Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 7, 2026
The short version
- Philosophy Ranked is a reading site. There are no accounts, comments, sign-up forms or newsletters on it.
- We don't use analytics, advertising trackers or social media widgets, and the site itself sets no cookies.
- Our host, Cloudflare, handles basic technical data such as your IP address so it can deliver the pages and protect the site from attacks.
- If you click a link to Amazon, Substack or another site, that site collects data under its own privacy policy.
- If you email us, we use your message only to reply and to keep a record of the request.
- We don't sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising.
1. Who we are
Philosophy Ranked (philosophyranked.com) is owned and operated by Vively LLC, 1948 West Huron St, Chicago, IL 60622 ("we", "us" or "our"). We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us about anything privacy-related at [email protected].
This policy covers philosophyranked.com and www.philosophyranked.com. It doesn't cover the other websites we link to.
2. What we collect and why
When you visit the site
Like every website, ours can only send you a page if your browser tells our host where to send it. The site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages, and Cloudflare receives and processes technical information each time your browser requests a page or file:
- your IP address and the approximate location that can be worked out from it (country or region)
- your browser type, operating system and language settings (the "user agent")
- the page you asked for, the page that linked you to it (the "referrer"), and the date and time
- connection and security details, such as the encryption protocol used
Cloudflare uses this information to deliver pages quickly, to detect and block attacks, spam and abusive bots, and to fix errors. We can see aggregated traffic statistics in Cloudflare's dashboard, such as how many requests the site received and from which countries. We don't receive or keep logs that identify individual visitors.
Network error reports. Cloudflare asks your browser to send it a short report if a page fails to load (a web standard called Network Error Logging). A report contains the address of the page, the type of error and timing details, and Cloudflare receives your IP address when the report is sent. It's used only to find and fix delivery problems. Most browsers let you turn this off.
Lawful basis (GDPR and UK GDPR): our legitimate interests in running a website that works, is secure and is protected from abuse (Article 6(1)(f)).
When you email us
If you write to us, we receive your email address, your name if you include it, and whatever you put in your message. We use it to reply, to deal with your request (for example a correction, a privacy request or a copyright notice) and to keep a record of what we did.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in answering correspondence (Article 6(1)(f)), and, for privacy-rights requests and legal notices, compliance with our legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c)).
Reports from affiliate programs
We take part in the Amazon Associates program. Amazon sends us reports showing how many people clicked our links and which items were ordered, so it can calculate our commission. These reports don't include your name, contact details or any other information that identifies you to us. See Disclosures for more about how we earn money.
3. What we don't do
- We don't use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics), advertising networks, tracking pixels or session recording.
- We don't load fonts, videos, maps or social media buttons from other companies, so visiting a page doesn't send your data to them.
- We don't offer accounts, comments, contact forms or a newsletter, and we don't store anything in your browser's local storage.
- We don't build profiles of visitors, and we don't make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.
- We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising.
- We don't knowingly collect sensitive information, such as health data or precise location.
If we ever add any of these things, for example analytics or a newsletter, we'll update this policy first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.
4. Cookies and similar technologies
Philosophy Ranked itself doesn't set any cookies. Because there are no analytics, advertising or other non-essential cookies, we don't show a cookie banner.
Our host, Cloudflare, may in some cases set a strictly necessary security cookie to tell people apart from malicious bots, for example __cf_bm (expires after 30 minutes of inactivity) or cf_clearance (set if you complete a security check). These cookies are used only for security, aren't used to track you across websites, and are exempt from consent under EU and UK cookie rules because they're strictly necessary to provide the site safely. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though a security check may then appear more often.
5. Links to Amazon, Substack and other sites
Our articles link to other websites, mainly Amazon (for books) and Substack and other newsletter platforms (for writers). We don't control those sites. When you click a link and arrive there, the other site, not us, decides what data it collects, including through its own cookies, and it's responsible for that data as an independent controller.
- Amazon. Our Amazon links carry our Associates ID so Amazon can credit purchases to us. When you follow one, Amazon and other third parties may place and read cookies in your browser and collect information directly from you. See the Amazon.com Privacy Notice. Your order, payment and delivery details go to Amazon only. We never see them.
- Substack and other newsletter platforms. If you subscribe to a writer, your email address and any payment details go to the newsletter platform and the writer under their policies. See the Substack Privacy Policy.
6. Who we share information with
- Service providers (processors). Cloudflare, Inc. hosts the site and provides its network, DNS and security services (Cloudflare's privacy policy). Our email service provider stores the messages you send us. Both act on our instructions under data-processing terms.
