About This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how The Great Library of Philosophy collects, uses, and protects information when you visit or interact with this website.
The Great Library of Philosophy is an independent educational and reference project about the history of philosophy, philosophical thinkers, concepts, works, and traditions. The site does not require visitors to create an account in order to read its content.
We aim to collect only the information reasonably necessary to operate, understand, maintain, and improve the website and to respond to communications sent to us.
Information We Collect
The information collected depends on how you use the website. Most visitors can browse the site's articles without directly providing personal information.
Information Collected Automatically
The website uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with the site. Depending on the configuration of the Analytics service, this may include information such as pages viewed, approximate geographic information, device and browser information, referral information, and information about interactions with the website.
Our Google Analytics measurement ID is G-JPZD4Q0LLL.
Google states that Analytics uses identifiers such as cookies and similar technologies to measure interactions with websites. Google also prohibits customers from sending personally identifiable information to Google Analytics.
Information You Choose to Provide
If you contact us through the contact page or otherwise communicate with us, you may provide information such as your name, email address, the content of your message, and any other information you voluntarily include.
Please avoid sending passwords, payment information, government identification numbers, or other highly sensitive information through ordinary contact forms or email.
Local Browser Preferences
Some site features may store display preferences locally in your browser, such as theme, text size, page width, spacing, or language preferences. Information stored solely in your browser's local storage is not sent to us merely because it is stored there.
How We Use Information
Information collected through the website may be used for the following purposes:
- To understand how visitors use the site and which content is useful.
- To improve the site's content, navigation, accessibility, and performance.
- To respond to questions, feedback, correction requests, and other messages sent to us.
- To identify and address technical problems, security issues, broken links, or other problems affecting the operation of the website.
- To comply with applicable legal obligations where such obligations apply.
We do not use this site as a platform for selling personal information about visitors.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to obtain statistical information about how the website is used. This helps us understand matters such as which pages receive traffic, how visitors navigate the site, and which areas may require improvement.
Google Analytics has its own privacy controls, data-processing practices, and retention settings. Google states that Analytics provides controls relating to data retention, data sharing, advertising personalization, and other privacy-related settings.
We do not intentionally configure this website to send names, email addresses, or other directly identifying personal information to Google Analytics. Visitors should nevertheless understand that analytics services may process technical and usage information associated with website visits.
For more information about Google's handling of information associated with websites using its services, please consult Google's policies for partner sites.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Google Analytics may use cookies and similar technologies to measure website usage. These technologies can allow Analytics to distinguish interactions and sessions for measurement purposes.
You can control or restrict cookies through your browser settings. Blocking or deleting cookies may affect some website functionality or prevent analytics information from being collected.
Google also provides a browser-based Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for supported browsers.
Where applicable law requires consent before certain analytics cookies or similar technologies are used, the site's implementation should be configured to respect those requirements and the choices made by visitors.
Third-Party Services
The website may rely on third-party services to provide hosting, analytics, fonts, libraries, embedded resources, or other technical functionality. Those services may process technical information when your browser communicates with them.
The current website is hosted using GitHub Pages. GitHub publishes its own privacy statement describing how GitHub handles personal data in connection with its services.
Third-party websites linked from The Great Library of Philosophy are operated independently. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies rather than this Privacy Policy.
Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell or rent personal information collected through this website.
Information may nevertheless be processed by third-party service providers where this is necessary to operate the website or provide a requested service. For example, Google may process information through Google Analytics, and GitHub may process information in connection with hosting the website.
We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with a valid legal obligation, court order, governmental request, or other legally applicable requirement.
Data Retention
We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required by law or is reasonably necessary for legitimate record-keeping purposes.
Google Analytics provides configurable retention periods for user-level and event-level data. For standard Google Analytics properties, Google currently provides retention options including 2 months and 14 months, depending on the type of data and property configuration.
The actual retention period for this site's Analytics data depends on the settings configured in our Google Analytics property. We do not state a specific retention period here unless it accurately reflects the current configuration.
Messages submitted to us may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to respond to the request, investigate an editorial issue, maintain an appropriate record of a correction, or otherwise manage the communication.
Security
We take reasonable measures to limit unnecessary access to information submitted to us and to maintain the security of the website and its supporting services.
No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted over the internet.
Visitors should avoid submitting confidential or highly sensitive information through ordinary website communications.
Your Privacy Choices and Rights
Depending on your location and the laws that apply to the processing of your information, you may have rights concerning your personal data. These may include rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, or other forms of control over personal information.
Privacy rights vary by jurisdiction and may be subject to legal exceptions and limitations. References to privacy laws in this policy should not be understood as a statement that every provision of every law applies to every visitor or to this website in every circumstance.
Visitors may contact us through the contact page regarding a privacy request. We may need sufficient information to understand and respond to the request and, where legally appropriate, verify the identity of the person making the request.
Visitors in India should note that India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and associated rules establish a framework for the processing of digital personal data, with provisions taking effect according to their applicable commencement dates. We will update this policy as necessary when relevant legal requirements apply to the site.
Children's Privacy
The Great Library of Philosophy is an educational reference website intended for a general audience. It does not knowingly request unnecessary personal information from children.
If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us through a communication channel, please contact us through the contact page. If we determine that the information was collected in circumstances requiring deletion, we will take reasonable steps to remove it.
External Websites and Links
Articles on The Great Library of Philosophy may link to external websites, including academic institutions, libraries, publishers, reference works, archives, booksellers, and other resources.
Following an external link takes you to a website operated by another organization. We do not control that website's privacy practices, cookies, data collection, or security. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of an external website before providing it with personal information.
International Data Processing
Some third-party services used to operate the website may process information in countries other than the country in which you live. Different jurisdictions may have different privacy and data-protection requirements.
Where third-party services are used, their own terms and privacy policies govern their processing activities. For example, Google publishes information about its privacy controls and data practices for Analytics users.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may revise this Privacy Policy when our website, technology, analytics configuration, third-party services, or applicable privacy requirements change.
The Last updated date at the beginning of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised. Material changes will be reflected in the updated version of the policy.
We encourage visitors to review this page periodically if they want to remain informed about how information is handled.
Contact and Privacy Requests
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, believe that information has been handled incorrectly, or want to make a privacy request, please use the contact page.
When submitting a privacy request, please describe the nature of your request clearly and provide enough information for us to understand the issue. Please do not include unnecessary sensitive personal information.