Privacy Policy

We built Namo Buddha as a service to the dharma community. We have no commercial interest in your personal data. We do not sell it, share it with advertisers, or use it for any purpose beyond operating this website. This policy explains clearly what we collect, why, and what your rights are.

1. Who we are

Namo Buddha (namobudha.org) is a free, non-commercial Tibetan Buddhist resource portal providing information about Buddhist events, teachings, retreat centres, spiritual masters, and sacred pilgrimage sites across all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. We operate as an independent non-commercial project run by volunteers.

2. What information we collect

Information you give us directly

When you subscribe to the weekly dharma digest: your email address, lineage preference (optional), and location at city level (optional).

When you submit an event or list a centre: the details you provide publicly, plus your contact email used only for follow-up — never published.

When you contact us: your email address and the content of your message.

Information collected automatically

Server logs: our hosting provider records standard logs including IP address, browser type, and pages visited. Retained for a maximum of 30 days for security purposes only.

Built-in analytics: we operate our own simple visitor counter — no third-party analytics. It records daily page views, approximate country of origin (from browser language settings — IP address not stored), and most-visited pages. No individual visitor is tracked across sessions. No personal profile is built.

Cookies: we use one item of browser storage — a cookie notice preference saved in localStorage. This records only whether you have acknowledged the cookie notice. It contains no personal information and does not track you. We do not use advertising cookies, tracking cookies, or third-party analytics cookies.

3. How we use your information

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, automated decision-making, or any purpose not listed above.

4. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data to anyone.

We share your information only with the service providers necessary to operate the site — web hosting, email delivery, and Cloudflare for security and performance. Each operates under their own privacy policy and data processing terms. In all other cases, your information stays with us.

5. Email communications

If you subscribe to the weekly dharma digest: you will receive one email per week on Monday mornings. Every email contains an unsubscribe link — clicking it removes you immediately and permanently. We do not send promotional emails or share your address with teachers, centres, or organisations featured in the digest.

6. Data retention

7. Your rights

• Right to access — request a copy of personal data we hold about you
• Right to correction — ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Right to deletion — ask us to delete your data. Email subscribers: unsubscribing deletes your address immediately
• Right to object — object to our processing of your data
• California residents (CCPA) — right to know what we collect, right to delete, right to opt out of sale (we do not sell data), right to non-discrimination
• EEA/UK residents (GDPR) — our legal basis for processing your email for the digest is your consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing. For contact messages our legal basis is legitimate interests

To exercise any right, contact us at hello@namobudha.org. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children's privacy

Namo Buddha is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have done so inadvertently, contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Third-party links

Namo Buddha links to external websites — teacher sites, monastery pages, event registrations, and YouTube. This policy applies only to namobudha.org. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites.

10. Security

We use HTTPS encryption on all pages, Cloudflare security, and collect minimal data by design. No method of internet transmission is completely secure but we commit to notifying you promptly if we become aware of a data breach affecting your personal data.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above. For significant changes we will notify subscribers by email.