Privacy and control

The Garden is private by default, not public by momentum.

Different readers, collaborators, and public audiences should see only the material deliberately prepared for them.

Concentric rings around a protected central well

This public site

The site uses no analytics, advertising, behavioural profiling, social tracking, or external font services. Reader wording and larger-text preferences are stored only in the browser through local storage. They can be cleared through the page controls or browser settings.

The starting-note form runs entirely in the browser. It does not submit or transmit the entered text. The person may copy, download, or print the note.

A private Garden

Original sources, personal records, private biography, evidence, and consent decisions remain separate from public presentation. Access is purpose-bound and audience-specific. A public Garden is a controlled projection, not a live window into private working material.

Responsible use of AI

AI may assist with transcription, retrieval, comparison, structure, and proposals. It does not receive automatic access to all material, obtain independent publication authority, or silently convert generated interpretation into canonical fact.

Publication

Nothing is public merely because it has been digitised, organised, or discussed. Public release requires explicit review of content, consent, third-party privacy, attribution, source use, redaction, and audience.

Other people in a life story

A person's authority over their own biography does not erase the privacy and dignity of others. Material involving relationships, children, health, legal exposure, employment, family, or private communications receives additional handling and may remain sealed or omitted.

The right to preserve a life is not a licence to expose every person who appears within it.

Contact

Questions about privacy or a specific Garden can be sent to hello@thegarden.institute.