Information We Receive
When you visit the Public Domain Literature Library, our servers automatically record routine technical information: your IP address, browser type and version, the operating system you use, the pages you view, the date and time of each request, and the website that referred you to us. This data is collected for every visitor and is necessary to operate the catalogue, diagnose technical issues, and protect against abuse.
Information You Provide
We do not require you to create an account or provide personal information to browse the catalogue. If you contact us by email (for example, at [email protected]), we will receive the contents of your message and your email address. We use that information solely to respond to your inquiry and do not add it to any marketing list.
Site Preferences
We may store small pieces of data on your device to remember your preferences — for instance, your chosen text size or display mode. These are functional and are not used to track you across other websites.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies (such as local storage) for the following purposes:
- Essential cookies — required for the catalogue to function, such as remembering your session.
- Preference cookies — remember your settings so you do not have to reconfigure them each visit.
- Analytics cookies — where enabled, these help us understand how visitors use the catalogue, which pages are most popular, and what improvements may be useful.
- Advertising cookies — if advertising is displayed, third-party ad providers may place cookies to serve relevant ads and measure their effectiveness.
We do not use cookies to identify you personally. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the catalogue.
Analytics
Where analytics are enabled, we use a limited set of analytics tools to collect aggregated, non-personal information about site usage. These tools may use cookies or similar technologies. The data collected includes pages visited, time spent on the site, and general geographic region (derived from IP address). We do not share this data with third parties except as necessary to operate the analytics service.
Advertising
Where advertising is displayed, we may use Google AdSense or similar advertising services. Google and other third-party vendors may use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to our site or other sites. You can learn more about how Google uses data and how to opt out at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. We do not control the cookies placed by advertisers.
Web Beacons
Emails we send (if any) may contain web beacons — tiny, invisible images that tell us whether the email was opened and which links were clicked. We use this information to improve our communications. You can disable images in your email client to prevent this.
How We Use Your Data
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To operate, maintain, and improve the catalogue.
- To understand usage patterns and develop new features.
- To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents.
- To comply with legal obligations.
Data Sharing
We do not sell your personal information. We may share non-personal, aggregated data publicly or with partners (for example, to report catalogue usage). We may disclose information if required by law or in good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect our rights, or investigate misconduct.
Service Providers
We may engage trusted third-party service providers to perform functions on our behalf, such as hosting, analytics, and advertising. These providers have access to the information needed to perform their functions and are contractually bound to keep it confidential and use it only for the agreed purposes.
Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect the information we collect from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Data Retention
We retain server logs and analytics data for a period necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, after which it is deleted or anonymized. Personal information from emails is retained only as long as needed to address your inquiry.
Your Choices
You have the following choices regarding your data:
- Cookies — You can set your browser to refuse all or some cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable cookies, some parts of the catalogue may not function properly.
- Analytics — You can opt out of certain analytics by using browser add-ons or settings that block tracking.
- Advertising — You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page or Google’s Ads Settings.
- Email — If you have contacted us, you may request deletion of your correspondence at any time.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location, you may have rights under applicable privacy laws, including the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data. To exercise these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable law.
Children’s Privacy
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal data, we will take steps to delete it. If you believe a child has submitted personal information, please contact us.
External Links
The catalogue may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
International Access
Our catalogue is hosted in and accessible from various countries. If you access the site from outside Ireland, your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Ireland or other locations where our service providers operate. By using the catalogue, you consent to such transfer, storage, and processing.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version on this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically for any changes.
Contact
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at [email protected].