Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to LISWALA (liswala.com). LISWALA is a dedicated digital platform created to provide specialized web tools, technical converters, educational resources, regulatory guides, and workflow utilities for librarians, Library & Information Science (LIS) professionals, researchers, students, and academic institutions worldwide.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit our website, register an account, utilize our free or institutional tools, and communicate with us, as well as how that information is handled, secured, and retained.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following situations:

• Account & Profile Information: When you register on LISWALA, we collect your name, email address, password (stored in salted, hashed format), designated role (e.g., student, librarian, researcher), institution or library affiliation, and optional profile details.
• Support & Inquiries: When you submit a message via our Contact form, Report an Issue form, or support channels, we collect your name, email address, subject line, issue category, and message contents.
• Institutional Library In-Out Data: When an authorized library administrator utilizes the Library Gate In-Out system, member records (patron names, card numbers, user categories, optional admission/enrollment numbers) and in-out timestamp transaction logs are processed to manage institutional attendance.
• Technical & Device Data: Like most standard web services, our servers automatically log basic technical parameters such as IP addresses, browser types, device categories, referring URLs, and request timestamps to monitor server health, prevent denial-of-service abuse, and maintain site security.

3. How Information Is Processed in LISWALA Tools

Different tools on LISWALA operate under distinct processing architectures. We believe in clear technical distinctions so you know exactly where your data resides:

4.Account Authentication & Security

Registered accounts use secure JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for authentication. Passwords are encrypted using one-way cryptographic hashing (bcrypt) before storage and cannot be read by anyone, including LISWALA administrators. Account information is utilized exclusively to provide dashboard access, role authorization, and transactional service notices (such as password resets).

5.Cookies, Local Storage & Analytics

LISWALA uses standard web storage technologies in a minimal and functional capacity:

• Local Storage & Session Storage: Used to store your active authentication token, your UI theme preference (Light / Dark mode), and temporary tool configuration states.
• Internal Visitor Counter: We operate a privacy-preserving aggregate visitor counter to understand overall platform reach. This does not profile individual browsing behavior or share identifiers with third-party advertising networks.
• Third-Party Tracking and Advertising: LISWALA does not knowingly sell personal information to data brokers. If advertising services such as Google AdSense are enabled, applicable advertising technologies, cookies, and third-party vendors may process information as described in this Privacy Policy and in the relevant provider's policies.

6. Google AdSense and Advertising Cookies

LISWALA may use Google AdSense and other advertising services to display advertisements on the website. If Google AdSense or other advertising services are enabled, Google and participating third-party vendors may use cookies, device identifiers, and similar technologies to serve, measure, personalize, or otherwise support advertising.

Google and third-party vendors may use information associated with advertising cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to LISWALA and/or other websites across the Internet, subject to applicable settings, policies, and user consent requirements.

• Personalized Advertising: When personalized advertising is enabled, advertisements may be customized based on users' interests and previous online activity. Personalized ads can be reviewed, customized, or disabled by visiting the official Google Ads Settings (adssettings.google.com).
• Third-Party Vendor Choices: Users may also review available choices and opt out of participating third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising through the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice Page (aboutads.info/choices) or the Network Advertising Initiative Consumer Opt-Out (networkadvertising.org/choices).
• Google Privacy & Terms: For comprehensive details on how Google collects, uses, and safeguards information, please review the official Google Privacy & Terms (policies.google.com/privacy) as well as How Google Uses Information From Sites or Apps That Use Our Services (policies.google.com/technologies/ads).
• Consent & Regional Requirements: Where required by applicable law, LISWALA may use consent or privacy-management mechanisms to manage cookies and advertising technologies.

7. How We Use Your Information

We use collected data solely for legitimate operational purposes:

• Delivering requested library utilities, conversions, and reports.
• Maintaining and authenticating your account credentials.
• Responding to user inquiries, technical bug reports, and feedback.
• Maintaining system stability, identifying performance bottlenecks, and mitigating abusive traffic.
• Communicating essential security or administrative updates regarding your account.

8.Data Sharing & Third Parties

We do not sell, trade, rent, or lease your personal information or institutional library data.

We only engage trusted infrastructure service providers (e.g., cloud hosting, email delivery gateways, secure database hosts) strictly necessary to operate the LISWALA website. These providers are bound by strict confidentiality and data protection standards.

9.Data Security & Practices

We implement industry-standard security safeguards to protect your personal and institutional data, including HTTPS/TLS encryption for all data in transit, strict database access controls, parameterized database queries, and secure password hashing.

Please note: While we apply diligent security measures to safeguard data, no transmission over the Internet or electronic storage mechanism can be guaranteed to be 100% impenetrable. We encourage users to maintain strong unique passwords and safeguard their login credentials.

10.Data Retention & Deletion

Temporary file uploads and conversion artifacts are deleted automatically following completion of the processing cycle. Account records and institutional Gate In-Out logs are maintained as long as the user account remains active. Users may request account deletion or data removal at any time by contacting our support desk.

11.Your Rights & Controls

As a LISWALA user, you have the right to access the personal information stored in your account, update your profile details, reset your password, and request complete account termination. For any privacy inquiries or data requests, you can submit a ticket via our Contact Page or email us directly.

12.Children's Privacy

LISWALA is designed for students, educators, librarians, and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information directly from children under 13 years of age without institutional or parental supervision.

13.External Links & Third-Party Standards

Our guides, blogs, and tool pages may reference external regulatory bodies, cataloguing standards, or external software (e.g., AICTE, NAAC, UGC, ISO, Library of Congress, KOHA). LISWALA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may periodically revise this Privacy Policy to reflect tool enhancements, regulatory updates, or changes in our operational procedures. When updates are published, the revised policy will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.