Privacy Policy

1. About The Charge Port

The Charge Port is an independent editorial publication covering the U.S. electric vehicle market. We publish original research on EV insurance costs, battery warranties, depreciation, state incentives, and side-by-side vehicle comparisons, and we track ongoing industry news from vetted third-party publishers. This policy describes how we handle the limited data collected when you visit the site or subscribe to our email newsletter.

2. Information We Collect

We collect minimal personal information. When you visit the site, standard web-analytics data is logged — your IP address (partially anonymized), browser type, device type, referring URL, and the pages you visit. We use a first-party cookie to remember your theme preference (dark or light mode). If you submit the contact form, your name, email address, and message are sent to the editorial team via a third-party form processor (Web3Forms). If you subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect the email address you provide, the date and time you confirmed your subscription, and which page the signup came from (see Section 4).

3. How We Use Your Information

Collected information is used to improve site performance, understand which tools and articles are most useful, detect abuse, respond to contact-form submissions, and send our email newsletter to subscribers who requested it. We do not sell personal information, and we do not combine analytics data with any personally identifiable information to build profiles.

4. Newsletter & Email

If you subscribe to The EV Data Brief, our free email newsletter, we collect only what's needed to send it: your email address, the timestamp of your opt-in, the signup source (which page or form you subscribed from), and the IP address you sign up from (used by our email provider to screen automated signups). We use double opt-in — after you enter your address we send a confirmation email, and you are only added to the list once you click the link inside it. This confirms the address is really yours and prevents anyone from subscribing you without consent.

Our newsletter is delivered through Buttondown, which acts as our email service provider and data processor. Your email address and opt-in details are stored on Buttondown's systems for the purpose of sending you the newsletter; their handling of that data is governed by the Buttondown Privacy Policy. We never sell or share subscriber email addresses with advertisers or other third parties, and we do not use them for anything other than the newsletter.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the one-click unsubscribe link in the footer of every issue, or by contacting us. Unsubscribing stops all newsletter email and removes your address from the active sending list.

5. Advertising

The Charge Port does not currently display third-party advertising. No ad network is loaded on any page and no advertising cookies are set by us. The site is supported by affiliate links instead (see Section 6). If we ever add advertising, this section will be updated before any ad code goes live, and the network's own cookie policy and opt-out links will be listed here.

6. Affiliate Relationships

The Charge Port participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and earns commissions from qualifying purchases made through Amazon links on the site. Amazon Associates is our only affiliate program. As of this policy's last update, affiliate links appear on five pages: Gear, Best Home EV Chargers, Best NACS Adapters, EV Charger Install Gear, and the OBD-II reader link inside the battery-health tool on Used EV Battery Health. Each of those pages carries its own disclosure next to the links, and a disclosure also appears in the sitewide footer. Our editorial recommendations are made independently of commission rates — every Amazon link pays the same rate, so ranking is by merit, not payout. Affiliate links are marked with the rel="sponsored" attribute. Clicking one takes you to Amazon, which sets its own cookies under Amazon's privacy notice; we receive only aggregate earnings reports from Amazon, never your identity or order details.

7. Analytics & Performance

We use Google Analytics 4 and Vercel Web Analytics + Speed Insights to understand aggregate traffic patterns and page-load performance. Both services are configured with IP anonymization enabled where supported. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

8. Third-Party Services & Embeds

We rely on a small set of third-party processors and embedded content, each governed by its own privacy policy: Web3Forms (contact-form delivery), Buttondown (newsletter email — see Section 4), Google Analytics 4 (analytics), and Vercel (hosting and privacy-preserving analytics). Certain pages also embed content from third-party platforms: YouTube (video embeds), X/Twitter (social embeds), and Google Maps (charging-station imagery where applicable). Each of these providers operates its own cookies and analytics when the embedded content is loaded, and their data practices are governed by their respective privacy policies.

9. Cookies

We use one first-party functional cookie to remember your light/dark theme preference. The analytics providers and embedded content listed above may set additional cookies. We set no advertising cookies, because we run no ads. You can clear or block cookies through your browser settings at any time; site functionality outside of theme persistence will not be affected.

10. GDPR Compliance (EU Users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the right to access, correct, delete, export, or restrict processing of your personal data, and to object to direct marketing. The lawful basis for our processing is legitimate interest for analytics and consent for the email newsletter (which you can withdraw at any time by unsubscribing). We do not process personal data for advertising, because we do not serve ads. Contact us to exercise these rights — we aim to respond within 30 days.

11. CCPA/CPRA Compliance (California Users)

California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of personal information, opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell personal information, and because we serve no advertising (see Section 5) we do not engage in "sharing" for cross-context behavioral advertising as the California Consumer Privacy Act defines it. If that ever changes, this section and Section 5 will be updated first.

12. Data Retention

Analytics data is retained for 14 months (Google Analytics default). Contact-form submissions are retained for 24 months for reference. Newsletter subscriber data is retained for as long as you remain subscribed; if you unsubscribe, your address is removed from the active sending list. Cookies expire per the schedules set by each service — typically 30 days to 2 years.

13. Children's Privacy

The Charge Port is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will promptly delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, the services we use, or regulatory requirements. Material changes will be indicated by an updated "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the site after such an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Contact

Questions or requests relating to this privacy policy can be submitted via the contact page. Please allow up to 30 days for a response.