Privacy
What this site collects, why, and what it never does. Last updated September 21, 2026.
The short version
This site sells one book. It keeps what it needs to sell you the book and let you read it: your email, your name if you give it, your purchases, and the settings on your account. It doesn't run ads, doesn't use tracking cookies, and doesn't sell, rent, or share your information with anyone for marketing. Ever.
What is collected, and why
When you buy. Your email address, the name you enter at checkout, what you bought, when, and the price. Payment goes through Stripe; your card number never touches this site. Stripe sends back a payment reference, and that reference is stored so a refund can be matched to a purchase.
When you sign in. A sign-in link is sent to your email, or you use a password you set, or you sign in with X or Google. With X or Google, the site receives your email address and name (and your X handle) from that service, and nothing else: no posts, no followers, no ability to post as you. A password is stored only as a one-way hash.
While you read. The page you're on is saved so the book opens where you left off. Each download is recorded (which drop, when, from which address), and the file itself is made for you: it carries your name, your email, and a copy identifier, so a copy that is passed around can be traced to the account it came from. Before the first read, you accept the license by name; that acceptance is recorded with the date, time, and address.
When you write in. A message sent through the contact form is stored with your name, email, and the message, so it can be answered.
Emails. The site records that an email was sent to you (a receipt, a sign-in link, a drop notice) and whether it went through. Drop emails can be turned off under Account.
Visits. The site counts visitors without cookies. Each day, your address and browser type are mixed with a secret that changes daily and reduced to a code that can't be turned back into you or matched across days. That code, the page you landed on, where you came from, and your device type (phone, tablet, desktop) are kept. No advertising networks, no Google Analytics, no pixels.
Cookies
Two, both required for the site to work, neither used for tracking. One keeps you signed in after you sign in. The other holds the form protection that stops other sites from submitting forms as you. Both are marked secure and are never read by anyone but this site. Stripe's checkout sets its own cookies inside its payment frame under Stripe's privacy policy.
Who else sees your information
Stripe processes payments and holds your card details under its own privacy policy. X or Google, only if you choose to sign in with them, and only to confirm who you are. The email service that carries the site's emails to you. The hosting company whose servers this site runs on. None of them receive your information for their own marketing, and no one else receives it at all, unless the law requires it.
If you buy the book on Apple Books instead, Apple handles that purchase entirely; this site never learns about it.
How long it's kept
Your account, purchases, and reading position are kept while you have an account, so your drops keep arriving and your book keeps opening. Sign-in links expire in twenty minutes and are deleted. Signed-in sessions expire after ninety days. Visit counts hold no personal information and are kept for the site's own statistics.
Your choices
You can change your email or password under Account, turn drop emails off there, and disconnect X or Google sign-in. To see everything held about you, or to have the account and all of it deleted, write to manager@billgwolcott.com from the address on the account. Deleting the account ends access to the book, and purchase records that tax law requires to be kept are kept in the accounting record only.
Age
This site is for adults. It doesn't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Security
Everything travels over HTTPS. Passwords, sign-in links, and session keys are stored only as hashes. Card details are never on this site. The book files are kept outside the public web folder and are served only to signed-in buyers.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it, and a material change is announced in the next drop email. Questions: the contact form or manager@billgwolcott.com. The site is operated by Bill G. Wolcott, California, United States.