Privacy Policy

Last updated October 21, 2026

This policy explains what information Tell A Tail Book Center, operated by the Store's owner, collects, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. In short: we collect only what we need to run a bookstore, we don't sell your information, and we don't use advertising trackers.

1. What we collect

When you…	We collect
Walk around the store	Nothing that identifies you. Your browser gets a temporary session cookie so lines, chats and offers know which visitor you are.
Buy a book	Your name, email, shipping address, what you bought and how much you paid. Your card details go straight to Stripe; we never see your full card number.
Ask a seller a question or make an offer	Your name, email, your message and the offer amount.
Join an author's line or chat	The first name you give, your place in line, and the chat messages.
Join the email list or ask to be told when an author is back	Your email address (and first name if you give it).
Open an author or reseller account	Your name, email, a secure scrambled version of your password (never the password itself), your profile, books, photos, videos and listings, your ship-from address if you add one, your plan and add-ons, and your Stripe account ID. Payout and tax details are given to Stripe, not to us.
Use any part of the site	Your IP address and the time of requests, kept briefly to block spam, password guessing and abuse. Anonymous visit counts (see section 4).

2. How we use it

To run the store: process orders, show listings, run lines, chats and offers, and send order, shipping and account emails.
To let sellers fill your order: the seller gets your name, email and shipping address.
To bill members for plans and add-ons through Stripe.
To send our newsletter, only if you joined the list or are a member. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link.
To keep the store safe, prevent fraud, and follow the law.

We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for other companies' advertising.

The seller you buy from, to ship your order and answer you.
Stripe, for payments, payouts and member billing.
EasyPost and the shipping carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx), when live shipping is used: shipping addresses and package details, to quote prices and print labels.
Our web host and email services, which store the site and deliver our emails.
An AI service (Anthropic), only when a reseller asks for a price suggestion. We send the book's title, author, condition and similar details. We don't send anyone's personal information.
Google Fonts and cdnjs deliver the site's fonts and 3D graphics code, so your browser contacts them and they can see your IP address.
Authorities, if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety or our rights.
A new owner, if the store is sold or merged. This policy would still apply to your information.

4. Cookies and visit counts

We use one essential cookie, a session cookie that keeps you signed in and remembers your place in a line. It ends when you close your browser. The 3D store may remember your first name in your own browser so you don't have to type it again.

Visit counts. To learn which rooms, authors and books people enjoy, and to show authors how their spot in the store is doing, our own server counts what happens in the store: pages and rooms visited, books opened, banners seen and tapped, searches, and similar actions. Each browser tab gets a random visit number that's kept only until the tab is closed (in your browser's session storage, not a cookie). We store the visit number, the action, the time, whether it was a phone or a computer, and the name of the website that sent you, if any. We don't store your IP address, name or email with these counts, we don't combine them with your orders, and we don't use any outside analytics or advertising service. Authors see only totals for their own books and spots. Visit counts are deleted after about 13 months.

We don't use advertising cookies, outside analytics trackers or social-media pixels.

5. How long we keep it

Orders: about 7 years, for tax and accounting records.
Live chat messages and line tickets: deleted after 90 days.
Offers: about 1 year after they're answered or expire.
Security logs of attempts (IP addresses): about 2 days.
Anonymous visit counts: about 13 months.
Member accounts: while the account is open. After you ask us to close it, we delete or anonymize it within 30 days, except what we must keep for orders and the law.
Email list: until you unsubscribe. After that we keep only your address marked "unsubscribed" so you don't get emails again.

6. Your choices and rights

Unsubscribe from emails with the link at the bottom of any newsletter. Order and account emails still come, because they're needed for your purchase or account.
Members can view and change their profile and listings in their dashboard.
Anyone can ask us to show, correct, or delete the personal information we have about them. Email us and we'll answer within 30 days. We may need to confirm it's you.
Depending on where you live (for example California, Virginia, Colorado or the European Union), you may have more rights under your local law. We'll honor them. We don't sell or "share" personal information as those laws define it.

7. Children

The Children's Wing is meant to be browsed with a parent or guardian. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and accounts are for adults 18 and older. If you think a child has given us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.

8. Security

The site uses encrypted connections (https). Passwords are stored only as strong one-way hashes. Card payments are handled by Stripe. Logins and forms are protected against password guessing and forged requests, uploaded files are checked and can never run as programs, and only approved staff can reach admin pages. No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.

9. Changes and contact

We'll update the date at the top when this policy changes, and email members about important changes. Questions or requests: contact us.