Privacy policy

Last updated: September 18, 2026

This policy covers the website aretheyonthelist.com and the "Are they on the list" Chrome extension. Both are run by aretheyonthelist.com ("we"). To reach us, use the Contact link at the bottom of any page.

The short version

• There are no accounts. We never ask for your name, email address or anything else to use the site.
• The site does not keep a record of who searched for what.
• We use Google Analytics, and the page address it receives includes what you searched.
• Movie and show searches use TMDB, a film and TV database.
• We do not sell your data, and there are no ads.

What happens when you search

When you search a name, our server checks it against the lists and sends back the result. The site does not save the name.

When you search a movie or show, our server also sends the title you typed to TMDB to find matching films and series. TMDB's answers are stored on our server for up to 14 days so repeat lookups are faster. Our server does not send TMDB your IP address or anything else about you.

The name or title you search appears in the page address (for example ?q= followed by what you typed). That address is sent to Google Analytics, as described below, and stays in your browser history like any other page you visit.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to see how many people visit, which pages they use and what they search for. When you load a page, Google Analytics receives the page address and title (which include your search), the page that linked you here, your browser and device type, and your IP address, which Google uses to estimate your general location. It also sets cookies to tell visits apart.

We do not use Google Analytics for advertising. Google keeps this data under the retention setting in our account and its own policy. See Google's privacy policy and how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can stop it with most ad or tracker blockers, or with Google's opt-out browser add-on.

Cookies and browser storage

The site does not set any cookies of its own. The only cookies are the ones Google Analytics sets.

The site uses your browser's session storage to remember small things, such as which tab you were browsing, so the Back button returns you to the same place. This stays in your browser, is never sent to us, and is cleared when you close the tab.

Posters from TMDB

On the movie and show pages, your browser loads poster images directly from TMDB's image server. That means TMDB receives your IP address and browser details, as any website does when it serves an image. See TMDB's privacy policy. The name search never loads anything from TMDB.

Server logs and security

To stop anyone overloading the movie and show lookups, our server keeps a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address for up to 10 minutes after a lookup, or until the end of the day if you reach the limit. It does not keep what you searched alongside it.

Visits to the site's private admin pages are logged with the visitor's IP address and browser details, to detect break-in attempts. Ordinary visitors never reach those pages.

Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs (IP address, the address requested, and browser type) for security and to keep the site running. Because a search is part of the page address, these logs may include what was searched.

Contacting us

The Contact link only shows our email address. It does not send anything. If you email us, we use your message and email address only to reply, and keep them only as long as we need to deal with your message.

Sharing and links

The copy link button puts the page address on your clipboard. Nothing is sent anywhere. Links to other websites, such as a list's source or a Google search, only open when you click them, and the site tells your browser not to pass on which page you came from.

Who we share data with

• Google, through Google Analytics, as described above.
• TMDB, which receives the movie or show titles you search (from our server) and loads poster images (to your browser).
• Our hosting provider, which runs the server the site is on.

We do not sell, rent or trade your data, and we do not share it with anyone else.

The Chrome extension

The "Are they on the list" extension adds two items to your right-click menu, "Search name" and "Search movie or show". They only appear when you have selected some text. It also adds the address bar keyword "atl" (type "atl" and a space, then a name or title) and a toolbar button that opens our home page.

• Its only permission is "contextMenus", which lets it add the right-click items. It has no access to websites, runs no code on the pages you visit, makes no network requests of its own, stores nothing and has no analytics.
• It cannot read the pages you visit. It only sees the text you select and right-click, or type after "atl".
• When you choose a search, that text is sent to aretheyonthelist.com as part of the page address (?q=), where it is handled like any other search on the site, as described above.
• The toolbar button just opens our home page and sends nothing.
• Nothing is sold or shared with third parties by the extension, and it is not used for anything except the search you asked for. It is not used to decide anyone's creditworthiness or for lending.

Children

The site and the extension are not aimed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you think a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date at the top.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or about data you think we hold: use the Contact link at the bottom of this page.