Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information The Top Book List ("we", "us") collects when you use thetopbooklist.com, why we collect it, and what you can do about it.

Who we are

The Top Book List is an independent book discovery website. You can reach us through the contact page.

What we collect

You can read this site without creating an account. We do not offer reader accounts, comments or uploads.

If you sign up for the newsletter, we store your email address, any interests you select, the consent wording you agreed to and its version, the page you signed up from, the time you signed up and confirmed, and a one-way hash of your IP address. We use this to send the newsletter you asked for and to keep a record of your consent.

If you use the contact form, we receive your name, email address and message, and use them to reply.

If you follow a link to a bookseller, we record that the link was followed: which book and bookseller, the page you were on, the time, your country as reported by our hosting provider, whether the request looked automated, and a one-way hash of your IP address. The hash uses a value that changes every day, so it cannot be used to recognize you from one day to the next, and it cannot be turned back into an IP address. We do not record what you buy.

If you search this site, we record the words searched for and how many results came back. We do not record who searched.

Server logs. Like every website, the companies that host this site keep short-term technical logs that include IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting.

Visitor statistics. We use Google Analytics to see which pages are read and how people find them. Until you agree to cookies, it counts visits without setting any cookie and without an identifier that follows you from page to page. If you agree, it sets its own cookies so that repeat visits can be told apart. We do not use it to identify you, and we do not send it your name or email address.

Advertising and cookies

Some pages show advertising supplied by Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies or similar technologies to show and measure ads and, if you agree, to personalize them.

Wherever you are, you are asked first. No analytics or advertising cookies are used, and nothing that needs your consent runs, until you agree. Declining is as easy as agreeing, and the whole site works the same either way.

• In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, you are asked through Google's consent tool, which follows the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework. You can agree to some purposes or partners and not others, and your choices are passed on to Google and its advertising partners. If you decline, ads may still appear, but they are not personalized and use no cookies that need consent.
• Everywhere else, you are asked through our own cookie notice, with an Accept and a Decline button. Until you accept, no advertising script is loaded and no analytics or advertising cookies are set. Declining also opts you out of any sale or sharing of your personal information for advertising.
• We honor Global Privacy Control signals: a browser that sends one is treated as having declined, without being asked.
• You can review or change your choices at any time using the "Your Privacy Choices" link at the bottom of any page. A choice made in our own notice is remembered for six months, after which you are asked again.

Cookies this site uses

• ttbl_consent: remembers whether you accepted or declined in our own cookie notice. It is set by us, lasts six months, and holds only the word "granted" or "denied".
• Google's consent cookies (such as FCCDCF and FCNEC): remember the choices you made in Google's consent tool, used in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
• Google Analytics cookies (their names begin with _ga): set only after you agree. They let visits from the same browser be counted as one reader, and last up to two years.
• Advertising cookies from Google and its partners: set only after you agree. They are used to show, measure and personalize ads.
• Sign-in cookies: used only by our own staff when they sign in to manage the site. Visitors never receive them.

We do not set advertising cookies ourselves, and advertising scripts are not loaded at all until advertising is switched on for the site.

Who we share information with

We do not sell your email address or contact details. We share information only with the companies that help us run the site, and only as far as they need it:

• Supabase, which hosts our database.
• Vercel, which hosts the website and provides visitor statistics.
• Resend, which delivers our emails.
• Google, which supplies advertising.
• Booksellers such as Amazon, but only after you choose to follow a link to them. What they collect is covered by their own privacy policies.

How long we keep it

• Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe, and afterwards only what we need to make sure we do not email you again. Signups that are never confirmed are deleted after 30 days.
• Records of bookseller links followed: 13 months.
• Search records: 13 months.
• Contact form messages: as long as needed to deal with your request.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, and to opt out of its sale or sharing.

• Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email.
• Advertising choices: use "Your Privacy Choices" at the bottom of any page.
• Anything else: use the contact page and choose the topic "Privacy request". We will ask only for what we need to find your information, and we will not treat you differently for making a request.

Children

This site is written for adults: general readers, parents, teachers and librarians. Pages about children's books are addressed to the adults choosing them. The newsletter and contact form are for people aged 13 and over, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we update the date at the top of the page. If a change is significant, we will say so on the site.