Privacy Policy
The short version
This site is free to read. It has no accounts, no sign-up, no forms, and no comments, and it shows no advertising today. We do not sell your data. We do measure visits with Google Analytics, and videos come from YouTube. This page explains both, and how to opt out.
This policy was last updated on 13 October 2026.
Visit measurement with Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a service from Google, to learn which pages are read and how the site performs. When you open a page, GA4 records that visit. It also records some of how you use the site, such as which links, menus, and buttons you use, and when you play, pause, or close a video (the video's identifier, its title, and how far into it you were). It records how fast pages load and respond (the measures known as Web Vitals), and whether you switch between light and dark themes. If a page hits an error, the error message is sent as an error report.
Google Analytics also receives technical details that any web request carries: your browser and device type, the page address, the page you came from, and an approximate location derived from your network address. Google says it uses the network address to estimate a rough location and to filter spam, does not link it to the identifiers it uses for visitors, and discards it after use. For visitors in the EU, Switzerland and the UK, it says the address is not logged or stored. We do not receive your IP address from Google Analytics, and we cannot identify you from the reports we see.
GA4 sets cookies in your browser, named _ga and _ga_ followed by an identifier, to tell visitors apart and to keep track of a visit. Google handles this data under its own privacy policy.
Videos from YouTube
The Videos page collects a reading of the Shiv Puran published on YouTube. We show it in two stages.
- Thumbnails. Pages that list videos, and the player bar when it shows a video you left paused, show a small preview image. Your browser fetches it from YouTube's image servers (
i.ytimg.com), so YouTube can see that request, including your network address. - The player. YouTube's player loads only when you play a video, or when a video you were playing resumes. The page then loads YouTube's player code from
youtube.comand plays the video in YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). Google says that in this mode, your views are not used to personalise your YouTube experience or the ads shown to you outside this site. Once the player loads, YouTube and Google can set cookies and collect data about your viewing under their own policies.
Settings kept on your device
The site keeps four small settings in your browser's local storage. They stay on your device. We do not receive them, and we do not send them anywhere.
| Name | What it holds | Why |
|---|---|---|
sp-theme | Your theme choice: light, dark, or system | To show the theme you chose |
shivpuran_last_video | The identifier and title of the last video you played, how far you got, whether it was paused, and when it was saved | To let you continue where you stopped |
sp-fonts | A flag (the value 1) that the site's fonts are saved in your browser. It is set once a page has finished loading and the fonts have been downloaded | To show the site's fonts straight away on later pages. The fonts come from this site itself, so no request goes to another company |
sp-verse-layers | Which of the three layers of a verse (Devanagari, transliteration, meaning) you chose to show: one on or off value for each. It is set only when you use the Show toggle (Devanagari, Transliteration, Meaning) on a page of verses, such as a stotra or a mantra | To keep your choice on later pages. The saved choice stays on your device and is not sent to us. Pressing the toggle may be recorded as a button use by the analytics described above. |
Closing the video player clears shivpuran_last_video. You can remove any of these at any time by clearing your site data, as described below. If you do, the site simply uses its defaults.
Hosting logs
The site is hosted on Vercel. Like most web hosts, Vercel's servers handle each request and keep standard technical logs, which can include your network address, the time, the page requested, and your browser type. We use this to run the site and keep it working. Vercel handles these logs under its own privacy policy.
What we do not do
- There are no accounts, sign-ups, forms, or comments, so we collect no names, passwords, or messages on the site.
- We do not sell your data.
- There is no advertising on the site today.
Possible advertising in future
We may show advertising in future, possibly through Google AdSense. Ads usually involve cookies and data collection by the advertiser. If we decide to add ads, we will update this policy before any ad code goes on the site, and we will ask for your consent first where it is required. Until this page says otherwise, there are no ads.
How to opt out
- Block or delete cookies. Your browser's settings let you block cookies or delete the ones that are set. The site still works without them. Content blockers can also stop the analytics script from loading.
- Google Analytics opt-out. Google offers the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on (opens in a new tab), which stops Google Analytics from collecting data about your visits in the browser where it is installed.
- Clear local storage. In your browser's settings, clear "site data" or "cookies and site data" for this site. This removes the four settings above. If you remove
sp-verse-layers, all verse layers show again. - Skip the video player. YouTube's player loads only when you play a video, or when a video you were playing resumes. Closing the player stops a video from resuming. You can also watch the same videos on YouTube itself.
Children
The site is written for a general audience and is not aimed at young children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and there are no accounts or forms where anyone could give it to us. The analytics and hosting logs described above apply to every visitor. A parent or guardian who has a concern can reach us through the contact page.
Changes to this policy
If the site changes in a way that affects your privacy, such as adding advertising or a new service, we will update this page and change the date at the top. Please check it from time to time. The About page describes the project more widely.
Questions
If you have a question about this policy, please use the contact page.
Our contact address is being set up. Please check back soon.