Last updated: June 1, 2026
Our approach to families.
Before the legal language, here's how we currently operate:
- 🔍 Data minimization. We collect what we need to do what you asked — reply to your message, send a launch email — and not more than that.
- 👪 Parents in control. You can review or request deletion of any information related to you or your child at any time. Just ask.
- 🛡️ We follow COPPA, GDPR-K, and CCPA as they apply, and we comply with parental-consent requirements before collecting personal information from children under 13.
- 📣 If our practices change materially — including how we use cookies, third parties, or advertising — we'll update this policy, change the "last updated" date, and notify subscribers by email.
- 🎯 If we add advertising on pages directed to children, we'll do so through partners that comply with COPPA and applicable kid-safe standards (such as kidSAFE+ or comparable certifications), and we'll disclose those partners here.
In short: we currently keep things simple and minimal. If that changes, you'll hear about it here first.
Hey, kids! 👋
If you're reading this, here's the short version — written for YOU:
🐙 This is a website about a book about an octopus. It's safe to read, look at, and click around.
📝 If you see boxes that ask for your name or email, please ask a grown-up before filling them in. They're for grown-ups, not for kids.
🔐 The grown-ups who made this site don't keep secrets from your family. If you do tell us something, we'll only talk about it with your parent or guardian.
🎉 Now go meet Octopirate's friends!
For parents — the quick version
- We may have child visitors. The book is for ages 4–8 and kids will land here.
- We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent.
- We currently use only essential cookies / local storage. We do not currently run behavioral advertising or third-party analytics trackers.
- If we introduce advertising on this site in the future, we'll do so through partners that comply with COPPA and applicable kid-safe standards, and we'll update this policy.
- You can review, delete, or refuse to have us collect anything related to your child by emailing through our contact form.
1. Who this notice covers
This is the privacy notice for octopirate.com, the website for the children's picture book Octopirate Goes on an Adventure by Leila Rose. We'll refer to ourselves as "we," "us," or "Octopirate Publishing."
The book is for children ages 4–8. Although most direct purchasers, signups, and contact-form users on the site are adults (parents, teachers, librarians, press, retailers), we recognize that child visitors are likely. This notice describes both adult-visitor handling and child-visitor protections.
2. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
COPPA is the U.S. federal law that protects kids under 13 online. We follow it. Specifically:
- We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without first obtaining verifiable parental consent.
- Our forms ask the submitter to confirm they are a parent, teacher, librarian, or other adult before submitting. We rely on this representation in good faith.
- If we ever learn we've collected personal information from a child under 13 without parental consent, we delete it promptly.
- Parents and legal guardians may at any time:
- Ask us what (if any) information we hold about their child.
- Ask us to delete it.
- Refuse further collection or use.
How a parent can contact us
Email through our contact form, or write to: Octopirate Publishing — Privacy, [INSERT POSTAL ADDRESS]. We respond to verified parent/guardian requests within 30 days.
3. Information we collect
3.1 Information you choose to give us
- Contact form: name, email, message text. Used to reply and (if relevant) follow up on press, school visit, or retail inquiries.
- Newsletter / launch list: email address. Used to send launch announcements, signed-copy giveaways, and the occasional behind-the-scenes update.
- Retailer click-throughs: if you click an Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or similar link, you leave our site. Anything you enter on the retailer's site is governed by that retailer's privacy statement.
3.2 Information collected automatically
- Essential cookies and local storage: a single key in your browser's local storage records whether you've dismissed our cookie banner. That's it. No tracking cookies, no advertising cookies, no third-party fingerprinting.
- Server access logs: our hosting provider (GitHub Pages) automatically records standard request data (IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp) for security and abuse prevention. These logs are retained briefly and are not used to build advertising profiles.
- No analytics or third-party trackers at this time. We do not currently use Google Analytics, Meta/Facebook Pixel, or similar behavioral-tracking technologies.
