Privacy Policy

PhoneRanked is a phone specs and comparison site. You can use all of it without an account, and we collect as little about you as we can. This page explains what we do collect, why, and what you can ask us to do with it.

Last updated:

The short version

  • You don’t need an account to use PhoneRanked, and we don’t ask for your name or email to browse, search, filter or compare phones.
  • If you post an owner review, we store the name and email you enter, plus the technical data every website receives (IP address, browser type). Your email is never shown publicly.
  • Your compare list is saved in your own browser, not in an account on our side.
  • We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
  • You can ask us to show, correct or delete your data at any time.

1. Who we are

This policy covers phoneranked.com (“PhoneRanked”, “we”, “us”). We decide how the personal data described here is used, which makes us the data controller under the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can reach us through the details in Contact us.

2. What we collect and why

When you browse the site

Like every website, our server receives your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for and the time of the request. We use this to deliver pages, keep the site secure and fix errors. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running a safe, working website.

When you post an owner review or comment

We collect the name, email address and text you enter, your rating (if you give one), your IP address and your browser type. Your name, rating and review are shown publicly next to the phone or article. Your email address is never published; we use it only to contact you about your review if needed. Reviews are checked by hand before they appear. Our legal basis is your consent (you choose to post) and our legitimate interest in preventing spam.

When you contact us

If you write to us or report an error in our specs, we receive your email address, name and whatever you put in the message. We use it only to reply and to correct the site. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in answering you.

What we don’t collect

We don’t run user accounts for visitors, we don’t take payments, and we don’t ask for sensitive information. Please don’t include personal details about yourself or others in a public review.

3. Cookies and browser storage

We use only a few small cookies and browser storage items, and only to make features you use work. None of them follow you to other websites.

Name What it does How long it lasts
pr_compare (cookie) Remembers which phones you added to your compare list, so the Compare page can show them. 30 days after your last change
prCompare (local storage) Shows your compare list in the panel at the bottom of the screen. Until you clear the list or your browser data
prCmpSync (session storage) Keeps your compare list in sync while you move between pages. Until you close the tab
comment_author_… (cookies) Remembers your name and email for your next review, only if you tick the box to save them. About 1 year
Review rating cookie (wpDiscuz) May be set when you rate a phone, so the same rating isn’t counted twice. Set by the review system

You can delete cookies and site data at any time in your browser settings. The site still works without them; you’ll just lose your compare list and saved review details.

4. Third-party services

A few parts of the site rely on outside services. When they load, your browser connects to them directly and they receive your IP address.

  • Hosting. Our hosting provider stores the site and its database and processes server logs on our behalf.
  • Wordfence (security). Checks incoming traffic for attacks and may share IP addresses of suspicious requests with its threat-intelligence network.
  • YouTube (videos on phone pages). Video previews are loaded from YouTube’s image servers. The player itself loads only when you click play, from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced domain (youtube-nocookie.com). After that, Google’s privacy policy applies.
  • Google reCAPTCHA (spam protection on forms, if enabled). Checks whether a form is sent by a person or a bot. Google’s privacy policy and terms apply.
  • Gravatar (profile pictures next to reviews, if shown). A scrambled version of your email address may be sent to Gravatar to check whether you have a profile picture there.
  • AddToAny (share buttons). Loads only the buttons; the network you share to handles your data under its own policy.

Some of these providers are based in the United States. Where data leaves the EU or UK, they rely on safeguards such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. How long we keep data

  • Published reviews and comments: as long as they stay on the site, or until you ask us to remove them.
  • Reviews we reject as spam: deleted automatically after a short time.
  • Messages you send us: as long as needed to answer and follow up, then deleted.
  • Server and security logs: a limited period, typically a few weeks.

7. Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to:

  • tell you what personal data we hold about you and give you a copy;
  • correct anything that is wrong;
  • delete your data, including reviews you posted;
  • stop using your data for a purpose you object to;
  • withdraw consent you gave earlier (this doesn’t affect anything done before).

If you are in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority. We’d appreciate the chance to fix the problem first, so please contact us.

US residents: we do not sell or share personal information, and we don’t use it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. Residents of states with privacy laws, such as California, still have the rights to know, correct and delete described above.

We answer requests within 30 days and may ask you to confirm that the request comes from you (for example, by writing from the email address used for a review).

8. Children

PhoneRanked is a general-audience site and isn’t aimed at children. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13 (under 16 in the EU). If you think a child has posted a review with personal details, let us know and we’ll remove it.

9. Security

The site runs over an encrypted HTTPS connection, is protected by a security firewall, and only we have admin access. No website can promise perfect security, but we keep the amount of data we hold small so there is little to protect in the first place.

10. Changes to this policy

If we add a new feature or service that handles personal data, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. For significant changes, we’ll also add a notice on the site.

11. Contact us

For privacy questions or requests, email phoneranked@gmail.com or use our contact page.

See also: Terms of Use