How Ecom Ratings handles your information.
This Privacy Policy explains what information Ecom Ratings collects, why we collect it, how we use it, who may receive it, how long we keep it, and what privacy rights may be available to you.
Contact messages, company submissions and user reviews may contain personal information.
Server logs and Cloudflare security tools may process network and browser information to detect abuse.
We do not use information submitted through our contact or company-submission forms for behavioral advertising.
Additional rights may apply depending on your location and applicable privacy law.
Who this Privacy Policy applies to.
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information processed through Ecom Ratings and the website ecom-ratings.com, including information submitted through contact forms, company-submission forms, user-review features and ordinary use of the website.
This Policy does not govern the privacy practices of third-party websites, ecommerce platforms or services that we review or link to. Those services operate under their own privacy policies.
Information you provide and information generated when you use the site.
Information you provide directly
Depending on how you use the site, we may collect information such as:
- your name or display name;
- your email address;
- the subject and content of a message sent through our contact form;
- company or product name, official website and category;
- your relationship to a submitted company;
- business contact information and supporting links included in a company submission;
- ratings, review text and other information you voluntarily provide when submitting a user review;
- any additional information you choose to include in a form or message.
Technical and usage information
When you access the site, our server, hosting infrastructure and security providers may automatically process technical information such as IP address, browser type, device or operating-system information, timestamps, requested URLs, referring pages, error information and security-related request metadata.
Our public forms are not designed to collect government identifiers, financial-account credentials, medical information, precise location data or other highly sensitive personal information.
Why Ecom Ratings processes personal information.
We may use personal information to:
- respond to questions, feedback, corrections and other inquiries;
- evaluate requests to add companies or products to the Ecom Ratings directory;
- moderate, verify, publish and manage user reviews;
- maintain records of editorial correspondence and company submissions;
- operate, troubleshoot and improve the website;
- prevent spam, automated submissions, fraud, abuse and security incidents;
- protect our rights, users, systems and website;
- comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests;
- establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.
We do not use personal information submitted through our contact or company-submission forms to build advertising profiles or send marketing emails unless you separately request or consent to that type of communication.
Legal bases used where GDPR-style laws apply.
Where the GDPR, UK GDPR or similar law requires a legal basis for processing, the basis depends on the context.
| Processing activity | Typical legal basis | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Responding to contact messages | Legitimate interests and, where relevant, steps taken at your request | To communicate with you and handle the inquiry you initiated. |
| Company submissions | Legitimate interests | To evaluate potential companies for editorial coverage and maintain editorial records. |
| User-review submissions | Consent and legitimate interests | To receive, moderate, verify and publish voluntarily submitted reviews. |
| Security and anti-spam | Legitimate interests | To protect the website, forms, users and infrastructure against abuse and automated attacks. |
| Legal compliance | Legal obligation | Where processing is required by applicable law or a valid legal process. |
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time for future processing. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before withdrawal.
How information submitted through the site is handled.
General contact form
If you contact us, we process the information you submit so that we can read, manage and respond to your message. Form entries may be stored in the website’s WordPress database and may also be delivered as an email notification to the site administrator.
Company-submission form
If you request that a company be considered for inclusion in Ecom Ratings, we may retain the submitted company information, contact information and supporting details for editorial review, verification and recordkeeping.
Submitting a company does not guarantee that it will be added, reviewed, rated or published. Submission does not create an obligation for Ecom Ratings to provide coverage or assign any particular score.
User reviews
If you submit a user review, the rating, review text and any display name intended for publication may become public after moderation. Email addresses and other non-public verification information are not intended to be displayed publicly.
We may retain moderation and verification information to protect the integrity of the review system, investigate abuse and enforce site rules.
Cookies, local storage and anti-bot protection.
The site may use cookies or similar technologies that are necessary for core website functions, security, session handling, form operation and abuse prevention.
Cloudflare Turnstile
Our forms may use Cloudflare Turnstile to distinguish legitimate visitors from automated or abusive traffic. Turnstile may evaluate technical and behavioral signals from the browser and device in order to perform an anti-bot check.
Turnstile is used for security and spam prevention. It is not intended to create an advertising profile from information you submit through our forms.
Non-essential analytics or advertising technologies
If Ecom Ratings introduces non-essential analytics, advertising or similar technologies that require consent under applicable law, we will provide appropriate notice or controls and update this Policy to reflect the relevant processing.
Third parties that may process information for site operations.
We use service providers and software infrastructure to operate, secure and communicate through the site. Depending on the feature you use, personal information may be processed by categories of providers such as:
Used for DNS, traffic delivery, security controls and Cloudflare Turnstile anti-bot verification.
Form submissions may be stored within the site’s WordPress database and used to generate administrative notifications.
Information contained in form notifications or correspondence may be processed by the email provider used to receive or send messages.
Hosting and server infrastructure may process request logs, IP addresses and other technical information required to serve and secure the site.
Authorized providers may access limited data when reasonably necessary for hosting, maintenance, debugging or security.
