VerdictPal · editorial desk · 2026VerdictPal

What we load, what we store, and your rights.

VerdictPal is built to be readable without an account. This policy describes the public site and newsletter as they ship today. It is written for readers in Switzerland and abroad; Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (revDSG) is the primary frame.

Data controller

The editorial project “VerdictPal” is operated by its founders (a small student team based in Switzerland). Until an Impressum page publishes full legal entity details, privacy requests go to [email protected].

Public reading (no account)

The atlas, compare tool, guides, and other editorial pages do not require login. We do not run session replay, ad retargeting, or cross-site identity stitching on public pages. Typography is self-hosted, no Google Fonts CDN on page load.

What we process

Server/CDN logs: IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamps (infrastructure only).
Newsletter: email address, tier choice, consent timestamp, and technical metadata needed to send mail and honor unsubscribes (when production signup is live).
Contact email: what you send us when you write the desk.

Purposes & legal bases (revDSG)

Operate the site: deliver pages, prevent abuse (legitimate interest / contract performance for hosting).
Newsletter: send editorial updates you asked for (consent; double opt-in when the production API ships).
Respond to mail: corrections, press, support (legitimate interest / pre-contractual steps).

Processors & transfers

When deployed, static assets and HTML may be served via a CDN/host (e.g. Cloudflare, Vercel, Fly, see docs/DEPLOY.md in the repo). Newsletter email may be sent through a transactional provider (Plunk) and stored in a database we control. Some processors may process data outside Switzerland; we use providers with appropriate safeguards where required.

Retention

Infrastructure logs rotate per host policy (typically days to weeks). Newsletter data is kept while you are subscribed and for a short period after unsubscribe to prove consent and suppression. Contact mail is kept as long as needed to handle your request.

Your rights

Under the revDSG you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, or portability of personal data we hold about you, and object to certain processing. You may lodge a complaint with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). Contact [email protected] with the subject “Privacy request”.

When the signup API is deployed, newsletter subscriptions require explicit consent, double opt-in confirmation, and a one-click unsubscribe link with a List-Unsubscribe header on every email. A separate privacy notice covers the newsletter sending process (provider, retention, tracking policy) in more detail on the Pack page.

Analytics

We use PostHog (hosted in the EU) to understand how readers use the atlas — which dossiers are read, which tools are compared, and whether the newsletter signup flow works. PostHog is loaded via a reverse proxy on our own domain; it does not set third-party cookies or share data with advertisers.

When VITE_PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN is configured for the deployment we also load Plausible (cookieless, no personal data) for anonymous page-view counts. The consent banner on this site reflects whichever combination is active.

What we track: page views, dossier interactions, compare usage, command palette opens, newsletter signup, and link clicks to external tool sites. No session replay is sold or shared.
What we do not track: cross-site behavior, ad targeting, personal identity beyond the email you give us for the newsletter.
Opt out: PostHog respects browser Do-Not-Track signals and stays opt-out by default. You may also opt out via the consent banner that appears on first visit, or via your browser settings.
What we never do: identify a reader who has not opted in. Newsletter signup identifies only readers who both signed up for the newsletter and accepted analytics; declining analytics means no PostHog profile is created from your signup.

Affiliate links

Some links to external tool sites on dossier pages may carry affiliate or referral codes. Every affiliate link is disclosed on the card surface with a visible “affiliate link” label in the dossier footer. The editorial score, failure modes, and verdicts are never influenced by affiliate relationships. Revenue helps keep the atlas free to read.

No affiliate code will ever change where a tool ranks on editorial fit, what failure modes we publish, or how we write the desk verdict. If a vendor objects to our analysis, we publish the objection — but we do not retract the score.

Corrections. If this page drifts from reality after a deploy, tell the desk. German: Datenschutz (in progress).