Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 30, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Greatest Guitar Player (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects when you use greatestguitarplayer.com (the “Site”), how we use it, and the choices you have. By using the Site you agree to the practices described here.

Who We Are

Greatest Guitar Player is a website celebrating the guitarists who shaped modern music, with profiles, rankings, a community voting tool, and a monthly newsletter. Our website address is https://greatestguitarplayer.com. For any privacy question you can reach us through our Contact page or by email at the address listed at the bottom of this policy.

Information We Collect

Information you give us

You can use most of the Site without giving us any personal information. You choose to share information when you:

• Submit our contact form or the Request a Guitarist form, where we collect your name, email address, and the contents of your message.
• Vote on a guitarist, where we collect the display name you type and your rating selections.
• Subscribe to the Riffs newsletter, where we collect your email address (and your name if you provide one).

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, when you visit we and our service providers automatically receive certain technical information, such as your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, referring pages, and the pages you view. This is collected through cookies and similar technologies for analytics, security, and advertising, as described below. Some information, such as IP and browser identifiers tied to a vote, is stored in a hashed (one-way) form for spam protection.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to operate and improve the Site, respond to your messages, deliver the newsletter you asked for, count and display community votes, understand how visitors use the Site, protect against spam and abuse, show advertising, and meet our legal obligations.

The Riffs Newsletter (Beehiiv)

Our monthly Riffs newsletter is created, hosted, and delivered through Beehiiv, a third-party email platform. When you subscribe, your email address and any details you provide are stored and processed on Beehiiv’s systems so they can send you the newsletter on our behalf, and Beehiiv may collect engagement information such as whether an email was opened or a link was clicked. Your subscription and that data are handled in line with Beehiiv’s own privacy practices. You can read the Beehiiv Privacy Policy at https://www.beehiiv.com/privacy. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every newsletter email, which stops future mailings.

Contact and Request Forms (Web3Forms)

Our contact form and Request a Guitarist form are delivered to our inbox through Web3Forms, a third-party form-handling service. The information you enter (your name, email, and message) passes through Web3Forms so it can be emailed to us, and Web3Forms may process technical details such as your IP address for spam protection. You can read the Web3Forms Privacy Policy at https://web3forms.com/privacy. We use the information you send only to reply to you and, where relevant, to consider your guitarist suggestion.

Community Voting

When you cast a vote, we store the display name you enter, your rating values, the time of the vote, and a hashed version of your IP address and browser string. The name you choose may appear publicly in features such as recent or trending activity, so please do not enter information you want to keep private. Hashed technical values are used to detect duplicate or abusive voting and are not used to identify you personally.

Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to make the Site work, remember your choices, measure traffic, and improve content. For analytics we use Google Analytics, which sets cookies and collects usage information to help us understand how the Site is used. You can learn how Google handles this data at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. We may also use Jetpack, provided by Automattic, for site statistics and security features, governed by the Automattic Privacy Policy. You can control or block cookies through your browser settings, though some features may not work without them.

Advertising (Google AdSense)

We display advertising through Google AdSense. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.

• Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to the Site and other sites on the internet.
• You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• You can opt out of personalized advertising from many other vendors at aboutads.info/choices.
• More detail on how Google uses information from sites that use its services is available at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Third-party ad networks may set their own cookies, which we do not control. Please review the privacy policies of those providers for their practices and opt-out options.

Spam Protection and Security

To keep the Site safe we use spam-filtering and security services, including Akismet (provided by Automattic) and Wordfence, and our traffic passes through Cloudflare. These services may process technical information such as your IP address and request details to detect spam, abuse, and malicious activity. Their handling of data is governed by their own policies, including the Automattic Privacy Policy and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information in the everyday sense: we do not hand your name, email, or contact details to data brokers for payment. However, because we use third-party advertising (Google AdSense) and analytics (Google Analytics), our visitors’ identifiers and browsing activity are shared with those partners and we earn ad revenue, which under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) and similar US state privacy laws may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for targeted advertising. You can opt out at any time using the controls described in the Advertising section above (Google Ads Settings and aboutads.info/choices), any consent prompt we display, or by contacting us. Apart from that, we share information only with the service providers described in this policy (such as Beehiiv, Web3Forms, Google, Automattic, and Cloudflare) so they can perform services on our behalf, and where required by law or to protect our rights and the safety of others.

Data Retention

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described here. Newsletter data is retained until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it. Contact messages are kept while we handle your request and for a reasonable period afterward. Voting records are retained to maintain the integrity of the rankings.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict the use of your personal information, to object to certain processing, or to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below and we will respond as required by applicable law. You can also manage advertising choices and newsletter subscriptions using the options described above.

Third-Party Links

The Site contains links to other websites, including video platforms, image sources, and reference pages. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to read their policies.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the effective date at the top of this page. Significant changes may be highlighted on the Site. Please review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, reach us through our Contact page or by email at martin (at) greatestguitarplayer (dot) com.