Where necessary, information may be disclosed to legal, accounting or other professional advisers subject to appropriate duties.
These providers may process information only for their own legitimate roles or on our behalf, subject to their terms, privacy commitments and applicable law.
When personal information may be disclosed.
We may disclose personal information:
- to service providers that help operate, host, secure or maintain the website;
- to email providers when a form submission is sent as an email notification;
- to professional advisers where reasonably necessary;
- to authorities or other parties when required by law, court order or valid legal process;
- when reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents or threats;
- in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring or transfer of website assets, subject to applicable law.
As of the date of this Policy, Ecom Ratings does not sell personal information and does not use personal information submitted through our forms for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising. Where an applicable U.S. state privacy law defines sale, sharing or targeted advertising differently, we will apply the rights and disclosures required by that law.
How long we keep information.
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, to maintain appropriate records, protect the integrity of the site and reviews, resolve disputes, enforce agreements and comply with legal obligations.
| Data category | Retention criteria |
|---|---|
| Contact inquiries | Generally until the inquiry is resolved, plus a reasonable period where records are useful for follow-up, security or legal purposes. |
| Company submissions | While the company is under consideration and afterward where reasonably necessary to maintain editorial history and avoid duplicate submissions. |
| User reviews | While a review remains published and for a reasonable period afterward where moderation, fraud prevention or recordkeeping requires it. |
| Technical and security logs | For periods determined by operational security needs and the retention settings of our hosting and security providers. |
We may delete, anonymize or aggregate information when it is no longer necessary to retain it in identifiable form.
Your information may be processed outside your country.
Because internet infrastructure and service providers operate internationally, information may be processed in countries other than the country where you live.
Where applicable data-protection law requires safeguards for international transfers, we rely on legally recognized transfer mechanisms or safeguards made available by the relevant provider, such as adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses or other permitted mechanisms.
Rights that may be available to you.
Depending on where you live and which law applies, you may have the right to:
- request access to personal information we hold about you;
- request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
- request deletion of personal information;
- request restriction of certain processing;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- receive certain information in a portable format where applicable;
- withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
- lodge a complaint with a competent data-protection authority.
To exercise a privacy right, use our Contact page and include “Privacy Request” in the subject or message. We may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify your identity and locate the relevant records.
We will respond within the period required by applicable law. Some rights are subject to exceptions, including where information must be retained for legal obligations, security, freedom of expression, establishment or defense of legal claims, or other legally permitted reasons.
Automated decision-making
Ecom Ratings does not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about visitors. Automated anti-bot and security systems may decide whether a request appears legitimate, but they are used to protect forms and site infrastructure.
Additional information for residents of U.S. states with applicable privacy laws.
Depending on your state of residence and whether an applicable state privacy law applies to Ecom Ratings or to a particular processing activity, you may have additional rights concerning your personal information.
Depending on the law, those rights may include the ability to:
- request access to or confirmation of personal information we process about you;
- request correction of inaccurate personal information;
- request deletion of certain personal information;
- obtain a copy of certain personal information in a portable format;
- opt out of certain sales, sharing, targeted advertising or qualifying profiling where applicable;
- appeal a decision concerning a privacy request where applicable law provides that right;
- exercise applicable privacy rights without unlawful discrimination.
As of the date of this Policy, Ecom Ratings does not sell personal information and does not use personal information submitted through our contact, company-submission or user-review forms for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising.
Residents of U.S. states with applicable privacy rights may submit a request through our Contact page. Please identify the message as a Privacy Request and provide enough information for us to understand and, where necessary, verify the request.
If our data practices change in a way that creates a legally required opt-out mechanism or additional disclosure, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide the appropriate privacy controls.
The site is not directed to children.
Ecom Ratings is intended for an adult and business audience and is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly request personal information from children under 16 through our contact, company-submission or user-review features.
If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us so that we can review the situation and take appropriate action.
How we work to protect information.
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, server and network security, anti-bot protections, software updates and security monitoring.
No internet transmission, website or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot promise absolute security.
Links to platforms and services we review.
Ecom Ratings contains links to third-party websites, platforms and services. Clicking a third-party link may allow that third party to collect information directly from you. We do not control those websites and this Privacy Policy does not apply to their privacy practices.
We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any third-party service before providing personal information.
Updates to this Privacy Policy.
We may update this Privacy Policy when our website, forms, service providers, legal obligations or data practices change. When we make changes, we will publish the revised Policy on this page and update the “Last updated” date above.
If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide additional notice where required by applicable law.
Questions or privacy requests.
The data controller for this website is Ecom Ratings, operator of ecom-ratings.com.
For questions about this Privacy Policy, requests concerning your personal information, or other privacy matters, use the Ecom Ratings Contact page. For rights requests, please identify the message as a Privacy Request.
If applicable law gives you the right to complain to a supervisory or data-protection authority, you may also contact the authority responsible for data protection in your country or region.
Use the Ecom Ratings contact form and identify your message as a Privacy Request so it can be handled appropriately.