3.3 Information from children (under 13)
We do not knowingly request, collect, store, use, disclose, or share personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. This includes (and is not limited to): name, address, email, phone number, photo, voice recording, geolocation, IP address used to identify a child, or any persistent identifier tied to a child.
If a child submits a form on our site and identifies themselves as under 13, we will not retain or use their information except to contact a parent or to delete the information.
4. How we use information
- To reply to your message or fulfill the request you contacted us about.
- To send launch announcements and book-related updates to newsletter subscribers (with an unsubscribe link in every email).
- To operate, maintain, and secure the website.
- To comply with the law if required.
We do not currently sell, rent, or trade your personal information. Any future changes to this practice will be reflected in an updated Privacy Statement and announced as described in Section 11.
5. Cookies, local storage, and advertising
We currently use only essential local-storage state (the cookie-banner dismissal flag). At present, we do not use third-party behavioral tracking or advertising cookies on this site.
If we introduce advertising on this site in the future:
- On pages we know to be directed to children, we will work with partners whose practices comply with COPPA and applicable kid-safe advertising standards (for example, providers following the IAB Tech Lab Kid-Safe Framework, kidSAFE+, or comparable certifications).
- We will update this Privacy Statement and disclose new advertising partners and the cookies or identifiers they use before they go live.
- Where required by law, we will obtain appropriate consent from parents and/or users.
6. Third-party services we use today
- Form processor (Formspree): contact and newsletter submissions are routed through formspree.io, which forwards them to our private email inbox. See formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy.
- Web fonts (Google Fonts): the typefaces on this site are served by Google Fonts. Google may log the IP address of font requests for standard service operation.
- Hosting (Cloudflare Pages): our pages are served by Cloudflare Pages and follow Cloudflare's standard log retention and privacy practices.
- Retail partners: Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and indie bookstore links take you to those retailers' own sites with their own privacy policies.
7. Your rights and choices
- Unsubscribe from newsletter emails at any time using the link in any email we send you.
- Request access, correction, or deletion of personal information we hold about you or your child by reaching out through our contact form.
- Manage cookie preferences — use the cookie banner or your browser settings to control non-essential cookies. We'll honor a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal where applicable law requires.
- EU/UK residents have additional rights under GDPR (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection). Contact us to exercise them.
7a. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information (California & similar states)
If you are a California resident (or resident of another U.S. state with a similar law — e.g., Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas), you have the right under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, and similar state laws, to:
- Know what categories of personal information we have collected and how it has been used or disclosed.
- Correct inaccurate personal information.
- Delete personal information we have collected, subject to certain exceptions.
- Opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information, including for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Limit use of sensitive personal information.
- Non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights.
To exercise any of these rights, including to submit a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" request, please contact us via the contact form with the subject line "Privacy Rights Request" and tell us which right you'd like to exercise. We'll respond within the time required by applicable law (generally 45 days for CCPA). We may need to verify your identity or, for a child's information, the identity of a parent/guardian. Authorized agents may submit requests on a consumer's behalf with proper written authorization.
We will also treat a browser-level Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out request for the device and browser sending it, as required by California regulation.
8. Data retention
We keep contact-form messages for as long as needed to respond and follow up (typically up to 24 months). Newsletter subscribers remain on our list until they unsubscribe. We delete data sooner on request.
9. Security
We take reasonable measures to protect personal information, including transmitting form submissions over HTTPS and storing them only in services with their own security commitments. No internet system is 100% secure, however, so we can't guarantee absolute security.
10. International users
Octopirate Publishing is based in the United States. If you visit from another country, your information will be processed in the U.S. and other jurisdictions where our service providers are located. By using the site you consent to that transfer.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Statement. We'll change the "last updated" date at the top of the page. For material changes (especially anything affecting children's privacy or advertising), we'll announce the update on the home page and by email to newsletter subscribers.
12. Contact us
Questions, deletion requests, COPPA concerns, or comments? Please use the contact form on the home page. Parents and guardians may also write to us at the postal address on the book's copyright page once available.