Privacy policy

Summary

ReadingList is a free, affiliate-supported public reference site for parents, teachers, librarians and homeschoolers. The site does not show display advertising. Adults can optionally use a passwordless account for reading preferences and book-pick email; saved books and lists remain on their device. We never sell your personal information. We use analytics and engagement partners that may set cookies and collect usage data; this page explains which ones, what they collect, and how to opt out.

Who we are

ReadingList (readinglist.school) is operated by Paulo de Vries. For any privacy question, or to exercise a right described below, email contact@acevault.org. We answer privacy requests within 30 days.

What we collect

• Google Analytics 4 — measures pages viewed, approximate location (country/region, derived from IP and not stored by us), device and browser type, referring site, and time on page. GA4 sets cookies. Under our consent configuration, analytics and advertising storage default to denied in the UK, the EEA, Switzerland and California until you accept.
• Ask Amili — questions typed into Ask Amili are stored anonymously (the question text only, no IP address or cookie) to improve our answers.
• Microsoft Clarity — only after you press Allow in the cookie bar (or switch Clarity on under Details), records anonymised session replays and heatmaps (mouse movement, scrolling, clicks) so we can find broken or confusing pages. Clarity masks text input by default. See Microsoft’s privacy statement.
• Server logs — our host records standard HTTP request data (IP address, user agent, URL, timestamp) for security and abuse prevention.
• Optional ReadingList account and email.If an adult requests passwordless sign-in or book-pick emails, we process the supplied email address, verification and account dates, a coarse reading-level band, optional interest tags, email cadence and opt-in status. Saved books and lists are not synced into this account; they remain in browser storage on the device where they were saved. We do not ask for a child’s name, birth date, street address or payment details.
• Children.This site is intended for adults researching children’s reading. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided data, email us and we will delete it.

Advertising

ReadingList does not currently show display advertising, and no ad network scripts are loaded. If that changes, this section will name the provider and explain the cookies it uses before any ad appears. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

You can control or opt out of personalised advertising on other sites here:

• Network Advertising Initiative opt-out and thenai.org/opt-out
• Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out and AppChoices (mobile)
• Google Ad Settings — and how Google uses data from sites that use its services
• Managing cookies in your browser

If display ads are activated, blocking advertising cookies may make those ads less relevant rather than removing them.

Affiliate links

Some book links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The retailer, not this site, handles your purchase and any personal data involved in it.

Third-party services

• Cloudflare— hosts and delivers the site, runs the optional account service and its database, and provides security filtering; processes request data per its privacy policy.
• Google Analytics 4— site analytics.
• Microsoft Clarity— consent-gated session replay and heatmaps when enabled.
• Neon— hosts the reading-list database (book and curriculum records only; no visitor data).
• Open Library— serves some book cover images.
• Advertising partners— no programmatic advertising is currently active. Future activation would require updated disclosures.

Your rights (GDPR and CCPA)

If you are in the UK or EEA, the GDPR gives you the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to processing of your personal data, and to data portability. Our legal basis is consent for analytics and advertising cookies, and legitimate interest for security logging. Until you have chosen, the cookie bar asks, with Decline and Allow side by side. Under Details you can allow visit statistics (Google Analytics 4) and screen recordings (Microsoft Clarity) separately; nothing is switched on by default, and Microsoft Clarity does not load at all until you allow it. Your choice is kept in your browser for 12 months. You may withdraw consent at any time using the Cookie settings control in the footer, which reopens the cookie bar, and you may complain to your national data protection authority.

If you are a California resident, the CCPA/CPRA gives you the right to know what personal information is collected, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing for cross-context behavioural advertising. We do not sell personal information. To opt out of sharing for personalised advertising, use the cookie banner or the ad-industry opt-outs above. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

To make a request, email contact@acevault.org. For an optional ReadingList account or book-pick email request, include the email address used so we can locate the relevant data.

Data retention

Google Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months. Microsoft Clarity retains session data for up to 13 months. Server logs are retained for up to 30 days. Any future advertising partner’s retention terms will be disclosed before activation.

International transfers

Our analytics, advertising and hosting providers are US-based and may process data outside the UK/EEA under Standard Contractual Clauses or an equivalent transfer mechanism.

Changes to this policy

When the site changes materially — for example if we add or change an advertising partner — we update this page and bump the “Last updated” date above.

Contact

Email contact@acevault.org or use the contact page.