Privacy policy

Reading without an account

Every story on this site is readable with no sign-up. We do not ask for your name or your email address, and nothing about you is stored on our side.

Three things are kept in your own browser, on your own device: the theme you picked, the text size you picked, and how far you had scrolled into each chapter. That last one is what puts a "Continue chapter" link in the header. None of it is sent to us, and clearing your browser data removes all three.

If you create an account

An account exists for one reason: to carry your place across to another device. It is optional and there is nothing to buy.

When you make one, we store:

• the name you choose, and your email address;
• your password, hashed — we cannot read it, and nobody here ever sees it;
• which chapter you reached in each story, and how far into it you were;
• which stories you chose to follow.

That is the whole list, and we never sell it or share it.

Email

Creating an account sends one activation link, and the account cannot sign in until it is clicked — that is how we know the address is really yours.

Once an address is confirmed, we may write to it about the site itself: a serial you follow updating, or a new story worth knowing about. Every such email carries an unsubscribe link that works, and unsubscribing changes nothing about the account. We do not send email on anyone else's behalf, and addresses are never sold or shared.

Cookies

Signing in sets a session cookie and a matching security token cookie. The session cookie cannot be read by scripts, which is deliberate — it is why we use one instead of keeping a token where a script could reach it. They are set only when you sign in, and signing out clears them.

Reading, and searching, do not require you to be signed in and set no cookies of their own.

Counting reads

Each chapter page reports one read a few seconds after it opens, so we know which stories people actually finish. To avoid counting the same visitor twice, the request is matched against a short-lived key made by hashing your IP address, your browser identifier, and the chapter together. The hash is discarded after about thirty minutes and your IP address is never written down as part of it.

The counts themselves are totals per story and per chapter. They are not tied to any reader.

Advertising

This site is paid for by display advertising. Ad slots are reserved on chapter pages. When advertising is running, the ad provider may set cookies or use similar technology from their own systems, subject to their policies rather than ours — we will name the provider here once one is live.

Server logs

Standard web server logs record requests, including IP address, browser, and the page requested. They are used to keep the site running.

Deleting your account

You can do it yourself, immediately, fromyour account page. It asks for your password again and then removes the account, your saved places, and the stories you follow. It happens straight away and cannot be undone — we keep no copy and cannot restore it afterwards.

If you would rather a person did it, or you cannot get into the account, write to hello@story.imsb.info.

Either way, deleting the account does not touch what your own browser has stored. Clear your browser data for that.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the change appears on this page. Questions go tohello@story.imsb.info.