Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 29, 2026

At WebNovelFinder.com (the "Site" or "WNF"), we prioritize your privacy as a core value in our mission to provide a free, cross-platform discovery and tracking platform for web novels. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you access or use the Site, including features like reading lists, recommendations, reviews, and author tools. By using the Site, you consent to the practices outlined here. This Policy is incorporated into our Terms of Service by reference.

We operate from Canada, with servers hosted in the United States. Important Note on Data Collection: We collect only minimal personal information—specifically, your email address (and password for native accounts)—to enable core functionality. With OAuth logins, we briefly receive a username or name from the provider, but we don't store or use it beyond that quick setup step. No other personal details (e.g., full names, location, or payment info) are gathered or required. All other interactions (e.g., reviews, lists) are voluntary and tied solely to your account for service purposes.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We collect only the minimal information necessary to provide and improve our services. No sensitive data (e.g., financial or health information) is gathered.

• Account Creation and Login: When you create an account or log in via OAuth (e.g., Google or similar providers), we collect your email address and briefly use a username from the provider to auto-generate your display name—nothing more is stored from it. For native WNF accounts, we also collect a password (hashed and securely stored). This is the only personal information we retain—no additional details like full names or addresses are collected or stored.
• Display Name and Profile Details: We auto-generate a unique display name (e.g., "IsekaiFan#12345") for community interactions, which you can customize or regenerate via settings. Optional profile elements (e.g., favorite genres or bio) are user-provided and kept non-public unless you choose to share them.
• Newsletter Signup (if offered): If you subscribe to editorial updates (e.g., the WNF Codex newsletter), we collect your email address for the purpose of sending those updates. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in each email.

• Usage and Device Data: Automatically collected via cookies, server logs, or analytics tools (e.g., Yandex Metrica), including IP address, browser type, device info, pages visited (including editorial pages such as the WNF Codex), time spent, scroll/reading engagement (if enabled), referral sources, and interaction patterns (e.g., clicks on recommendations or outbound links). This helps us enhance site performance, improve content and discovery features, and understand what readers find useful.
• User-Generated Content: Ratings, reviews, lists, collections, and (if enabled) comments on editorial pages are associated with your account and displayed according to your visibility settings.
• Reading Progress and Private Notes: If you choose to use them, the chapter you mark as your current reading position and any private note you attach to a novel in your library are saved to your account. These are kept private to you—never published or shown to other users—and are used only to power your library and "continue reading" features. You can update or clear them at any time.

We do not collect data from children under 13, as the Site is not directed at them (see Section 8).

Your information powers a better experience while respecting your control. We use only the limited personal data described above (email/username/password) for these purposes:

• Service Delivery: Email and account details manage logins, send chapter update notifications, deliver personalized recommendations (based on activity, genres, and WNF Scores), remember your reading position and private notes so you can pick up where you left off, and facilitate features like sharing collections or claiming author pages.
• Community and Engagement: Display names enable anonymous-like interactions in reviews or follows. User content (e.g., ratings) improves discovery algorithms without identifying you publicly. Aggregated review content (including reviews gathered from the source platforms) is also used to produce curated, novel-level signals such as Reader Sentiment, which describe a novel rather than any individual reader.
• Analytics and Improvements: Aggregated, anonymized usage data refines search, tracks site health, and develops features (e.g., smarter filtering via "Not Interested" marks).
• Editorial Insights: Aggregated, anonymized usage data may be used to understand how readers engage with editorial content (including the WNF Codex) and to improve clarity, relevance, and site navigation.
• Communications: We may send non-promotional emails (e.g., account alerts) using your email. Opt-out anytime via settings.
• Advertising: The Site displays a small number of advertisements through Google Ad Manager (GAM) and select affiliate partners, alongside in-house promotions for featured novels. These third-party services use cookies or similar technologies for contextual targeting (e.g., based on visited genres). We never share your email, account password, or directly identifying personal information with ad networks. You can manage cookie and ad preferences via browser settings at any time.

We share sparingly and only as needed. We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your email address or password with advertising partners. Personal information is used primarily for account management and core Site functionality, and may be processed by trusted service providers only as necessary to operate the Site (e.g., hosting, email delivery, and authentication), under appropriate safeguards.

• Service Providers: With trusted third parties (e.g., OAuth providers for login, Yandex Metrica for analytics, cloud hosts for storage) under strict contracts ensuring data protection. They process non-personal data on our behalf (e.g., anonymized usage logs) and do not receive or use any personal information.
• Advertising Partners: We work with Google Ad Manager and select affiliate partners. Non-personal targeting signals (e.g., page genre, device type, anonymized usage patterns) may be shared with these partners as part of programmatic ad delivery. Google's Privacy Policy applies to GAM-served ads; review individual partners' policies for details.
• Legal and Safety: If required by law (e.g., subpoenas or court orders), to prevent harm, or protect rights/property (including fraud detection). We notify you unless prohibited.
• Business Transfers: In a merger or acquisition, your data may transfer with notice.

