Privacy Policy

01. Who We Are

SikhGurbani.net ("we", "us", "our") is a free, non-commercial, seva-based website dedicated to sharing Gurbani — the sacred scripture of the Sikh faith. We provide videos, audio recitations, photo galleries, downloadable PDF books, worksheets, study guides and sacred art, all offered freely to the global Sikh community and seekers worldwide.

This website is operated by the SikhGurbani.net team. For any privacy-related queries, please contact us at sikhgurbaninet@gmail.com.

02. Information We Collect

We collect only the minimum information necessary to operate this website. We do not require you to create an account or log in to access any content.

Information you give us voluntarily

• Contact form: When you submit our contact form, we receive your name, email address, the subject category you select, and the message you write. This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs: Like most websites, our hosting provider automatically records standard server log information including your IP address, browser type, referring/exit pages, and the date and time of your visit. This is used for security monitoring and diagnosing technical issues only.
• Cookies from third parties: We do not set our own tracking cookies. However, third-party services embedded on this site (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LightWidget) may set their own cookies. See Section 4 for details.

Information we do NOT collect

• We do not collect payment information — all resources are completely free.
• We do not collect health, location or biometric data.
• We do not create or maintain user accounts or profiles.
• We do not track which PDFs you download or which audio tracks you play.

03. How We Use Your Information

We use the information collected for the following purposes:

• To respond to your contact form submissions — replying to your questions, sharing resources, or following up on collaboration requests.
• To maintain and improve the website — using anonymised server log data to understand traffic patterns and fix technical issues.
• To ensure website security — monitoring for spam, abuse and unauthorised access.

We do not use your information for automated decision-making, profiling, or targeted advertising. We do not send marketing emails unless you have explicitly asked us to.

04. Third-Party Services & Cookies

SikhGurbani.net embeds content from the following third-party platforms. When you view or interact with this content, those platforms may collect data and set cookies subject to their own privacy policies. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the data practices of these third parties.

Managing cookies: You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Note that blocking third-party cookies may prevent embedded YouTube videos, Facebook feeds and Instagram widgets from loading correctly. The rest of the website (PDFs, audio, gallery, art) will continue to work without cookies.

05. PDF Downloads

When you download a PDF from SikhGurbani.net, no personal information is required. PDF files are served directly from our server. Your browser may make a standard HTTP request which is logged by our hosting provider (see Section 2), but we do not identify, track or record individual downloads against your identity.

Our in-site PDF reader (viewer.html) operates entirely within your browser using PDF.js. No page-view data, reading progress or annotations are sent to our servers.

06. Data Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, trade or share your personal information with any third parties for commercial purposes. We may disclose information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Legal obligation: If required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority.
• Protection of rights: To protect the safety, rights or property of SikhGurbani.net, our users, or the public, if we believe disclosure is necessary.
• Hosting provider: Our website hosting provider processes server log data on our behalf as a data processor. They do not use this data for their own purposes.

07. Data Retention

Contact form submissions are retained only as long as necessary to resolve your enquiry, and deleted thereafter. We do not maintain long-term records of contact form data beyond active correspondence.

Server log files are retained for up to 90 days for security and diagnostic purposes, after which they are deleted or anonymised.

08. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights regarding your personal data under applicable law (including GDPR for residents of the United Kingdom and European Union). These may include:

• Right of access — to request a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — to ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Right to object — to object to our processing of your data.
• Right to data portability — to request your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at sikhgurbaninet@gmail.com. Because we collect very little personal data, most requests will be straightforward to fulfil. We will respond within 30 days.

09. Children's Privacy

SikhGurbani.net is a general-audience website and its content — including children's worksheets and colouring pages — is intended for use by families and educational settings. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian believes their child has submitted personal information through our contact form, please contact us at sikhgurbaninet@gmail.com and we will delete it promptly.

Parents should be aware that third-party services (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram) embedded on this site have their own age requirements and data practices.

10. Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect the information you share with us, including serving this website over HTTPS (encrypted connection). However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of any information transmitted to or from this website.

We recommend you do not send sensitive personal information via our contact form — a name, email and general message is all that is needed to get in touch with us.

11. Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links to external websites including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and other resources. Once you leave SikhGurbani.net, we have no control over those sites and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external sites you visit.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of SikhGurbani.net after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).