Privacy policy
Introduction
Libellus ("we", "us") publishes plain-language coverage of scientific research, freely available and translated into several languages. This policy explains what happens to your data when you visit the site.
The short version: we don't collect any.
What we collect
Nothing. Libellus is a static website. There are no user accounts, no newsletter, no comment section, no advertising, and no analytics. We do not set cookies, and we do not use tracking pixels, fingerprinting, or any similar technology.
We hold no database of visitors and could not identify you if we wanted to.
Our hosting provider
The site is delivered through Cloudflare, a content-delivery network. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes technical data (your IP address, browser type, and the pages requested) for the time needed to serve the page and to protect the service against attacks and abuse. This is a necessary part of how the web works, and applies to every website you visit.
We do not have access to individual visitor records, and we do not request them. Cloudflare's own privacy practices are described at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.
Our legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest in delivering and securing the site.
The contact form
Our contact form is operated by Web3Forms, a third-party service. When you send the form, the name, email address, message and article reference you have typed are transmitted to Web3Forms, which forwards them to us by email. Web3Forms acts as a processor on our behalf. Its practices are described at web3forms.com/privacy.
Before the form can be sent, an anti-spam check is performed by hCaptcha, also a third party. hCaptcha's own documentation states that it evaluates various information, including your IP address, how long you have been on the page, and your mouse movements, in order to tell a person from a machine. hCaptcha acts as a processor on our behalf, which means this policy applies to that processing rather than theirs.
Both services load on the contact page only. No other page on this site loads a third-party script.
Our legal basis is your consent, given by sending the form, together with our legitimate interest in keeping the form usable and free of automated abuse.
If you contact us
If you write to us to report an error in an article, to object to an article, or for any other reason, we receive whatever you choose to send, including your email address. We use it only to reply to you, and we keep it no longer than necessary to handle the matter. We never share it, and we never add it to a mailing list.
External links
Every article links to the original research it covers, hosted by publishers, preprint servers, or institutional repositories. Once you follow such a link, you are on someone else's site, subject to their privacy practices. We have no control over them.
Your rights
Under the GDPR and comparable laws, you have the right to access, correct, and erase your personal data, and to object to its processing. Since we hold no personal data beyond any correspondence you initiate, these rights have little to apply to here. But if you have written to us and want your message deleted, tell us and we will do it.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.
Children
The site is open to everyone and contains no content unsuitable for minors. We collect no personal data from anyone, children included.
Changes
If our practices change (for example, if we ever add analytics), we will update this page and change the date below. Anything material will be announced on the site.
Contact
Questions about this policy or our data practices can be sent through the form on our contact page.
Last updated: 21 September 2026