We never share personal information for marketing without consent.

The Site uses:

• Essential Cookies: For login, session management, and core functionality.
• Analytics Cookies: From Yandex Metrica to understand usage (e.g., page views, session duration).
• Advertising Cookies: Set by Google Ad Manager and affiliate partners during ad delivery to support contextual targeting and frequency capping. Where required, we honor consent banners and the jurisdiction-specific consent rules detected at the network edge.

Embedded Content: Some pages on the Site, including editorial pages such as the WNF Codex, may include embedded content (e.g., videos, social media posts, or other third-party media). These embeds may load content directly from third-party services and may allow those services to collect usage or device information and set cookies in accordance with their own privacy policies. Where required, we use consent mechanisms (e.g., cookie banners) for non-essential tracking.

Manage preferences via browser settings (e.g., delete cookies or enable Do Not Track). Note: Disabling may limit features like recommendations.

We retain personal information only while your account is active. Upon account deletion (via settings), your email, password, and associated data are permanently removed from our systems. Anonymized elements, like reviews or ratings, may persist to preserve community value without linking to you.

Given our minimal data collection (primarily email and optional password for native accounts), your rights are straightforward and exercised directly through the Site:

• Access and Correction: View or update your email, display name, and profile details anytime via the account dashboard or settings.
• Deletion: Permanently delete your account and data via the deletion feature in settings. This removes all personal information; user-generated content (e.g., reviews) anonymizes automatically.
• Objection to Processing: Opt out of non-essential uses (e.g., analytics) via settings or browser controls. Recommendations and preferences are private and tied to your account—deleted upon removal.

There is no data portability option, as our collection is limited and non-exportable. For other jurisdictions (e.g., GDPR for EEA or CCPA for California), contact us to discuss applicable rights. Email [email protected] with verification.

Your data is processed and stored on servers in the United States. By using the Site, you consent to this transfer from Canada or other locations.

The Site is for users 13+ (per our Terms). We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 (or 16 in some jurisdictions). If we learn of such, we'll delete it promptly. Parents/guardians: Contact us to review/remove child data.

We rely on secure, industry-standard practices: OAuth providers for third-party logins, and hashed/encrypted password storage for native accounts via Umbraco. Data resides on protected cloud platforms with robust access controls and regular third-party audits. While we take these steps seriously, no online service is entirely risk-free—use strong credentials and report concerns promptly.

For a dedicated, self-contained policy that covers only the Extension's data handling, see the WNF Companion Extension Privacy Policy. The summary below remains accurate; the dedicated policy goes into more operational detail.

WNF offers an optional browser extension called WNF Companion for supported desktop browsers (a mobile version is not available at this time). Installing and using it is entirely your choice. The extension is designed to be privacy-conscious, and the following describes exactly how it handles data.

• What it reads: On the supported reading sites you configure (e.g., the platforms WNF indexes), the extension reads the address (URL) of the page you are viewing—and, where helpful, a short chapter label shown on the page—so it can recognize which chapter you are reading and update your reading position. The full list of supported sites is visible and editable within the extension's settings.
• What it never reads: It does not read the content of any page (article text, images, or comments), your cookies, form fields, or passwords, the contents of other open tabs, or anything on sites outside the configured reading sites. It loads no third-party scripts and embeds no analytics or tracking beacons.
• Where the data goes: The reading-position information is sent over a secure (HTTPS) connection to WebNovelFinder.com only, to sync with your account. It is never sent to third parties, and we do not sell it.
• Sign-in and access tokens: To connect the extension to your account, you sign in and WebNovelFinder issues an access token. On our servers, that token is stored only as a one-way hash (never in readable form). The token remains valid until you revoke it — either by signing out from the extension or by clicking Disconnect next to the extension entry in your account settings (Settings → Connected apps). Revocation is immediate. On your device, the token is stored locally in the browser's extension storage with light obfuscation; in the interest of transparency, note that this local obfuscation is not strong protection—someone with full access to your device's browser profile could recover it—which is why the meaningful protections (server-side hashing and on-demand revocation) are enforced on our side.
• Your control: You can sign out of the extension, edit or disable specific reading sites, or uninstall it at any time. Revoking the token from your account settings immediately cuts off the extension's access.

Updates will post here with a new effective date. Material changes get email notice (if you have an account). Continued use post-update means acceptance—check back periodically.

Questions? Reach our Data Protection Officer at [email protected]. For EU/UK users, our representative is available via the same address.

Thank you for trusting WebNovelFinder—your privacy fuels our community.