The Hits List stores post view counts locally in WordPress database tables. Table names use the active site table prefix and include overall and daily count storage, such as hits_list and hits_list_daily.
The plugin does not send tracking data to a third-party analytics endpoint.
Daily tracking buckets are retained for 180 days by default, and the retention window can be changed on the settings screen. Older rows are removed by scheduled cleanup. All-time counts are not pruned.
The plugin records view counts only. It does not store IP addresses, user accounts, user agents, referrers, or any other visitor identifier, and it sets no cookies of its own.
You can download everything the plugin has stored as CSV or JSON from the settings screen.
The plugin records page-view activity for popular-content reporting. Site owners are responsible for describing visitor analytics usage in their own privacy policies when required.
Suggested Privacy Policy Language
You can adapt this language for your site:
We use The Hits List to count views on our own WordPress site and display popular content. View counts are stored locally in our WordPress database and are not sent to a third-party analytics service by The Hits List.
Adjust that language for your site's own data retention, consent, and analytics policies.