HostCompass

Privacy policy

HostCompass collects as little as possible: no accounts, Google Analytics you can refuse or switch off, and an email address only if you choose to give us one. Here is exactly what that means.

This policy explains what HostCompass collects and why. It is written plainly and updated when our practices change. Last reviewed October 9, 2026.

What we collect

You can read everything here without an account and without telling us your name or email address. If you subscribe to region-and-price alerts, we store the email address you enter and use it only to send those updates; you can unsubscribe at any time and we delete it on request. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which guides are read — what it records, and how consent works in your region, is set out below — but we do not build advertising profiles or sell data.

Google Analytics 4, provided by Google LLC and Google Ireland Ltd., gives us page-level statistics: pages viewed, the referring site, approximate location at city or country level, device and browser type, and session timing. It does not log or store IP addresses. Advertising features, Google signals and ad personalisation are disabled, so the data is never used for advertising and never sold.

Consent follows the visitor's region. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, a banner asks first, and nothing is sent to Google unless you click Accept. Elsewhere, analytics is on by default and you can switch it off at any time. Wherever you are, a browser sending the Global Privacy Control signal is treated as opted out. Once analytics is allowed, GA4 sets the first-party cookies _ga and _ga_<ID>, which last up to two years; before that, neither exists. Your choice itself is stored in your browser's local storage under the key analytics-consent, not in a cookie.

You can change your analytics choice at any time; the link reopens the banner. Google's processing is covered by Google's privacy policy, and Google's opt-out browser add-on blocks Google Analytics on all sites.

Some outbound links to hosts are affiliate links. When you click one, the host or its affiliate network may set a cookie so any purchase is credited to us. That cookie is controlled by the host, not by HostCompass, and is governed by their privacy policy. We explain the commercial side on our affiliate disclosure page.

Your choices

You can keep our analytics cookies off by declining or switching off analytics, decline third-party cookies in your browser, and unsubscribe from emails with one click. To ask what we hold about you or to have it deleted, email [email protected]. Depending on where you live, laws such as the GDPR or CCPA may give you additional rights over your data, and we honour valid requests under them.