Privacy Policy

Overview

Ruffiliate is a data-driven research site. We take a minimal approach to data collection: we only collect what is necessary to understand how the site is used, and we do it ourselves — no third-party tracking services are involved.

What we collect

When you visit this site, our server records the following for each request:

• A one-way hash of your IP address (not the IP itself — we cannot reverse it)
• Your browser's user agent string
• The page you visited and when
• The referring URL, if your browser sent one
• Interaction events: scroll depth, link clicks, and navigation actions

How we use it

This data is used solely to understand which content is useful, how visitors navigate the site, and whether the conversion path from research to tool recommendation is working. We do not build profiles, sell data, or use it for advertising.

Storage

All analytics data is stored in a private database on our server. It is not shared with any third party. Bot traffic and internal requests are automatically excluded from reports. Raw IP addresses are never stored — only a short irreversible hash is kept for deduplication purposes.

No third-party tracking

We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or any similar third-party tracking service. No data about your visit is sent to external companies by us.

Cookies & sessions

We set a single first-party session cookie (rf_sid) to count page views per visit without re-identifying you across sessions. It expires after 30 minutes of inactivity with a hard cap of 4 days. No cross-site tracking. No persistent fingerprinting.

Affiliate links

Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. All affiliate relationships are disclosed on the pages where they appear. Our analysis and recommendations are not influenced by affiliate status.

Legal basis (GDPR)

The collection of hashed technical data for analytics is based on our legitimate interest in understanding how the site is used (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We have weighed this against your interest in privacy: we do not store identifiable data, we do not share it, and you can opt out by disabling JavaScript or refusing the session cookie in your browser settings.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to access, rectify, or erase data we hold about you, and to object to processing. Because we store only hashed IPs and do not link sessions to identities, we are typically unable to locate records for a specific person. Contact us at the address on the Imprint page if you have questions.