Privacy Policy

1. Overview

Codex Sinica is designed to require as little personal data as possible. We do not offer user accounts and we do not sell or share visitor information. This policy describes the small amount of data that is unavoidable in serving a website, as well as the limited third-party advertising technologies we employ.

2. Data collected in tool use

All tool computations — including image analysis, text punctuation, gloss lookup and corpus search — run entirely inside your browser. Content you paste or upload is never transmitted to our servers. When you close or refresh the page, that content is discarded from memory.

3. Server logs

Our hosting provider records standard HTTP request logs (IP address, requested URL, timestamp, user-agent string) for the purpose of maintaining availability and diagnosing abuse. These logs are retained for no more than 30 days and are not linked to any personal identifier.

4. Cookies and local storage

Codex Sinica uses the following categories of local storage:

• Essential storage: Your browser may store small local preferences (for example, remembered tool settings) in localStorage; this data never leaves your device and is necessary for basic site functionality.
• Third-party advertising cookies: We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google may set cookies on your browser to serve personalised ads based on your browsing history. For more information, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

Opting out of personalised advertising: You can opt out of Google's personalised ads at any time by visiting Google Ad Settings — Personalisation Off. You may also manage your ad preferences through your browser's cookie settings or by using the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

5. Third-party advertising

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on the Service. Google AdSense uses cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising as described in Section 4 above.

6. Third-party links

Some tools link to external map or reference services (for example, OpenStreetMap). When you follow such a link, the target service's own privacy policy applies.

7. Data security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect any data we process. Server logs are stored on access-controlled infrastructure and are automatically purged after 30 days. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data retention

Server logs are retained for no more than 30 days. Email correspondence sent through the Contact page is retained only as long as necessary to resolve the inquiry, and no longer than 12 months. No other personal data is stored on our systems.

9. International data transfers

Our hosting infrastructure may be located in a jurisdiction different from your own. By using the Service, you acknowledge that your data may be transferred to and processed in the country where our servers reside. We take appropriate safeguards to ensure your data receives an adequate level of protection.

10. Children's privacy

The Service is intended for a general academic audience and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the European Economic Area, as required by applicable law). If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

11. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate personal data.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data.
• Data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection: Object to the processing of your data for direct marketing purposes.
• Withdrawal of consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Because we do not maintain personal accounts or profiles, there is typically no personal record to access, correct or delete. If you have contacted us by email, you may ask us to delete that correspondence at any time. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through the Contact page.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in practice or law. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. Material changes will be highlighted on the site where practicable.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent through the Contact page. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.