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Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 10, 2026

Online Lists Maker (“we”) is a free list maker that works without accounts. This policy describes what we store, what we don’t, and why — in plain language.

The short version

  • No accounts. We don’t ask for your name, email, or password to use Online Lists Maker.
  • Your lists are private by design. They’re reachable only through unguessable links, never indexed by search engines, and never appear in sitemaps.
  • We store the minimum needed to run the service: your list content, scrambled (hashed) access tokens, and basic timestamps.
  • No advertising trackers in the list editor. We don’t sell data — there is no data worth selling.

What we store

When you create or edit a list, our server stores:

  • List content: titles, descriptions, item text, and optional item details you add (quantities, categories, notes, due dates), plus completion status and ordering.
  • Access tokens — scrambled, not readable. Each list’s edit and view-only links contain a random token. We store only a one-way cryptographic hash (SHA-256) of each token — we cannot reconstruct your link from what we store, and neither can anyone who accessed our database.
  • Timestamps and revision numbers: when lists and items were created or changed, used for synchronization and ordering.
  • Anonymous edit tags: a short random tag (8 characters, e.g. “a3f9…”) attached to edits so collaborators can tell edits apart. It contains no personal information.
  • Rate-limit counters: temporary per-address request counts used to block spam and abuse. These expire automatically.

What we don’t store

  • No accounts, usernames, or passwords. No names or email addresses (unless you choose to contact us — see below).
  • No tracking of what you do inside your lists for advertising purposes.
  • No third-party analytics or advertising scripts run on list pages (`/l/` addresses). Advertising, when enabled, appears only on marketing and content pages — see “Cookies & Advertising” below.

What stays in your browser

  • Your Lists panel (list names, links, and access tokens for quick reopening) is kept in your browser’s local storage — on your device only, never sent to us except when you open a list.
  • Clearing your browser data removes these shortcuts from that device. It does not delete your lists — lists live on our server under their links until you delete them.
  • The access token travels in the web address fragment (the part after `#`), which browsers never send to servers — so your token doesn’t appear in our server logs.

Cookies & Advertising

When advertising is enabled on Online Lists Maker, the marketing and content pages of this site (such as the homepage and starter-list pages) may display ads served by Google AdSense. This section explains what that means for you.

  • Advertising cookies. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your visits to this site and other sites across the web — including the DoubleClick cookie, which enables interest-based (personalized) advertising.
  • What the list editor does. The list editor itself (pages under `/l/`) carries no advertising scripts and sets no advertising cookies. Ads appear only on marketing and content pages, and only when advertising is enabled.
  • Opting out. You can opt out of personalized advertising through [Google’s Ads Settings](https://ad.google.com/settings/ads), through the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out at [optout.networkadvertising.org](https://optout.networkadvertising.org), or through Your Online Choices at [youronlinechoices.com](https://www.youronlinechoices.com) (EU/UK). You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the list maker works without cookies (your “Your Lists” shortcuts use local storage, which is separate from cookies).
  • Before approval. If advertising is not yet enabled on the site, no advertising cookies are set and this section has no practical effect — it is published in advance so the disclosure is in place from day one.

Sharing and link responsibility

Anyone holding a list link can open it at that link’s permission level (edit or view-only). If you share an edit link publicly or with the wrong person, they can change or delete the list. Treat links like keys: share them deliberately, and regenerate or revoke them from the Share menu when the circle changes.

Retention and deletion

  • Delete a list any time: open it with its edit link → ⋯ menu → “Delete this list” → confirm.
  • Deleted lists are kept in a recoverable state for 30 days (in case of accidents or abuse investigations), then permanently purged.
  • Synchronization history is pruned to the most recent 500 events per list.
  • “Remove” in Your Lists only removes the shortcut from your browser — it does not delete the server copy.

Contacting us

If you email us at [adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com](mailto:adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com) or use the [contact form](/contact/) and include your email, we’ll use it only to reply to your message. We don’t add it to any mailing list (there isn’t one).

Data rights

Because Online Lists Maker has no accounts, we generally cannot identify which lists belong to a requester. You can exercise control directly:

  • Deletion: anyone holding a list’s edit link can permanently delete it (see Retention above).
  • Access/export: anyone holding a link can view and export (TXT/CSV) the list at any time.
  • Other requests (correction, restriction, portability beyond export): contact us at [adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com](mailto:adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com) or via the [contact page](/contact/) describing the list link in question. We will respond to legitimate requests but cannot act on lists we cannot verify you control.

Children

Online Lists Maker is a general-purpose utility not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children; because the service requires no accounts and stores no names, emails, or ages, there is nothing age-specific to collect. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has contacted us with personal information, email [adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com](mailto:adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com) and we will delete it.

Security

We protect data with HTTPS in transit, one-way token hashing at rest, request rate limiting, and parameterized database queries. No system is perfectly secure; the strongest protection for a list is keeping its links private.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we’ll update the “Last updated” date above and, for material changes, note them here for at least 30 days. Continued use of Online Lists Maker after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Privacy questions: [adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com](mailto:adminonlinelistsmaker@gmail.com) or the [contact page](/contact/).