Privacy & Cookies
We collect as little as we can, and never sell it
Who we are
Sweet Starts Books is managed and run by Dominic Donofrio. For anything about your information, email hello@sweetstartsbooks.com.
What we collect, and why
- Newsletter. If you sign up, your email address goes to Kit, the service that sends our newsletter. It is only used to send it, after you confirm by email. Kit records whether emails are opened and links clicked. Unsubscribe from any email and you are removed.
- Reviews. If you review a book, we keep the name, rating and text you enter, and publish them once we have read them. We do not ask for your email or record your IP address.
- Emails to us. If you email us, we keep the message so we can reply.
- Analytics, only if you agree. Google Analytics tells us which pages are read and which shop links are used. It records your rough location, device and browser, and does not store your IP address. Google keeps this data for 2 months, and advertising features are switched off.
- Visiting the site. Our hosting provider handles your IP address to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse, as every website must.
We do not sell your information, or share it for targeted advertising.
Buying a book
Books are bought on IngramSpark, Amazon or Etsy, not on this site, so we never see your payment or delivery details. The shop you buy from handles them under its own privacy policy.
Cookies and local storage
The only cookies this site sets are Google Analytics' own, and only after you accept them. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we take that as a no and do not ask. Everything else below stays on your device and is never sent to us.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Kept for | Set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Cookie | Tells one visitor apart from another | 2 years | Only if you accept analytics |
| _ga_<ID> | Cookie | Keeps track of the current visit | 2 years | Only if you accept analytics |
| cookie-consent | Local storage | Remembers your answer to the cookie banner | 1 year | Always - strictly necessary |
| theme | Local storage | Remembers light or dark mode | Until you clear it | Only if you switch theme |
You can change your answer at any time.
Who handles it for us
Kit (newsletter), Google (analytics, if you agree) and Amazon Web Services (hosting, reviews and email) process information on our behalf, and only for the purposes above. They are based in the United States, so your information may be handled there, under the safeguards those companies provide for international transfers.
Legal basis
If you are in the UK or European Economic Area: analytics and the newsletter rely on your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. Publishing reviews, replying to emails and keeping the site running rely on our legitimate interest in doing those things.
Your rights
You can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, or to correct or delete it, and you can object to how we use it. Email hello@sweetstartsbooks.com and we will reply within a month. We will not treat you differently for asking.
In the UK or EEA you can also complain to your data protection authority, such as the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK.
Children
Our books are for children, but this site is for the grown-ups who buy them. There are no accounts here, so the newsletter is the only thing anyone can sign up for. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child has signed up for the newsletter or sent us a review, email us and we will delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date. Last updated October 24, 2026.