Change record
CA-X-001590
Substack Privacy Policy
Entity
Date detected
May 5, 2026
Severity
Direction
Positive
Taxonomy
Disclosure requirement change
Changes
+9 sentences added · 5 sentences modified

Impact Summary

Generated by a model from the captured document; not read by a person
Medium Positive for users
Affected users
All users EU users UK users Content creators

Substack's updated privacy policy adds disclosure that it shares account identifiers with child safety industry consortia to detect child sexual exploitation and abuse. The policy also establishes a one-month response commitment for privacy rights requests, adds a right to object to certain processing (including content personalization), clarifies that material changes to the policy will be notified, and modifies language about direct message retention to note that platform restrictions may apply while recipients may still retain messages independently.

2 new obligations 1 obligation expanded

Consumers: When you ask Substack for your data or to exercise a privacy right, they will respond within one month instead of an unspecified timeframe.

Consumers: You can tell Substack to stop using your data for personalization and other legitimate-interest purposes, and they must stop unless they can show a compelling reason to continue.

Consumers: Substack now explicitly tells you that it shares your email address and username with child safety organizations to detect child abuse material.

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What this means for you

Generated by a model from the captured document; not read by a person

The updated policy discloses that Substack shares account identifiers (email addresses and usernames) with trusted child safety organizations to detect and prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Users now have the right to object to processing of their personal information for personalization purposes on grounds relating to their particular situation, and Substack commits to responding to privacy rights requests within one month. The policy also clarifies that while recipients of direct messages may retain them independently, the platform may restrict your access to messages when other users delete or block you. You can exercise your right to object to personalization processing by contacting privacy@substackinc.com.

What you can do

→ Review the updated privacy policy to understand how your account identifier is shared with child safety consortia.

→ Contact privacy@substackinc.com if you wish to object to processing of your personal information for personalization purposes.

Key Clauses Affected

Generated by a model from the captured document; not read by a person
Child Safety Consortium Sharing

Substack now discloses sharing of account identifiers with trusted child safety organizations for CSAM detection and prevention.

Privacy Rights Response Commitment

Substack commits to respond to privacy rights requests within one month, extendable by two months with notice.

Right to Object to Processing

Users can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including personalization, and Substack must cease processing unless compelling grounds override the objection.

Full clause-by-clause analysis available with Insight.
ⓘ

This change record describes what was added, removed, or modified in the document. Analysis reflects what the updated agreement states or permits. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Applicability may vary by jurisdiction. Methodology

Evidence Verification

✓ Verified
Previous Version
30dacb2f5c2daea0eee194830d934496ec1685219992cb84fb4d4dad988dba70
April 19, 2026 06:13 UTC
✓ Verified
Current Version
b7899fd21f6d5aa04ee2589121d23b47e86d4896e1fa797d920e873e2db1d5b5
May 5, 2026 05:44 UTC
✓ Verified
Change Detected
May 5, 2026 05:44 UTC
✓
Analysis Methodology
✓ Verified
Source Document
https://substack.com/privacy
Record history

Wording edits to this record that do not change what it claims. Changes to a claim are published as corrections.

2026-10-11 · Feed summary edited · summary regenerated by summarize_events
Previous text
Adds disclosure of account identifier sharing with child safety consortia; establishes one-month response deadline for privacy rights requests.
2026-10-11 · Impact summary edited · summary regenerated by summarize_events
Previous text
Substack now discloses that it shares account identifiers, such as email addresses and usernames, with trusted industry child safety organizations to detect and prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The policy also establishes that Substack will respond to privacy rights requests within one month, or up to three months for complex requests, providing more certainty about response timelines. Additionally, the policy clarifies that direct message recipients may retain messages even if you request deletion or delete your account, which is now explicitly stated rather than implied.
2026-10-11 · Summary edited · summary regenerated by summarize_events
Previous text
Substack updated its privacy policy on May 5, 2026 to disclose that it shares account identifiers with child safety organizations to detect child sexual abuse material, added a one-month deadline for responding to privacy rights requests, and clarified that direct message recipients may retain messages even after deletion. The policy also now specifies that only material changes to the privacy policy will trigger user notification.
2026-10-07 · Change line edited · change line rewritten to the 2026-10-07 template: no detection date, no sentence counts
Previous text
Substack updated their Substack Privacy Policy on May 05, 2026. Change detected: 9 sentence(s) added, 5 sentence(s) modified. Document contained 175 sentences after update.
Citation Record
Entity: Substack
Document: Substack Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-X-001590
Version: CA-V-002128
Captured: 2026-05-05 05:44:17 UTC
URL: https://conductatlas.com/change/2026-05-05-substack-substack-privacy-policy-1590/
Accessed: Nov. 10, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
For legal and compliance teams

Institutional Analysis

Generated by a model from the captured document; not read by a person
Assessment

Substack has added explicit disclosure of account identifier sharing with child safety consortia for CSAM detection, established a one-month response commitment for privacy rights requests, and introduced a right to object to processing based on …

🔒 Full institutional analysis

Regulatory exposure, obligation change, escalation trigger, board-ready language, and recommended action for legal and compliance teams.

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ConductAtlas provides verified policy intelligence sourced directly from platform documents. All analysis is intended to support, not replace, legal and compliance review. Record CA-X-001590.

Full Changes

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Document Context

Version history → Policy drift analysis → Document page →
Document
Substack Privacy Policy
Entity
Substack
Captured
May 5, 2026
Source URL
https://substack.com/privacy
Other changes to Substack Privacy Policy
Next change May 15, 2026
Substack expanded its privacy policy to disclose that it obtains additional information from third parties and sources beyond what it …
Medium Neutral
View full version history →
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