A library ought not to keep a record of what its visitors read. This one is built so that it cannot.
The short version
- No cookies are set.
- No analytics, advertising or tracking scripts are loaded.
- There are no accounts, no sign-up forms and no comment sections.
- Nothing you type into the search box leaves your computer.
- No fonts, images or scripts are fetched from other sites when you load a page.
What your browser stores
Two reading preferences can be saved, and both are kept only in your own browser, in what is called local storage.
- Night reading
- Whether you have chosen the dark or the light appearance.
- Text size
- Whether you have made the type on entries larger or smaller.
These are never transmitted to the archive or to anyone else. They exist so that the pages look the same on your next visit. You can remove them at any time by clearing the site data in your browser's settings, and the site works perfectly well without them.
Search
The search page works by downloading a single index file, the same for every visitor, and searching it on your own device. The words you type are not sent to a server, recorded or analyzed. The address of the results page will contain your search terms, as it does on any site, so that you can bookmark or share a search; that address stays in your browser unless you choose to send it to someone.
Downloads
Reading copies in the library are ordinary PDF files. They contain no tracking and do not report when or whether they are opened.
Server records
Like every site, this one is delivered by a computer that receives a request each time a page is asked for. Hosting services commonly keep brief technical logs of such requests, typically the time, the page and the network address it was sent to, for the purpose of keeping the service running and secure. The editors do not use such logs to identify readers or to study what they read.
Children
The archive is written for adults and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age.
Changes
If the way the site works ever changes in a manner that affects this statement, the statement will be revised. The intention is that it should only ever get shorter.