This Privacy Policy explains how PlainReads(“we”, “us”) handles information when you visit plainreads.com or buy one of our books. By using the site, you agree to the practices described here.
Information we collect
- Account information.If you sign in, we store your email address and a record of which books you’ve purchased. We use one-time codes for login, so we never store a password.
- Purchase information. Payments are processed by Stripe. We receive a confirmation and limited details (such as the last four digits of your card and your billing country) but we never see or store your full card number.
- Usage information.Our analytics record the pages you visit, where you came from, the device and approximate location, and actions such as claiming a free guide or starting checkout. If you’re signed in, these visits are linked to your account so we can see which pages led to a purchase. We use this only to improve the site and our books — never to build an advertising profile. See Analytics and your choices.
- Communications. If you email us, we keep that correspondence so we can help you and follow up.
How we use your information
- To deliver the books you buy and give you access to your library.
- To sign you in securely with one-time email codes.
- To provide support and respond to your messages.
- To improve our books and the site.
- To meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for third-party advertising.
Service providers
We rely on a small number of trusted providers who process data on our behalf, only as needed to run the service:
- Stripe — payment processing.
- Clerk — sign-in and account management.
- Vercel — hosting, privacy-friendly analytics, and working out which country a request comes from.
- FlowGlance and DataFast — visitor analytics (see below for when they run).
- Resend — sending transactional email (login codes, receipts).
- Cloudflare — privacy-friendly analytics and file storage for book downloads (R2).
- Neon — our database, which stores account and order records.
Analytics and your choices
Whether analytics run depends on where you’re visiting from:
- EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland: analytics load only after you click Accept on the cookie banner. If you decline, they never load.
- Everywhere else: analytics (including FlowGlance) run by default and no banner is shown. You can refuse at any time with the Do not track me link at the bottom of every page. It saves a refusal cookie, deletes the analytics IDs in your browser, and stops the scripts from loading on later visits. A Global Privacy Control signal from your browser counts as the same refusal.
We work out your region from the country of your IP address, supplied by our host; we don’t store the IP address for this.
Cookies
Beyond analytics, we use only what’s needed to keep you signed in and to remember your choice. Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie by name.
Data retention
We keep account and purchase records for as long as you have an account and as long as we’re legally required to (for example, for tax records). You can ask us to delete your account at any time.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete the personal information we hold about you, and to object to certain processing. To exercise any of these, email us at contact@plainreads.com and we’ll respond promptly.
Security
We use reputable infrastructure, encryption in transit, and access controls to protect your data. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to keep your information safe.
Children
Our site is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
International transfers
Our providers may process data in countries other than yours. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for these transfers.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll revise the “last updated” date above and, for significant changes, let you know.
Contact
Questions about your privacy? Email contact@plainreads.com.