Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 2026•Last updated: June 2026
A few things up front
We believe you should be able to read about the structure of the Catholic Church in the United States without being tracked, profiled, or added to a marketing list. Hierarchy.Directory is an independent reference project. There are no advertisements, no paywalls, and no sponsorships. We do not sell, rent, or trade any information we collect, and we do not share it with anyone for marketing or advertising purposes.
You don't need an account, a login, or to provide any personal information to read the directory. We collect information only when you choose to contact us, or when your browser sends the small amount of technical data that any website receives in the ordinary course of being visited.
This Privacy Policy explains, in plain language, what we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have. We've tried to keep it short and readable. If anything is unclear, write to info@hierarchy.directory.
Information we collect
Information you give us. When you write to us through the contact form or by email, we receive your name, your email address, the content of your message, and any attachments you choose to send. If you sign up to receive occasional updates about the Site, we add your email address to a list used only for that purpose. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Information your browser sends. When you visit the Site, your browser automatically transmits information that any web server receives: your IP address, your browser type, your operating system, the page that referred you, the page you're viewing, and the date and time. We use this to keep the Site running, defend it against abuse, and understand, in the aggregate, how people use the directory.
Information stored on your device. The "Build a Directory" feature remembers which bishops you've selected by saving that list in your browser's local storage. It never leaves your device, and we can't see it. Clearing your browser data will erase it.
What we use it for
We use the information above to respond to your messages, to send updates to people who have asked for them, to keep the Site online and working, to look at aggregate usage patterns (which pages get visited, what countries visitors come from), and to improve the directory based on corrections and contributions you send us.
We do not advertise to you, profile you, build a behavioral record of your visits, or use your information to make any kind of automated decision about you. We do not sell, rent, or share your information with anyone for marketing. If we were going to do any of those things, you would see them listed here.
Service providers
To run the Site, we rely on a small number of third-party service providers for hosting, analytics, and email delivery. They process limited information solely to provide services to us and are not authorized to use it for anything else. They're bound by their own privacy policies and, where required, by data processing agreements with us.
Cookies and similar technologies
Like most websites, the Site uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies (including the browser local storage mentioned above), but only what's needed for the Site to function and for basic analytics. We do not use cookies for advertising, for tracking you across other websites, or for building a profile of who you are.
You can clear or block them through your browser settings. If you do, "Build a Directory" won't remember your selections between visits, but everything else will still work normally.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
The Site does not behave differently based on a browser's "Do Not Track" signal. We already treat everyone the way DNT asks websites to behave. Where applicable law requires it, we recognize the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out of any sale or sharing of personal information. (We don't sell or share personal information regardless.)
When we share information
We share information only in a few narrow situations:
- with the service providers mentioned above, so they can help us run the Site;
- when required by law, regulation, legal process, or a valid governmental request;
- to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Site, its visitors, or others.
We do not share information with advertisers, data brokers, social media platforms, or anyone else for marketing or profiling purposes.
Where your information goes
The Site is hosted in the United States, and the service providers we use are primarily located in the United States. If you're visiting from somewhere else, your information will end up here, where data protection laws may differ from the ones in your country. Where required by law, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the standard contractual clauses offered by our service providers, to cover international transfers.
How long we keep things
We keep messages and submissions for as long as we reasonably need to respond to them and to maintain a record of corrections and contributions to the directory. We keep subscriber emails until you unsubscribe. Server logs and analytics are retained according to our providers' standard practices, which are generally short. You can ask us to delete any of this at any time.
A note for visitors in Europe and the United Kingdom
If you're in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the GDPR (and its UK and Swiss equivalents) require us to tell you the lawful basis on which we process your information. We rely on your consent when you contact us or subscribe; on our legitimate interests in keeping the Site running, defending it against abuse, and understanding aggregate usage; and on legal obligations where applicable. You can withdraw consent at any time, and withdrawal doesn't affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
Your rights
You can ask us, at any time, to show you what we have on file about you, to correct something that's wrong, or to delete it entirely. You can ask us to stop sending you updates. You can withdraw consent for processing that was based on your consent.
If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you also have the right to data portability, to restrict or object to certain processing, and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.
If you live in California, the CCPA and CPRA give you the right to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, to opt out of any sale or sharing of your personal information, to limit the use of sensitive personal information, and to be free from discrimination for exercising these rights. As noted, we do not sell or share personal information, and we do not collect sensitive personal information as defined by the CPRA, but the rights are yours regardless.
To exercise any of these rights, write to info@hierarchy.directory. We'll respond within the timeframes required by applicable law. You can designate an authorized agent to act on your behalf; we may ask for reasonable verification first.
CCPA/CPRA notice at collection
In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have collected the following categories of personal information, using the labels the California statutes use: identifiers (your name, email address, and IP address) and internet or other electronic network activity information (the pages you visited and how you got there). We collected this directly from you (when you wrote to us or subscribed) and automatically from your browser. We used it for the purposes described above. We shared it only with the categories of service providers described above. We did not sell or share any personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA and CPRA.
Children
The Site isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has sent us something, please let us know at info@hierarchy.directory and we'll delete it promptly.
Security
We use reasonable measures to protect the information we collect. No site on the Internet can promise perfect security, and we won't either. But we'll never collect more than we need, and what we do collect, we look after.
Links to other sites
The directory links to many third-party websites, including the USCCB, Catholic-Hierarchy.org, GCatholic.org, Wikidata, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and individual diocesan websites. Once you click through to one of those, you're subject to that site's privacy practices, not ours. We encourage you to check their policies if you're curious how they handle your data.
Changes to this policy
If we update this Privacy Policy, we'll post the new version here with a fresh "Last updated" date. If we make significant changes (particularly any that expand how we collect or use your information), we'll do our best to give you notice on the Site before they take effect. Continued use of the Site after a change takes effect means you accept it.
Contact
Questions, concerns, or requests of any kind: info@hierarchy.directory.