Note: This feature is only available for publications. If you've created a Substack from your profile and do not have a publication, your Substack won't have this feature.
What is the purpose of hosting my own Terms of Service or Privacy Policy?
As a publisher on Substack, you own your relationships with your subscribers and are responsible for complying with any applicable data protection and privacy laws. Depending on where you reside, you may be obligated to host your own Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.
Do my own Terms of Services replace Substack’s Terms of Service?
Substack's Terms of Service govern the use of the Substack platform, including the rights and responsibilities of both Substack and the publishers using the platform. Publishers and subscribers agree to these terms when they choose to use Substack's services. Publishers' Terms of Service govern the relationship between the publisher and their subscribers, outlining how the publisher will handle personal data.
How do I host my own Terms of Service or Privacy Policy?
To add a custom Terms of Service or Privacy Policy to your Substack publication, follow these steps:
- Head to your publication’s Dashboard and click on your publication’s Settings. Scroll to the Privacy section and click "Customize" next to "Custom terms of service" or "Custom privacy policy".
2. You’ll be prompted with the following pages where you can add your own terms of service or privacy policy.
3. Click save to publish them to your homepage. You can always revisit these pages on your publication’s Settings page to edit them.
What will my readers see?
On a post, readers can see the Publisher Privacy and Publisher terms at the footer of the page.
Please note that we currently only support custom policies on the web, however, you can always link them in your About page to display them in the Substack app.
When readers click on “Publisher Privacy” they’ll be prompted with the following page, where your privacy policy will be displayed.
When readers click on “Publisher Terms”, they’ll be prompted with the following page, where your terms of service will be displayed.
The URL for your custom policies will be <yoursubdomain>.substack.com/privacy and <yoursubdomain>.substack.com/tos.