address itself.
• Clicks on outbound links, so we can see which shops readers go to.
• Your likely age range, gender, and interests, and whether you have visited on another device, when Google can work that out from an account you are signed into. This one is off in Quebec and off across the UK, Switzerland and the European Economic Area.

Our host also keeps standard server records of requests, including internet addresses, for security and troubleshooting.

What we collect when you give it to us

• The newsletter - your email address, so we can send the updates you asked for. Our email provider may also record which of those emails get opened and clicked.
• A reader review - your rating, your comments, and a display name if you give one, so we can show it on the site.

Cookies and similar technology

We use Google Analytics 4. It sets cookies so a repeat visit is not counted as a new person, and so a visit can be tied to the shop click it produced. Google may also use those cookies to build audiences for advertising, including showing our pages again to people who have already read them. Your browser stores a few things on your own device too, such as the products you add to the comparison tool - that never leaves your machine.

Advertising and profiling

We turn on Google's advertising features, which means the data above can be used to group you with similar readers and to advertise to that group. Three places get different treatment, because the law there says so:

• Quebec - profiling for advertising is switched off unless you turn it on, as Law 25 requires.
• UK, Switzerland and the European Economic Area - no cookies at all, no advertising use, no profiling. Visits are counted in a way that cannot single you out.
• Any browser sending a Global Privacy Control signal - we switch all of it off for that visit, wherever you are.

Affiliate links

Many of the outbound links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. When you follow one, the retailer (such as Amazon, Chewy, or Purrify) may set its own cookies and collect information under its own privacy policy. We do not control that, and we do not receive your name, address or card details from them - only anonymous reports of how many sales came from this site. See our affiliate disclosure for the full picture.

What we use it for

• Working out which reviews and guides are worth writing more of.
• Finding pages that are broken, slow, or ignored.
• Measuring how many readers go on to a shop, which is how this site pays for itself.
• Advertising this site, including to people who have read it before.
• Sending the newsletter to people who asked for it.

Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information for money. We do share it with the companies that make this site work: Google for analytics and advertising, our web host, and our email provider for the newsletter. Under California law, letting Google use your data for advertising counts as "sharing" even though no money changes hands, so we say so here and give you the switch below. We also hand over information if the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Analytics records: 14 months, then Google deletes them automatically.
• Newsletter address: until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it.
• Reader reviews: for as long as they are published, unless you ask us to take yours down.

Your choices

• Turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser, or install Google's opt-out add-on. Either one stops the measuring described above.
• Control what Google itself keeps about you in your Google Ad Centre.
• Every newsletter email has a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Ask us to show you, correct, or delete what we hold about you, or to stop using it for advertising. Write to us and we will do it, free, within 30 days.
• Clear your browser storage to remove saved comparisons at any time.

These rights come from PIPEDA and Quebec's Law 25 in Canada, from the CCPA and its cousins in the United States, and from the GDPR in Europe and the UK. We apply them to everyone who asks, wherever you live, and we will never charge you or treat you differently for asking.

Children

This site is meant for adults shopping for their cats. It is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect anything from them. If you believe a child has sent us something, write to us and we will delete it.

Changes and contact

If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the date at the top. Questions about your privacy? Reach us through our about page.