Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 22, 2026

Overview: Privacy in a Reader-Focused Archive

Curly Flat is a cultural and archival site concerned with Michael Leunig, his cartoons, poems, public reflections, books, recurring motifs, and their place in Australian cultural life.

This policy exists because even a quiet reading site creates traces. A page request can produce a server log. A message sent through the Contact Curly Flat page can include a name, email address, and the substance of an inquiry. Analytics tools may count visits so we can understand whether readers reach a page on cartoons, interviews, or publications without unnecessary friction.

We try to keep that handling modest. The site does not need a detailed personal profile of a reader to make an essay or archive note available. Where information helps us maintain the site, respond to correspondence, or understand basic use, we explain that purpose below.

How Collected Information Supports the Site

Collected information supports practical site work, not reader surveillance. For example, if several visitors reach a broken link from a page about books and publications, log and analytics information can help us find the problem and repair the path.

The guiding principle is simple: collect what helps the site function and avoid collecting what would only satisfy curiosity.

Third-Party Services That May Process Data

Some parts of a modern website depend on outside services. The question is not whether those services exist, but what role they play and how narrowly they are used.

Analytics vendors

We may use analytics services to understand broad patterns of use, such as which pages receive visits and whether visitors encounter technical errors. These services may process IP addresses, browser information, device information, referring pages, and visit times. Where settings allow it, we prefer limited or aggregated reporting over individual-level tracking.

Advertising partners

Curly Flat may use advertising partners in the future to support site costs. If advertising cookies or personalized ad tools are introduced, they may process browsing signals for ad measurement or personalization. That use would be described in this policy and, where required, presented through cookie choice tools.

Hosting, CDN, and infrastructure providers

Hosting companies, content delivery networks, security tools, and similar infrastructure providers may process technical data to deliver pages, prevent abuse, manage server load, and keep the site available. These providers act within the scope of the services they supply.

Information We Collect From Visitors

Most visitors read Curly Flat without typing anything into the site. In that ordinary visit, the information collected is mainly technical.

Log data

Servers may record IP addresses, browser type, operating system, pages visited, referring URLs, dates and times of requests, and similar diagnostic details. This information helps identify faults, security events, and patterns that affect site performance.

Contact form or email data

If you contact us, we may collect your name, email address, message content, and any other information you choose to include. A note about a misattributed cartoon, for instance, may require a reply, a correction check, or a short editorial review.

Research updates or newsletters

If Curly Flat offers a newsletter, research update, or similar subscription option, we may collect the email address and preferences needed to provide that service. Subscription messages should include a practical way to unsubscribe.

Cookies and Tracking

Cookies are small files stored by a browser. Some make a site work; others help measure use or support advertising. Curly Flat may use the following categories.

Essential cookies

Essential cookies support basic site functions such as page delivery, security, consent storage, and session continuity. Without them, some parts of the site may not behave as expected.

Analytics cookies

Analytics cookies may help us understand traffic, reading paths, and technical performance. We use this information to maintain the archive and improve access to material across sections such as Cartoons & Visual Works and related pages.

Advertising cookies

Advertising cookies are not essential to reading the site. They may be used in the future for personalized ads, frequency control, or ad measurement. If that happens, readers should be given appropriate notice and choices where applicable law requires them.

Managing cookies

You can usually block, delete, or limit cookies through your browser settings. Some browsers also offer tracking protection controls. If you disable certain cookies, the site should remain readable, though preferences or consent settings may not be remembered.

Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, privacy law may give you rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to certain uses of personal information. These rights are not decorative; they give readers a way to ask what is held and to challenge unnecessary retention.

You may request access to personal data associated with you, ask for deletion of contact records where we no longer need them, or opt out of non-essential tracking where a consent tool is available. You may also use browser settings to limit cookies and tracking technologies.

For data-related inquiries, use the Contact Curly Flat page and describe the request clearly. We may need enough information to verify and locate the relevant record, but we will not ask for more than the request reasonably requires.

How Long Information Is Kept

Retention depends on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

Technical logs are generally kept only as long as needed for security review, troubleshooting, and site maintenance. Analytics information may be retained in aggregated form to compare site performance over time. Contact messages may be kept while an inquiry remains active and for a reasonable period afterward, especially if the correspondence relates to attribution, permissions, corrections, or archival context.

Deletion routines may include scheduled removal, manual review, or deletion when a service provider rotates logs. Backups can retain information for a limited period after active deletion because backup systems often follow separate replacement cycles.

Policy Changes

Privacy practice changes when a site changes. A new newsletter, analytics setting, advertising relationship, or hosting arrangement can affect how information is handled.

When this policy changes, we will update the revised date at the top of the page. For material changes, we may provide a more visible notice on the site or through an available consent interface. Older copies may not remain posted, so the current page should be treated as the active version.

Scope and Limitations of This Policy

This policy covers Curly Flat and the visitor information handled through this site. It does not cover websites, platforms, archives, publishers, social networks, payment services, or external tools that may be linked from Curly Flat but operate under their own privacy terms.

We aim to describe site practices in plain language rather than legal shorthand. If a specific tool, vendor, or feature changes, the practical handling of data may change with it. The policy should therefore be read as a working record of current site practice, not as a catalogue of every technical event that can occur during internet browsing.