Privacy Policy | Banned in Europe

Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how Banned in Europe ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you use the website at isitbannedineurope.com. We operate in the United States and the site is primarily directed at US users.

The short version: we do not sell your personal information, we do not share it with data brokers, and the site is built to collect as little as possible. The ingredient checker runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you paste into it ever reaches us.

The ingredient paste-checker

When you use the paste-checker, the ingredient list you paste is processed entirely on your device, in your browser, against a dataset downloaded with the page. There is no server-side processing. We do not log, transmit, store, or see what you paste. This is an architecture decision, not just a policy: the tool has no backend to send your data to.

Analytics and cookies

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand basic traffic patterns: which pages are visited, roughly where visitors come from, and how they found the site. GA4 sets cookies on your device for this purpose.

Analytics only run if you accept the cookie banner shown on your first visit. If you decline, no analytics script loads, no analytics cookies are set, and the site works identically. You can change your mind by clearing this site's data in your browser, which will re-display the banner.

We configure analytics with IP anonymization. We do not use analytics data to build advertising profiles, and we do not combine it with any other data about you. Google's own privacy policy applies to Google's processing; see Google's documentation on how Google uses data from sites that use its services.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies or tracking pixels. If display advertising is added to the site in the future, this policy will be updated first, and any advertising partner's cookie practices will be disclosed here before they go live.

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address. We use it only to send the newsletter you signed up for. We use Beehiiv to deliver the newsletter; Beehiiv's privacy practices apply to the email delivery itself, and its signup form may set functional cookies in the embedded form area. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email, and your address is removed from active sending.

Affiliate links and advertising disclosure

Some links on this site may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking them, at no additional cost to you. In accordance with FTC guidelines: any page containing affiliate links discloses this where the links appear. Affiliate relationships never influence our regulatory reporting: statuses and citations are assigned by the methodology described on our methodology page, and we do not accept partnerships from brands whose products would not pass our own audit. Clicking an affiliate link may allow the destination retailer to set its own cookies under its own privacy policy.

Hosting and server logs

The site is hosted on Netlify, which maintains standard server access logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security and operations. Netlify's privacy policy governs that processing. We do not use these logs to identify individual visitors.

What we do not collect

We do not collect your name (unless you email us), your contact list, your precise location, biometric information, health information, or the contents of anything you paste into the checker. We do not build behavioral profiles. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Your rights and choices

If you are a California resident, the CCPA/CPRA gives you the right to know what personal information we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. Because we do not sell or share personal information as those laws define it, the opt-out right is already satisfied by our practices. Residents of other states with privacy laws (Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, and others) have similar rights, which we honor. To exercise any of them, email us at the address below.

Regardless of where you live, you can: decline the cookie banner (no analytics), unsubscribe from the newsletter (any email's footer link), and browse the entire site without an account, because accounts don't exist here.

Children's privacy

The site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently done so, contact us and we will delete it.

Third-party links

Articles and ingredient pages link extensively to third-party sources: regulators, journals, retailers, news organizations. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.

International visitors

The site is operated from the United States. If you visit from elsewhere, including the EU, your information is processed in the United States. We do not currently maintain EU-specific GDPR infrastructure; the consent-first analytics design described above is applied to all visitors regardless of location.

Changes to this policy

When we update this policy, we update the date at the top. Material changes will be noted prominently on the site for at least 30 days.

Contact

Privacy questions and requests: privacy at isitbannedineurope dot com. We respond within 30 days, faster where the law requires it.