Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 29, 2026

Shiplink ("we", "us", or "our") operates the website shiplink.live (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website. Please read this policy carefully. If you disagree with its terms, please discontinue use of the Service.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: When you register for an account, we collect your email address, username, and password (stored as a bcrypt hash).
• URLs You Submit: Any URLs you shorten through our Service are stored in our database.
• Contact Information: If you contact us via email, we retain the contents of your message and your email address.

Information Collected Automatically

• Click Analytics: When someone clicks one of your short links, we log the IP address, approximate geographic location (country/city), user-agent (device and browser), referrer URL, and timestamp of the click.
• Log Data: Our servers automatically record IP address, browser type, pages visited, time and date of visits, and time spent on pages.
• Cookies & Tracking Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to personalize your experience and deliver advertising. See Section 5 (Cookies) for full details.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate, maintain, and improve the Shiplink Service
• To provide click analytics and link management features to registered users
• To detect and prevent abuse, spam, malicious URLs, phishing links, and malware
• To communicate with you about your account, updates, or security alerts
• To serve relevant advertisements through Google AdSense and other advertising partners
• To comply with applicable laws and legal obligations
• To analyze usage patterns and improve our features and user experience

3. Advertising — Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our website. Google AdSense is a third-party advertising service operated by Google LLC.

Google AdSense uses cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to:

• Serve personalized advertisements based on your past visits to our site and other sites on the internet
• Measure the effectiveness of advertisements shown on our site
• Report on ad impressions, clicks, and related interactions

Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the internet. You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or by visiting www.aboutads.info.

For more information on how Google collects and processes data, please review Google's Privacy & Terms.

The following Google/DoubleClick cookies may be set when you visit our site:

• __gads, __gpi: Used by Google AdSense for frequency capping, aggregating reports, and preventing fraud.
• IDE: Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report ad impressions.
• test_cookie: Used by DoubleClick to check if your browser supports cookies.
• ANID, DSID, FLC, AID, TAID: Used for ad personalization and conversion tracking by Google.

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• Advertising Partners: We share data with Google AdSense and associated advertising partners as described in Section 3 for the purpose of serving and measuring advertisements.
• Service Providers: We may share data with trusted third-party vendors who assist in operating our infrastructure (e.g., hosting, analytics, email delivery). These vendors are contractually bound to use your data only to perform services on our behalf.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.
• Protection of Rights: We may disclose information to enforce our Terms of Service, protect the rights, property, or safety of Shiplink, our users, or the public.

5. Cookies

We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Required for core functionality such as authentication (HTTP-only session token), CSRF protection, and security. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our site (e.g., page views, bounce rates). We may use anonymized analytics data.
• Advertising Cookies: Set by Google AdSense and its partners to deliver personalized ads, measure ad performance, and prevent ad fraud. These include cookies from Google LLC, DoubleClick, and other advertising networks.
• Preference Cookies: Store your preferences such as your chosen color theme (dark/light mode).

You can manage cookie preferences via our cookie banner or through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may impact certain functionality. For more information, see our Cookie Policy.

6. Your Privacy Rights

For EEA / UK Users (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right of Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You may request correction of inaccurate personal data.
• Right to Erasure: You may request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to Restrict Processing: You may request that we restrict the processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request a machine-readable export of your personal data.
• Right to Object: You may object to processing of your personal data for direct marketing or advertising purposes.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

For California Users (CCPA)

California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete personal information, the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@shiplink.live.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. Click analytics data for anonymous (non-logged-in) users is retained for up to 24 months. You may request deletion of your data at any time by contacting us.

8. Children's Privacy

The Shiplink Service is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately at support@shiplink.live so we can take appropriate steps.

9. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption, bcrypt password hashing, HTTP-only session cookies, rate limiting, and CSRF protection. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Third-Party Links

Our Service may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites and encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users via email of any material changes. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects when the policy was last revised. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

• Email: support@shiplink.live
• Website: shiplink.live/contact