Privacy Policy

Reader-First Privacy

The Mammoth Steppes is an independent epic fantasy novel and living codex created by Mo under the pseudonym Shadows of a Silver Sun. You can read every chapter, explore migration maps, and browse character profiles without creating an account or providing any personal information.

• No User Registration: We do not ask for your name, email address, or phone number to use the site.
• No Advertising or Cross-Site Trackers: We do not run third-party ad networks, tracking pixels, or behavioural profiling cookies.
• Never Sold: Visitor data is never sold, rented, or traded to third parties.

Local Browser Preferences & Offline Cache

To remember your reading preferences across visits, the website stores a handful of non-personal settings directly in your browser's localStorage and Service Worker cache (sw.js):

• author_hub_theme — remembers your chosen theme (Frost, Candlelight, or High Visibility Black & White).
• mammoth-steppes-last-read & chapter scroll position — remembers where you left off in a chapter.
• mammoth-steppes-language — remembers your selected chapter translation language.
• chapterLikes & characterLikes — remembers which chapters or character profiles you have liked.
• hubHeroUrl & Service Worker Cache — caches images, fonts, and stylesheets for fast loading and offline reading.

Page Visit Counts & Appreciation Likes

Pages on book.themammothsteppes.com use Google Firebase Anonymous Authentication and Cloud Firestore to maintain an aggregate visit counter and chapter/character like counts. Your browser is assigned a random, non-personal identifier (UID) so refreshing a page does not count as multiple visits. This UID is not linked to any name, email, or personal identity.

Hosting, Fonts & Voluntary Support

• Google Firebase & Cloudflare: Host the website, serve chapter content and artwork, and provide DNS/SSL security. Standard network metadata (such as IP address and browser user-agent) is processed by these providers to deliver content securely.
• Google Fonts & Google Cloud Translation API: Serve the site's typography (Cinzel, Lora, Libre Bodoni) and deliver translated chapter text when requested.
• Ko-fi & PayPal: Voluntary support links open external platforms governed by their own privacy policies. No payment details are collected or stored on this website.
• Administrative Tools (dev.themammothsteppes.com): Uses Google Sign-In exclusively to verify the site author's own account; unauthorized accounts are rejected immediately.

Questions & Correspondence

If you email the author at author@themammothsteppes.com, your email address and message are used solely to reply to you and are never shared or added to mailing lists. You may request deletion of prior email correspondence at any time under UK GDPR, EU GDPR, or applicable privacy laws.