Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of personal data collected through this website (richardgolian.com). Data controller:

Richard Golian
Contact: mail@richardgolian.com

1. What we process and why

• Single article purchase
  • Your email address is used to deliver the purchased digital content (PDF), confirm the order, and store the transaction record. Legal basis: contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• Library subscription
  • When you purchase an annual Library subscription, your email and payment data are processed to activate your membership, grant access to Library content via a browser cookie (library_access), manage automatic annual renewal, and enable cancellation through the Stripe billing portal. Legal basis: contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• Invoicing and accounting
  • Transaction data (email, product, amount paid, tax details) is retained for accounting and legal compliance. Legal basis: legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR).
• Newsletter (only with consent)
  • If you tick the newsletter checkbox, we may send occasional updates about new articles or content. Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), withdrawable at any time.

2. Data retention

• Single article purchase data is retained for confirmation and accounting purposes.
• Library subscription data is retained for the duration of the active subscription and as required by accounting regulations after cancellation.
• Newsletter emails are retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.

3. Service providers

We do not sell or share your data for commercial or profiling purposes. Your data may be processed by:

• Stripe, Inc.
  • Secure payment processing and subscription management (billing portal, renewal, cancellation).
• Email provider
  • SMTP server of our hosting, sending order confirmations and purchased digital content.

All providers are bound by data protection agreements and act only on our instructions.

4. Cookies

This website uses one functional cookie:

• library_access
  • Set after a successful Library subscription payment. This cookie stores an access token used to verify your active membership and grant access to Library content. It is valid for the duration of your active subscription. No personally identifiable data beyond the access token is stored in this cookie.

No advertising cookies and no third party tracking cookies are used on this website, and nothing here is shared with an advertising network. The library_access cookie is also the key by which the record of the articles you opened is linked to your membership, as described in section 8. On the withdrawal page a temporary session cookie is set as well; it protects the form and disappears when you close the browser.

5. Subscription management

Library subscribers can manage or cancel their subscription at any time via the subscription management page, which connects to the Stripe billing portal. The subscription renews automatically each year. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Withdrawal within 14 days is different: it ends access immediately and returns money, as described in section 6.

6. Refund policy

You may withdraw from a Library subscription within 14 days of the payment, without giving a reason, on the withdrawal page. Articles you opened during that period are charged at their individual price and the rest is returned to the card you paid with, within 14 days at the latest. Access ends at the moment you confirm. The full conditions are in the terms of sale.

A single article bought on its own is different. It is delivered in full the moment the PDF is sent, so once it has been sent the right of withdrawal no longer applies to it.

If you believe there is a technical issue or an error with your purchase, please contact us at mail@richardgolian.com and we will review the situation on a case-by-case basis.

7. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction or deletion of your data
• Object to or restrict processing
• Withdraw consent at any time (for newsletter emails)
• Lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: mail@richardgolian.com

8. Reading record for Library members

When you open a Library article as a member, one row is stored: which article it was, in which language, and when you first opened it. It is linked to your membership by a one way hash of your access token, not by your name or your email address.

There is one reason for this. If you withdraw within 14 days, the articles you have already opened are charged at their individual price and the rest is returned. Without this record that amount cannot be worked out. Legal basis: performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and the establishment, exercise and defence of legal claims (Art. 9(2)(f) GDPR) for as long as the withdrawal period runs. The rows are deleted after 30 days. They are never shared, never used to recommend anything to you, and never used for advertising.

Watching for bulk downloading. If more than thirty articles are opened from one membership within an hour, a note is stored with the hashed token, the hashed email address, the number of articles and the time. It exists so that it is visible when one subscription is used to copy the whole Library. It never blocks anything. Legal basis: my legitimate interest in protecting paid content (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You may object to this processing. The notes are deleted after twelve months.

Record of a withdrawal. When you withdraw, the amount paid, the amount charged, the amount returned, the number and the list of articles opened, and the Stripe payment identifiers are stored. This is the evidence of what was calculated and why. The amounts and identifiers are kept for ten years for accounting, the list of articles is deleted after two years. Your IP address is not stored.

9. The amount on withdrawal is calculated automatically

The amount returned to you when you withdraw is worked out by the site itself, from the record of the articles you opened and their individual prices. You see every figure before you confirm anything, and the confirmation email repeats them. If you think a figure is wrong, reply to that email; it will be checked by hand and corrected. The automatic calculation alone does not bind you.