Privacy Policy & Content Licensing
The Pashto Dictionary (د پښتو قاموس — pashtodictionary.com) is committed to strict digital privacy, transparent open-access scholarship, and ethical data governance. This document outlines how we protect user privacy under a zero-account architecture and governs the terms under which our trilingual lexical content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
- Zero
- Accounts, sign-ups or logins required
- None
- Advertising trackers or data monetization
- CC BY 4.0
- Open license for all lexical content
- Oct 2026
- Last full policy review
1. Privacy Architecture & Zero-Account Policy
We believe that access to language tools should be anonymous, friction-free, and surveillance-free. The Pashto Dictionary operates on a strict zero-account model: you do not need to register, create a profile, or sign in to browse, search, or utilize any of our linguistic engines.
We do not monetize user data, sell profile segments to advertisers, or deploy behavioral surveillance trackers.
2. Information We Collect
Our systems collect only the minimum technical data necessary to deliver secure, responsive web services:
Ephemeral Search Queries
Search queries entered into the search bar are processed in real-time in memory to return lexical matches. Search keywords are not logged alongside IP addresses or personal identifiers.
Technical Server Logs
Like all internet infrastructure, our web servers record standard HTTP request logs (anonymized IP address, browser user-agent, requested URL, and timestamp). These logs are retained temporarily solely to diagnose performance faults and mitigate DDoS cyberattacks.
Voluntary Correspondence & Submissions
If you submit a word via our contributions form or send a message via our academic contact form, we collect your name, email, institution, and message text solely to evaluate your submission and correspond with you.
4. Data Security, Retention & Children's Privacy
Security in Transit
All communications between your browser and our servers are encrypted using modern Transport Layer Security (HTTPS / TLS 1.3).
Children's Online Privacy Protection (COPPA)
Our website is an educational and linguistic reference suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through our contact forms, please contact us immediately to have it purged.
5. Your Data Rights (GDPR & International Standards)
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and applicable international privacy frameworks, you retain comprehensive rights over your personal data:
- Right to Access:You may request a copy of any personal correspondence or contribution records associated with your email address.
- Right to Rectification:You may request the correction of any inaccurate personal details or contributor attributions.
- Right to Erasure:You may request the permanent deletion of your contact emails or ask that your name be removed from public release credits ("Right to be Forgotten").
To exercise any of these rights, contact our privacy officer at contact@pashtodictionary.com.
6. Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 Open Content License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
All original editorial content—including trilingual definitions, grammatical classifications, IPA phonetics, morphological tables, contextual example sentences, and educational guides—is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
- • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial applications.
- • Attribution: You must give appropriate credit to Pashto Dictionary, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
- • No additional restrictions: You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
7. How to Attribute with Ready-Made Text
When republishing, adapting, or incorporating our definitions into your website, software application, thesis, or translation project, please use the following standardized attribution statement:
Plain Text Attribution:
HTML Snippet for Web Applications:
8. Computational Linguistics, AI & LLM Training Policy
As champions of open linguistic science, we actively support the inclusion of high-quality Pashto data in Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, machine translation systems, and Large Language Model (LLM) training corpora.
Open Datasets & Repositories: We maintain official open machine-readable distributions on Hugging Face (open-pashto-lexicon) and persistent academic archives on Zenodo, providing columnar Parquet, JSONL, and SQLite exports for low-resource AI research.
Attribution for Machine Learning: If our dataset or definitions are ingested into public or commercial training benchmarks, appropriate attribution must be provided in the dataset card or documentation citing Pashto Dictionary (pashtodictionary.com). For bulk API exports, see our Academic Inquiries portal.
9. Trademark & Brand Integrity
While our lexicographic content is freely licensed under CC BY 4.0, the names "Pashto Dictionary", "Pashto Dictionary", "د پښتو قاموس", the domain name pashtodictionary.com, and associated typographical marks are protected trademarks.
You may not use our name or logos in any manner that falsely implies official endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation with third-party software, commercial products, or political organizations.
Data Protection Officer & Governance Contact:
Pashto Dictionary Secretariat · Email: contact@pashtodictionary.com
Pashto Dictionary Consortium, Kabul, Peshawar, and London
10. Statutory, Privacy & Licensing Legal References
The legal framework, licensing terms, and privacy protocols of the Pashto Dictionary adhere to international digital rights conventions:
- [1] Creative Commons. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Legal Code. Official legal deed for worldwide open-access database publishing.
- [2] European Union (2016). Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR). Articles 15–17 (Rights of access, rectification, and erasure).
- [3] United States Congress (1998). Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506.
- [4] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Public domain status of 19th-century philological dictionaries).