Substack
Substack offers meaningful privacy rights and self-service deletion/editing, and it says creators keep ownership of posts. But those benefits are outweighed by mandatory arbitration, class-action waiver, low liability cap, a perpetual irrevocable content license, broad account termination discretion, significant data collection/sharing, and cross-site tracking without Do Not Track support.
Substack’s legal terms are fairly standard for a publishing platform but tilt mixed-to-user-unfriendly in key areas. Users keep ownership of their content and get account-level access, correction, deletion, portability, and objection rights, but Substack takes a perpetual irrevocable content license, broad liability protections, arbitration with class-action waiver, broad sharing with creators/service providers, and allows tracking cookies including cross-site activity without honoring Do Not Track.
Points of interest
Most disputes must be resolved through individual arbitration in San Francisco County, and you waive class or representative actions. This makes collective claims and court litigation harder for users.
"Any dispute... shall be finally settled by arbitration in San Francisco County... all claims... only be brought in an individual capacity"
You keep ownership of your posts, but Substack gets a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license to use and distribute them. That license can continue even after you stop using the service.
"the licenses you grant are royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide"
If something goes wrong, Substack broadly disclaims warranties and caps most liability at the greater of $100 or what you paid in the prior 12 months. Users may have very limited practical recourse for losses.
"in excess of the greater of (1) $100 or (2) the amounts paid... in the twelve-month period preceding the applicable claim"
Substack can suspend or terminate your account for any reason at its discretion, sometimes without notice. Public posts may also remain available after account deletion.
"Substack is free to terminate (or suspend access to) your use of Substack... for any reason at our discretion"
Substack shares personal information with affiliates, creators, service providers, integrated third parties, buyers in a business transfer, and authorities when required. Creator interactions may also be governed by the creator’s own privacy practices rather than Substack’s.
"We may share your Personal Information with third parties... Affiliates... Creators... Service Providers... Prospective sellers or buyers"
Substack says it may collect information about your online activity after you leave its site, and it does not honor Do Not Track signals. Users who want minimal tracking do not get that by default.
"we may collect information about your online activity after you leave our website... Our services do not support Do Not Track requests"
Substack states that users may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, and objection, and says it will respond within one month. These are meaningful user controls, especially for EEA/UK-style privacy rights.
"you may be entitled to ask Substack for a copy... correct it, erase or restrict its processing... transfer... We will respond... within one month"
You may have to cover Substack’s costs, damages, and attorneys’ fees for third-party claims tied to your use of the platform or violations of the terms. This can shift substantial legal risk onto users.
"you agree to indemnify and hold Substack... harmless from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages... including attorneys’ fees"
Direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted, and Substack personnel may access them for support, safety, or enforcement. Users should not treat Substack DMs as a secure messaging channel.
"direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted... Substack personnel may access the contents of direct messages"
You can edit some profile data and delete your account from account settings without needing to contact support. This is a practical and user-friendly control, even though some public content may persist.
"If you'd like to delete your account, you can do so from your account page."
Substack expressly says original content you post remains yours. That is better than terms that claim ownership outright, even though the platform still takes a very broad license.
"First and foremost, you own what you create... remains yours and is protected by copyright"
Substack says marketing emails are based on consent where required and can be unsubscribed from at any time. This is a basic but useful control over promotional communications.
"You may unsubscribe from our marketing communications by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link"
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Documents
Terms of Service
source ↗- •Using Substack means you accept these terms and related policies; you must be legally able to contract and cannot use Substack if under 16.
- •You must provide accurate account information, keep your account secure, and cannot transfer it or impersonate someone else through your username.
- •You keep ownership of content you post, but grant Substack a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable worldwide license to host, modify, display, and distribute it.
- •You must follow laws and Substack rules, and cannot infringe rights, scrape data, spam, reverse engineer, or compromise accounts or network security.
- •Substack may remove content or suspend or terminate accounts at its discretion, sometimes without notice, and public posts may remain available after account deletion.
- •Paid publication prices are set by creators, may change prospectively, and disputes over creator subscriptions are generally between readers and creators, not Substack.
- •Substack disclaims warranties, provides the service as-is, and limits its liability to indirect damages and generally to the greater of $100 or fees paid in 12 months.
- •You may need to indemnify Substack for claims related to your use or violations, including third-party claims and actions taken through your account.
- •Disputes are governed by California law and usually must go to individual arbitration in San Francisco County, with no class or representative actions.
- •Substack refers data handling to its Privacy Policy, may use your phone number for SMS verification, and says it does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.
Privacy Policy
source ↗- •Substack collects account, contact, payment, device, location, profile, message, subscription, and usage data, plus information from third-party services you connect.
- •It uses personal information to provide and secure services, process payments, personalize content, conduct analytics, support customers, and comply with legal obligations.
- •Substack may send marketing emails based on consent where required, and you can opt out at any time.
- •It shares information with affiliates, creators, service providers, integrated third parties, other users, buyers in business transfers, and authorities when legally required.
- •Creators receive information needed to deliver publications, and creator-controlled content follows the creator’s own privacy practices.
- •Substack shares account identifiers with child safety organizations to detect and prevent online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
- •Your data may be transferred internationally, including to the United States, and Substack participates in the EU, UK, and Swiss Data Privacy Frameworks.
- •You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or objection rights, and Substack says it responds within one month.
- •Substack keeps data only as long as needed, may retain it longer for complaints or litigation, and direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
