Privacy Policy

Introduction

Wide Reads ("we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website widereads.com (the "Site").

This policy applies to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other English-speaking jurisdictions. We comply with applicable privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the UK Data Protection Act 2018, Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and Australia's Privacy Act 1988.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

We may collect information you voluntarily provide when you:

• Create an account or sign in
• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Purchase or manage a paid subscription
• Contact us through our website
• Submit book requests or feedback
• Participate in surveys or promotions

This may include your name, email address, account credentials, billing details processed by our payment provider, reading activity you save while signed in (such as bookmarks and history), and any message content you provide.

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our Site, we may automatically collect certain information, including:

• Device information (browser type, operating system)
• IP address and approximate location
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website or source
• Interaction data (clicks, scrolls, navigation paths)

Much of this data is collected through cookies, pixels, and similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for a full list of cookies, providers, durations, and opt-out options.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Site, keep you signed in, measure performance, and — with your consent — serve advertising on selected long-form reading pages.

On your first visit, a cookie banner lets you choose Accept all (analytics and advertising) or Essential only (login and core functionality). You can reopen the banner anytime from Cookie Settings in the footer.

• Strictly necessary: Supabase authentication cookies when you log in, and admin session cookies for authorized staff only
• Analytics: Google Analytics and Vercel Web Analytics to understand traffic and improve the Site
• Advertising: Google AdSense on eligible chapter and theme pages (not on home, library index, or book hub landing heroes)
• Payments: Stripe cookies or identifiers during checkout and billing-portal sessions

We do not sell your personal information. Advertising partners may use cookies to deliver and measure ads according to their own policies. You can manage or opt out of many non-essential cookies through your browser settings and the tools listed in our Cookie Policy.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our services
• Authenticate accounts and save reading preferences, bookmarks, and history
• Process subscriptions and payments
• Respond to your inquiries and requests
• Send you updates about new content (with your consent where required)
• Analyze usage patterns to improve user experience and content quality
• Serve advertising on eligible pages through Google AdSense
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues and abuse
• Comply with legal obligations

Information Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information with:

• Service Providers: Companies that help us operate the Site, including Vercel (hosting and analytics), Supabase (authentication and account data), Google (Analytics and AdSense), and Stripe (payment processing). These providers process data on our behalf under contractual obligations.
• Legal Requirements: When required by law or to protect our rights, users, or the public
• Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets

Third-party advertising and analytics services may also collect information directly through cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.

Your Rights

United States Residents

If you are a California resident, under the CCPA you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect and how it's used
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Opt-out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell your data)
• Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

United Kingdom Residents

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Rectify inaccurate data
• Request erasure of your data
• Restrict or object to processing
• Data portability
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Canadian Residents

Under PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• Access your personal information
• Challenge the accuracy of your information
• Withdraw consent (subject to legal restrictions)
• Complain to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Australian Residents

Under the Privacy Act 1988, you have the right to:

• Access your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Complain about privacy breaches
• Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)

Children's Privacy

Our Site is designed for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.

For users in the UK, this applies to children under 16 unless parental consent has been obtained.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the “Last updated” date. When we make significant changes to how we use cookies or tracking technologies, we will also update our Cookie Policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@widereads.com

For UK residents, you may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

For Canadian residents, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.

For Australian residents, you may contact the OAIC at oaic.gov.au.