{
  "slug": "substack",
  "category": "newsletters",
  "name": "Substack",
  "description": "Publishing platform for email newsletters, podcasts and video where writers can charge for subscriptions, with a reader app, comments and a social feed called Notes.",
  "website": "https://substack.com",
  "license": null,
  "platforms": [
    "android",
    "ios",
    "web"
  ],
  "jurisdiction": {
    "code": "US",
    "name": "United States",
    "eyes": "Five Eyes",
    "eu": false,
    "gdpr": false,
    "cloud_act": "provider"
  },
  "pick": false,
  "pick_reason": null,
  "disclosure": null,
  "grade": "F",
  "score": 25,
  "coverage": 100,
  "summary": "Substack scores 25 out of 100 (grade F) on the newsletter platforms criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales and TLS configuration. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests and security headers. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B-.",
  "url": "https://privacyratings.com/newsletters/substack/",
  "markdown": "https://privacyratings.com/newsletters/substack/index.md",
  "answers": {
    "open_source": {
      "title": "Open source",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Closed source."
    },
    "no_trackers": {
      "title": "No trackers or telemetry",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://substack.com/privacy",
      "note": "The cookie list in the privacy policy includes third-party analytics and FullStory session tracking."
    },
    "no_ads": {
      "title": "No ads or data sales",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://substack.com/privacy",
      "note": "Funded by a share of paid subscriptions; the policy says data is not sold or shared for cross-context behavioral advertising."
    },
    "independent_audit": {
      "title": "Independent audit",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "No independent audit is published."
    },
    "transparency_report": {
      "title": "Transparency report",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "No transparency report or government request policy is published."
    },
    "user_notice": {
      "title": "Tells users about requests",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "No published policy on notifying users about data requests."
    },
    "tls": {
      "title": "TLS configuration",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=substack.com&hideResults=on",
      "note": "Grade A+"
    },
    "security_headers": {
      "title": "Security headers",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=substack.com",
      "note": "Grade B- (65/100+)"
    },
    "web_standards": {
      "title": "Modern web standards",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "pending",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Not tested yet."
    }
  },
  "tests": {
    "ssllabs": "A+",
    "observatory": "B-",
    "internetnl_web": null,
    "internetnl_mail": null,
    "trackers": [
      {
        "name": "Cloudflare Web Analytics",
        "host": "static.cloudflareinsights.com",
        "effect": "partial"
      }
    ],
    "tested_at": "2026-10-01T06:44:11.066Z"
  },
  "last_modified": "2026-10-01T06:56:31Z"
}