A subscription-based newsletter platform that enables writers to publish content directly to subscribers and monetize their work through paid subscriptions. The platform hosts independent journalists, writers, and content creators who distribute everything from political commentary to specialized industry analysis. Their policies are significant because they govern content moderation decisions, payment processing for creator income, and data handling practices that affect both writers and their subscriber audiences.
Higher = more protective of you, the user/customer — a deliberately user-protective lens, not a universal “good vs bad” score. Computed algorithmically from Substack’s cited governance stances; no dimension we haven’t confidently read is ever counted against the score. Free, reproducible, and never purchasable.
The class action waiver prevents users from pooling claims, which is often the only economically viable path to challenging low-dollar or widespread harms caused by a platform.
Mandatory arbitration in a specific venue and under a specific set of rules removes disputes from public courts, limits procedural options available to users, and requires users outside California to…
The indemnification obligation requires users to bear the financial cost of defending and satisfying claims brought against Substack and its associated parties, including consequential damages—the sa…
The right to change Terms at any time means the obligations governing use of Substack are not fixed, though the notification requirement ensures users receive some form of notice before or upon chang…
The absence of any cause requirement means users have no contractual protection against termination or suspension, regardless of their compliance with the Terms.
Substack collects your personal information whenever you use its services or subscribe to any publication, free or paid. When you subscribe to a Creator's publication, your name and email address …
These terms govern what you can do on Substack and what Substack can do with your content and account. You keep ownership of what you post, but Substack gets a …
Substack updated its Terms of Use effective October 6, 2026, adding new sections on content moderation procedures, clarifying dispute resolution, and introducing indirect tax remittance services. The updated terms now …
View change record →Substack expanded its privacy policy to disclose that it obtains additional information from third parties and sources beyond what it directly collects. The updated policy states this third-party information is …
View change record →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 …
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Companies change their terms without announcing it. We capture governance documents, compare each new version with the last, and publish what changed, with the source text behind it. One email a week on what we found and what we could not reach.
ConductAtlas tracks 2 Substack documents including terms of service, privacy policy, and other governance documents. Every document is captured daily with cryptographic verification.
Substack has made 4 policy changes in the past 12 months across the documents ConductAtlas tracks.
ConductAtlas has classified 28 provisions across Substack's tracked documents.
Yes. Monitor subscribers ($4.99/month) can add Substack to their watchlist and receive an email alert after the daily check that finds a change to a tracked document. We check daily where we can, and show you where we can't.