Anime Codex
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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-06-26

Anime Codex collects the minimum data needed to deliver the service. We don't build our own behavioral profiles and we don't sell your data. The free tier is supported by third-party display advertising (Google AdSense), which uses cookies as described below; Founders see no ads. This page tells you exactly what we have and what we do with it.

Data we collect

If you pay for access

  • Your email address. Used to send your access link and recover access if you lose it. Stored in our database.
  • Your Stripe purchase record. Stripe session ID, payment status, amount paid, and purchase timestamp. We do not see or store your card number, CVV, or billing address — Stripe handles all of that and you can review their privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy.

If you order merchandise

  • Shipping name and address. Needed to produce and deliver physical orders. Shared with our print-on-demand provider (Printify) and Stripe solely to fulfil your order — never used for marketing.
  • Order details. The items and design you ordered, plus order status, so we can support and fulfil the purchase.

If you use the design studio

  • Designs you save. Stored against your email so you can return to them and order them on products.
  • Images you upload. Stored so we can render and print your design. Please don't upload anything you don't have the rights to.

If you join the waitlist

  • Your email address only. Used to notify you of launch. No other data.

When you browse the site (paid or not)

  • Your IP address. Held in memory for short-window rate limiting (preventing abuse of the comparison generation and waitlist signup APIs). Not stored long-term.
  • A session cookie (named sc_access) if you have paid. Signed with HMAC-SHA256 so it can't be forged. Contains your email and an expiry timestamp. Used only to recognize you on subsequent visits.
  • Standard server logs from our hosting provider (Vercel) — request paths, response codes, timestamps. Used for debugging and uptime monitoring.
  • Privacy-friendly usage analytics. We use Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights to count page views and measure performance in aggregate. These are cookieless, don't build a personal profile, and don't track you across other sites.

Advertising

If you're not a Founder, some content and listing pages carry display ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure ads, and — depending on your settings and consent — to personalize them. We don't share your email, purchase record, or any account data with Google; ad targeting is based on Google's own signals (such as the page content and, with consent, your ad-personalization preferences), not on data we hold about you.

  • Founders see no ads at all. A one-time supporter tip removes every ad and the associated ad cookies. For everyone else, ads can appear on content, listing, and game pages, but never on the cart, checkout, payment, or order pages, or in the design studio.
  • Consent. In the EEA, UK, and Switzerland we show Google's certified consent message before personalized ads load, so you can accept or decline ad personalization. You can revisit that choice at any time via the consent control on the page.
  • Your controls. Manage Google's use of your data for ads at myadcenter.google.com, and review how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

What we don't collect

  • Passwords (we don't use them — magic-link auth only)
  • Card details (Stripe handles this)
  • Browsing history beyond Anime Codex itself
  • Location data beyond what an IP address reveals
  • Tracking pixels, fingerprinting, or behavioral profiles of our own (third-party ad cookies for non-Founders are covered under Advertising above)
  • Data from your other accounts (no social logins, no MAL/AniList integration)

Third parties we use

Anime Codex relies on a small number of services to function. Each has its own privacy policy:

  • Stripe — payment processing (privacy)
  • Supabase — database hosting where your email and purchase record live (privacy)
  • Resend — transactional email delivery (your access link) (privacy)
  • Anthropic — language model used to apply the rubric (your data is not sent to Anthropic during normal browsing; only the public catalogue is processed) (privacy)
  • Vercel — hosting and serverless functions (privacy)
  • Printify — print-on-demand production and shipping for store orders; receives your shipping name and address to fulfil the order (privacy)
  • Vercel Web Analytics & Speed Insights — cookieless, aggregate usage and performance metrics (privacy)
  • Google AdSense — third-party display ads shown to non-Founders; uses cookies to serve and measure ads (privacy)
  • Jikan / MyAnimeList — public anime metadata. Read-only, no personal data sent.

Cookies

We set exactly one first-party cookie: sc_access, set only after you click your magic link. HttpOnly (not readable by JavaScript), Secure (HTTPS only), SameSite=Lax. Used to keep you signed in for up to one year. We use no analytics cookies of our own.

For non-Founders, Google AdSense sets its own third-party cookies to serve and measure ads (see Advertising above), subject to your consent where required. Founders see no ads and none of those cookies. We don't set advertising cookies ourselves.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can:

  • See your data. Email us — we'll send back what we have for your address.
  • Correct your data. Email us with the correction.
  • Delete your data. Email us — we'll delete your purchase row, waitlist entry, and any cached session data. Note: this also removes your access; we can't undo a deletion.
  • Object or restrict. Email us. We'll comply unless we're required to retain something for tax or legal reasons (Stripe purchase records, for instance).

Reach us at [email protected]. Replies usually within 24-48 hours.

Children

Anime Codex is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you believe we have, email us and we'll delete it.

International transfers

Our infrastructure runs on Vercel and Supabase, primarily in the United States. If you're in the EU, UK, or another region, your data is transferred to and processed in the US. We rely on the standard contractual clauses that those vendors provide.

Updates

We may update this policy. The “last updated” date at the top reflects the current version. Material changes that reduce your privacy will be announced via email to active customers.

Contact

Privacy questions: [email protected].