PortLab

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 5 September 2026

PortLab publishes independent USB-C hub and dock reviews at rankedshelf.com. This page describes exactly what the site records when you visit, why, and what it never does. It reflects how the site actually works rather than a generic template.

The short version

  • There are no user accounts, and we never ask you for personal details.
  • We record anonymous page views and link clicks so we can tell which articles are useful and which traffic sources work.
  • There is no Google Analytics, no advertising network, and no third-party tracking script on this site.
  • We do not sell, rent, or share what we collect with anyone.

What we collect

When you load a page or click a link, the site records a single event containing:

  • the type of event — page view, affiliate link click, or internal link click;
  • the page path, and the article, product, or merchant involved;
  • the referring URL your browser reports, if any;
  • campaign tags from the link you arrived through (for example utm_source=pinterest), which tell us the visit came from a particular Pin rather than anything about you;
  • the date and time;
  • a two-letter country code;
  • an anonymous visitor ID (described below).

That is the complete list. We do not collect your name, email address, or any other detail that identifies you, because the site never asks for one.

The visitor ID cookie

The site sets one first-party cookie, pl_vid. It holds a randomly generated identifier — not derived from your device, browser, or network, and not linked to any real-world identity. Its only purpose is to tell whether several page views came from the same browser, so that “40 views” can be distinguished from “one person refreshing 40 times.”

It is httpOnly (unreadable by scripts in the page), SameSite=Lax, and expires after one year. It is the only cookie this site sets.

You can block or delete it in your browser at any time. Being straightforward about the effect: blocking it does not stop events from being recorded — it means each visit is recorded with a fresh random ID instead, so your visits cannot be connected to one another. Deleting it has the same effect going forward.

Your IP address

Your IP address is used once, in memory, to look up the country it belongs to, against a database held on our own server. Only the resulting two-letter country code is saved. The IP address itself is never written to our database and never sent anywhere else.

What we deliberately do not do

  • No third-party analytics, advertising, or social tracking scripts run on this site. Web fonts are served from our own domain, not fetched from a third party as you browse.
  • We do not build advertising profiles or target you with ads anywhere.
  • We do not sell, rent, or share collected data with third parties.
  • We do not combine what we collect here with data from other sources to try to work out who you are.

Affiliate links

PortLab earns commission on qualifying purchases made through outbound links — see our Affiliate Disclosure for how that works and why it does not influence our recommendations.

When you click one, we record that a click happened and which product and merchant it was for. We do not and cannot see what you do after you arrive at the retailer, what you buy, or what you pay. Once you leave this site, the retailer's own privacy policy and cookies apply, and those are outside our control. Affiliate programs report sales back to us only as aggregate commission totals, never as information about individual people.

How long we keep it

Event records are currently kept indefinitely — the site has no automated deletion schedule yet, and we would rather say so than imply one exists. The records contain no information that identifies you. If you would like the events associated with your pl_vid value removed, email us and we will delete them.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data held about you, or to object to its processing. Because the data we hold is pseudonymous, we will usually need the pl_vid value from your browser to find the relevant records. Write to us at the address below and we will help.

Children

This site is aimed at adults buying computer accessories and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes to this policy

If what the site collects changes, this page changes with it, and the date at the top is updated.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your data: contact@rankedshelf.com. You can also reach us through our Contact page.