Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 2026•Last updated: June 2026
Hierarchy.Directory (“the Site,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to respecting the privacy of its visitors. This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Information You Provide. When you contact us through the contact form or by email, we collect the information you voluntarily submit, including your name, email address, and the content of your message. If you submit a portrait or data correction, we may retain any supporting documentation you provide.
1.2 Automatically Collected Information. When you visit the Site, our hosting provider (Vercel) may automatically collect limited technical information, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and the date and time of your visit. This information is collected through server logs and basic analytics and is used solely to understand general usage patterns and maintain the performance and security of the Site.
1.3 Local Storage. The “Build a Directory” feature stores your bishop selections in your browser’s local storage. This data resides entirely on your device, is not transmitted to our servers, and is not accessible to us.
1.4 Cookies. The Site does not use cookies for tracking or advertising purposes. Your browser may store minimal technical cookies required for the Site to function (such as session management), but these are not used to identify or profile individual visitors.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To respond to inquiries, corrections, or submissions you send through the contact form or email.
- To improve the accuracy and completeness of the directory based on corrections and contributions.
- To monitor and maintain the performance, security, and availability of the Site.
- To understand aggregate usage patterns (e.g., total page views, most-visited pages, geographic distribution of visitors).
We do not use your information for marketing, advertising, profiling, or any purpose unrelated to the operation and improvement of the Site.
3. Information Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise share your personal information with third parties, except in the following limited circumstances:
- Service Providers. We use third-party service providers (such as Vercel for hosting and email delivery services for the contact form) that may process data on our behalf. These providers are used solely to operate the Site and are not authorized to use your information for any other purpose.
- Legal Requirements. We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
4. Data Retention
Contact form submissions and email correspondence are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to respond to your inquiry and maintain a record of corrections and contributions to the directory. You may request deletion of your correspondence by emailing info@hierarchy.directory.
Automatically collected server logs and analytics data are retained in accordance with our hosting provider’s standard retention policies.
5. Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect the information collected through the Site. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
6. Children’s Privacy
The Site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at info@hierarchy.directory and we will delete it promptly.
7. Third-Party Links
The Site contains links to external websites, including Catholic-Hierarchy.org, GCatholic.org, the USCCB, Wikidata, Wikipedia, and individual diocesan websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external site you visit.
8. Your Rights
You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal information we hold about you by contacting us at info@hierarchy.directory. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.
9. International Visitors
The Site is hosted in the United States. If you are visiting from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country of residence.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
11. Contact
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@hierarchy.directory.