Manu Privacy Policy

Manu (manu.is) is a collaborative platform for annotating, transcribing, and visualising historical manuscripts, built on IIIF and the W3C Web Annotation Data Model. This privacy policy explains how Manu collects, uses, and protects the personal data we hold about you when you create an account and use the platform.

Manu is operated by Martin Roček, an individual based in the Czech Republic ("Manu", "we", "us", "our"). You can contact us at any time at martin@rocek.dev.

Topics

  • What data do we collect?
  • How do we collect your data?
  • How will we use your data?
  • Who we share your data with
  • International transfers
  • Legal bases for processing
  • How do we store your data?
  • Marketing
  • What are your data protection rights?
  • What are cookies?
  • How do we use cookies?
  • What types of cookies do we use?
  • How to manage cookies
  • Privacy policies of other websites
  • Changes to our privacy policy
  • How to contact us
  • How to contact the appropriate authority

What data do we collect?

Manu collects the following data:

  • Account data — your name or display name, email address, and password (which is stored only in hashed form, never in plain text).
  • Content you create — the annotations, layers (including their names and descriptions), transcriptions, and measurements you produce, together with the manuscript references you add, such as IIIF manifest URLs and titles. This content may contain personal data if you choose to include it.
  • Collaboration data — the manuscripts you share, the people you invite, collaborator roles (read, write, manage, or owner), research-group membership, and real-time presence information (such as live cursor position) that is shown to others editing the same manuscript at the same time.
  • Technical and usage data — your IP address, browser and device type, and server log data generated when you use the platform.

What we do not collect: Manu does not store or copy the manuscript images themselves. Images are streamed directly from the IIIF server of the holding institution, and Manu never copies or redistributes them.

How do we collect your data?

You directly provide Manu with most of the data we collect. We collect and process data when you:

  • register for an account and sign in;
  • create, edit, organise, or share manuscripts, layers, and annotations;
  • request an AI-assisted transcription;
  • contact us by email.

We also collect some technical data automatically through cookies, server logs, and cookieless analytics when you use the platform (see "What are cookies?" below).

How will we use your data?

Manu collects and uses your data so that we can:

  • create and manage your account and authenticate you;
  • provide the core features of the platform — storing your manuscripts, layers, annotations, and transcriptions, and enabling collaboration and real-time editing;
  • provide AI-assisted transcription when you request it;
  • maintain the security, stability, and performance of the service;
  • understand how the platform is used, through privacy-focused, cookieless analytics, so that we can improve it;
  • respond to your enquiries and provide support;
  • comply with our legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for advertising or share it with advertising networks.

Who we share your data with

Other users. When you share a manuscript with collaborators, or make it public, the content and annotations within it — along with your display name and role — become visible to the people you grant access to, or to anyone if the manuscript is set to public. You control this through Manu's access settings.

Service providers (processors). We use a small number of trusted providers that process data on our behalf under appropriate data-processing terms:

  • Hosting — Hetzner. Manu runs on servers located in Helsinki, Finland, within the European Union.
  • AI-assisted transcription — Google Gemini API. When you request a transcription, the image crop you select is sent to Google's Gemini API for processing, and the resulting text is streamed back into your annotation. Data is only sent to Google when you actively request a transcription.

Our analytics tool, Umami, is self-hosted on Manu's own EU infrastructure, and the analytics data it collects is not shared with anyone else. We do not otherwise share your personal data with third parties, except where we are required to do so by law.

International transfers

Your account and content data are stored within the European Union. When you use AI-assisted transcription, the image crop you submit is processed by Google's Gemini API, which may involve processing outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, it is protected by appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. [Confirm the safeguard you rely on with your provider.]

Legal bases for processing

Under the GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases to process your personal data:

  • Performance of a contract — to provide your account and the core functionality of the platform.
  • Consent — for optional features such as AI-assisted transcription and any optional product communications. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
  • Legitimate interests — to keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and improve the platform.
  • Legal obligation — where we are required to process data to comply with the law.

How do we store your data?

Manu securely stores your data on servers operated by Hetzner located in Helsinki, Finland, within the European Union. We protect your data using measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), hashed storage of passwords, and access controls that restrict who can view private manuscripts.

Manu keeps your account and the content associated with it for as long as your account remains active. When you delete your account, your personal data and all associated content are removed immediately — Manu does not retain your data after deletion. We may retain limited information only where we are legally required to do so.

Marketing

Manu will send you service-related messages that are necessary to operate your account — for example, registration confirmation, security notices, and important changes to the service.

In the future, we may introduce occasional informational emails about new features or other updates. If we do, these will be optional: you will be able to opt in or out at any time, and every such email will contain an unsubscribe link.

You have the right at any time to stop Manu from contacting you for any optional communications. We do not share your data with third parties for their own marketing.

What are your data protection rights?

Manu wants to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

  • The right to access — you have the right to request copies of your personal data.
  • The right to rectification — you have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate, and to complete information you believe is incomplete.
  • The right to erasure — you have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to restrict processing — you have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to object to processing — you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to data portability — you have the right to request that we transfer the data we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions. (Manu supports this directly: your annotations can be exported as W3C Web Annotation JSON.)
  • The right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at martin@rocek.dev.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device that help a website function and remember information about your visit. Manu uses cookies and similar technologies — including your browser's local storage and session storage — to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences.

How do we use cookies?

Manu uses cookies and similar technologies in a limited way to support the core operation of the platform — mainly to keep you signed in, maintain a secure session, and remember your preferences (using your browser's local and session storage). Our analytics (see below) are cookieless and do not set any cookies on your device.

What types of cookies do we use?

  • Essential / functional cookies — required to sign you in, keep your session secure, and operate the platform. Without these, core features will not work.
  • Local storage and session storage — Manu uses your browser's local and session storage to save your preferences and settings so they persist while you use the platform. This information stays in your browser and is not transmitted to any third party.

Manu uses Umami for analytics, which is cookieless and self-hosted: it does not store cookies on your device and does not collect personally identifiable information. Manu does not use advertising cookies, and we do not share cookie data with advertising partners.

How to manage cookies

You can set your browser to refuse cookies, and most browsers explain how to remove cookies and clear local and session storage that have already been saved. However, because some of this stored data is essential to signing in, certain features of Manu may not function if you block or remove it.

Privacy policies of other websites

Manu connects to external IIIF servers operated by the institutions that hold the manuscripts you view, and the site links to other websites (for example, documentation and institutional repositories). This privacy policy applies only to Manu, so if you follow a link to another website or load images from another institution, you should read their own privacy policy.

Changes to our privacy policy

Manu keeps its privacy policy under regular review and places any updates on this page. This privacy policy was last updated on 3 June 2026.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about Manu's privacy policy, the data we hold about you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Email: martin@rocek.dev

How to contact the appropriate authority

Should you wish to make a complaint, or if you feel that Manu has not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact the Czech data protection authority:

Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů (Office for Personal Data Protection) Pplk. Sochora 27, 170 00 Praha 7, Czech Republic Phone: +420 234 665 111 Email: posta@uoou.cz Web: www.uoou.cz

If you are located elsewhere in the European Economic Area, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your own country.