Privacy and Cookie Policy

Last updated: November 3, 2026.

1. Who we are

avtotema.org (the “site”, “we”) is a free library of car owner’s and repair manuals. This policy explains what data is collected when you use the site, why it is needed, who it is shared with, and how you can control it. You can reach us through the contact form.

2. What data we receive

  • Technical data. Whenever you access the site, the hosting server automatically logs your IP address, the date and time, the page address, the referring address, and information about your browser and device.
  • Contact form data: name, email address and message text — only if you send them yourself. The country a message is sent from is detected automatically.
  • Cookies and similar technologies used by Google and its partners — see section 4.
  • Settings in your browser. Theme, font size, units of measurement, completed work steps and your “Test yourself” quiz progress are kept in your browser’s local storage (localStorage) and are not sent to the server. You can remove them by clearing the site data in your browser.
  • Anonymous quiz statistics. The server only counts daily totals (how many answers were given, how many quizzes were completed), without IP addresses or cookies.

We do not require registration, do not collect payment details, and do not intentionally process special categories of personal data.

3. Why we use data

  • to keep the site running, loading fast and protected against attacks and abuse;
  • to understand which sections and pages are useful and to improve the manuals and translations;
  • to show Google AdSense ads, which keep the site free;
  • to reply to your message sent through the contact form.

We do not sell personal data and do not use it for automated decisions that have legal effects on you.

4. Cookies, advertising and analytics

  • Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar identifiers to serve ads, limit how often you see them, measure their performance and prevent fraud. With your consent, ads may be personalised, that is, based on your visits to this and other websites. Without consent, non-personalised ads are shown. Learn more in Google’s article “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services”. You can turn off personalisation in Google Ad Settings.
  • Google Tag Manager. It loads visitor analytics (for example, Google Analytics), which shows which pages are opened, how long people stay on them, and which devices and countries visitors come from. We only look at this data in aggregated form.
  • Consent management. Visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland see Google’s consent dialog on their first visit (a certified consent management platform based on the IAB TCF standard). You can change or withdraw your consent at any time via the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings: the site will keep working, but ads will be less relevant.
  • The site does not set any advertising or tracking cookies of its own.

5. Contact form

A message sent through the form (name, email, text, and the address of the page you came from) is forwarded to the site administrator. We use this data only to read your message and reply to the address you provided; your address is not added to any mailing list.

To protect against spam, the server keeps the time of sending and a hashed fingerprint of your IP address, from which the address itself cannot be recovered, for up to 24 hours. No third-party CAPTCHAs or verification services are used.

6. Legal bases for processing (GDPR)

  • consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) — personalised advertising and analytics cookies where the law requires consent;
  • legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — operation and security of the site, spam protection, non-personalised advertising, anonymous statistics;
  • your request (Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR) — replying to a message sent through the form.

7. Who data is shared with

  • the hosting provider whose server runs the site;
  • Google (AdSense, Tag Manager, Analytics) and the advertising partners listed in the consent dialog;
  • ip-api.com — to detect the country from the IP address when the form is sent.

These companies may process data outside your country, including in the United States. Such transfers are protected by safeguards the companies themselves apply, such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. We may also disclose data in response to a lawful, binding request from a public authority.

8. Your rights

You have the right to know what data we hold about you and to receive a copy; to have it corrected or deleted; to restrict or object to its processing; to receive it in a machine-readable format; to withdraw your consent at any time (this does not affect processing carried out before withdrawal); and to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country. To exercise these rights, write to us through the contact form — we will reply within 30 days. For data processed by Google, it is easiest to use Google’s own tools directly.

9. Children

The site is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has sent us their data, please let us know and we will delete it.

10. Links to other websites

Pages contain links to third-party websites (for example, a parts catalog) and advertisements. Those websites have their own data practices, and we are not responsible for them.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, for example when we add new services. The new version takes effect when it is published on this page; the date of the last update is shown at the top.

12. Contact us

Send privacy questions, data deletion requests, and comments on the manuals and translations through the contact form. We will reply to the email address you provide.