- Professional advisers, such as lawyers and accountants, where needed.
- Authorities and others, if the law requires it or to protect our rights, our readers or the public.
- A successor business, if the site is sold or transferred. The buyer would have to respect this policy.
We don't sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising, and we haven't done so in the past 12 months.
7. International transfers
Cloudflare runs a global network, so the technical data described above may be processed in a data center near you and in the United States. We and our email provider may also process the messages you send us in the United States or other countries.
When personal information from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, it's protected by an approved safeguard. Cloudflare is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, the UK Extension to it and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and it uses the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK Addendum) as a fallback. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.
8. How long we keep information
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Technical request data and error reports | Kept by Cloudflare for a short period under its own retention policy, to run and secure its network. We don't keep copies. |
| Aggregated traffic statistics | These don't identify anyone, so they may be kept as long as they're useful. |
| Emails you send us | Up to 24 months after our last exchange, unless we need them longer to deal with a legal claim or obligation. |
| Records of privacy-rights requests | 24 months after the request is closed, as a record that we handled it. |
9. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- find out whether we hold personal information about you and get a copy of it (access)
- have inaccurate information corrected
- have your information deleted
- restrict or object to how we use it, including when we rely on legitimate interests
- receive your information in a portable format
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent (this doesn't affect anything done before)
- opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and of targeted advertising (we don't do either)
- not be treated differently for exercising your rights
Because we collect so little, the only personal information we're likely to hold about you is an email you sent us. To make a request, email [email protected]. We may need to confirm it's really you before we act, and you can use an authorized agent if the law where you live allows it. We'll reply within the time the law requires, normally within 30 days (one month under the GDPR and UK GDPR, 45 days under California law), and we'll tell you if we need longer and why.
We'd like the chance to resolve any concern first, but you always have the right to complain to a data protection authority (see the next section).
10. Region-specific information
European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland
The lawful bases we rely on are listed in section 2. You can complain to the data protection authority in the country where you live or work, or where you think a breach occurred. In the EEA, see the list of national authorities. In the UK, contact the Information Commissioner's Office. In Switzerland, contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).
California and other U.S. states
This section serves as our notice at collection under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and it covers similar laws in other states, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and Texas. In the past 12 months we have collected these categories of personal information:
- Identifiers: IP address, and your email address if you contact us.
- Internet or network activity: pages requested, referring page and browser details.
- Approximate geolocation: country or region inferred from your IP address.
We collect them from you and your device, for the purposes described in section 2, and keep them for the periods in section 8. We disclose them only to the service providers in section 6. We don't sell or share personal information, we don't use or disclose sensitive personal information, and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing information about anyone under 16. You have the rights listed in section 9, including the rights to know, delete and correct, and the right not to be discriminated against for using them. If we turn down your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision with "Appeal" in the subject line. If your appeal is denied, you can contact your state attorney general.
California "Shine the Light": we don't disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing.
Canada
You can ask to see and correct the personal information we hold about you, and withdraw your consent subject to legal limits. Questions or complaints can go to our privacy contact at [email protected], and you can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Brazil
Under the LGPD, you have the right to confirmation that we process your data, access, correction, anonymization, blocking or deletion of unnecessary data, portability, information about who we share it with, and withdrawal of consent. You can contact us at [email protected], which is also our channel for communicating with data subjects and the authority, and you can complain to the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD).
Australia
You can ask to access or correct personal information we hold about you. If you're unhappy with how we handle a privacy complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
11. Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track
We don't sell or share personal information or track visitors across websites, so there's nothing to opt out of. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we treat it as a valid request to opt out of the sale and sharing of your personal information, and we'd honor it if that ever became relevant.
We don't track visitors over time or across third-party websites, and we don't allow third parties to do so on our site. So the site works the same way whether or not your browser sends a "Do Not Track" signal.
12. Children
Philosophy Ranked is written for a general adult audience and isn't directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in places where that's the age of digital consent). We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has sent us personal information, email us and we'll delete it.
13. Security
The site is served only over encrypted HTTPS connections, and we keep the personal information we handle to a minimum. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we use reasonable measures suited to the small amount of information involved.
14. Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy if what we do changes, for example if we add analytics or a newsletter. The effective date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a significant change, we'll also note it on the site.
15. Contact us
Vively LLC
1948 West Huron St, Chicago, IL 60622
Email: [email protected]
See also our Terms of Use and Disclosures.