Substack · Substack Privacy Policy · View original document ↗

De-identified Data Sharing with Unspecified Trusted Partners

Medium severity Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity Substack recorded 5 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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This analysis describes what Substack's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

The provision establishes a mechanism for data sharing that operates outside the named partner disclosures in the privacy policy, conditioned on the anonymization standard described. The operational significance turns on whether Substack's anonymization process meets the stated threshold of preventing individual re-identification, and whether the universe of 'trusted partners' is defined elsewhere or remains subject to Substack's determination.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium May 5, 2026

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.

View change record →
Medium Apr 19, 2026

The updated policy no longer commits to responding to privacy rights requests within one month or within three months for complex requests. This removes a procedural timeline that previously bound Substack's response obligations. Additionally, the explicit disclosure that Substack shares account identifiers with child safety consortia to detect online child sexual exploitation has been removed from the policy, though the practice itself is not stated to have ended. The direct message retention language is now framed more directly: recipients may retain messages even if you request deletion or close your account.

View change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Users' anonymized data may be shared with partners not listed in the privacy policy, provided the anonymization prevents individual re-identification. The terms do not require advance notice of which partners receive such data or establish a process for users to access or object to specific sharing arrangements with unnamed entities.

How other platforms handle this

Betterment Medium

We may share your personal information with third parties in the following circumstances: With service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as data analytics, marketing, customer service, and technology services. With financial partners, including banks, brokerage firms, and payment pr...

Adobe Medium

Sending you information about Adobe products and services, special offers and similar information, and sharing your information with third parties for their own marketing purposes, where your consent is not required; In some cases, in order to show you more relevant ads, we disclose with social medi...

Nintendo Medium

We may share your information with third parties that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance. We may also share your information with business partners who offer products or services that...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
In certain cases, we may anonymize your Personal Information in such a way that you can no longer be identified as an individual, and we reserve the right to use and share such anonymized information to trusted partners not specified here. However, we never disclose aggregated or de-identified information in a manner that could identify you as an individual.

— Excerpt from Substack's Substack Privacy Policy

Applicable regulations

CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
UK GDPR
United Kingdom
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US
VPPA
United States Federal

Provision details

Document information
Document
Substack Privacy Policy
Entity
Substack
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 21, 2026
Last verified
May 21, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-006885
Document ID
CA-D-00178
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
a4d2324534904f4fe245001d53f247ef46d8942c06d9e1fa0c0ef9aa893a52ee
Analysis generated
May 21, 2026 04:18 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Substack
Document: Substack Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-P-006885
Captured: 2026-05-21 04:18:30 UTC
SHA-256: a4d2324534904f4f…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/substack/substack-privacy-policy/de-identified-data-sharing-with-unspecified-trusted-partners/
Accessed: July 4, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Substack's De-identified Data Sharing with Unspecified Trusted Partners clause do?

The provision establishes a mechanism for data sharing that operates outside the named partner disclosures in the privacy policy, conditioned on the anonymization standard described. The operational significance turns on whether Substack's anonymization process meets the stated threshold of preventing individual re-identification, and whether the universe of 'trusted partners' is defined elsewhere or remains subject to Substack's determination.

How does this clause affect you?

Users' anonymized data may be shared with partners not listed in the privacy policy, provided the anonymization prevents individual re-identification. The terms do not require advance notice of which partners receive such data or establish a process for users to access or object to specific sharing arrangements with unnamed entities.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Substack?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Substack.