Privacy Policy

1. What information do we collect?

In short: we collect the information you give us, the information that comes from using the app, and limited technical information about your device.

Account information

• Email and password. If you sign up with email, we collect your email address and a password. Your password is stored only in hashed form by our authentication provider; we cannot see it.
• Sign in with Apple or Google. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive the email address and, if you share it, the name of your Apple or Google account. With Apple’s “Hide My Email”, we receive a private relay address instead of your real email address. We do not receive your Apple or Google password. See also section 4.
• Sign-in method. We record whether you signed up and signed in with email, Apple or Google.

Profile information

• Your first name (required), last name (optional) and profile photo (optional).
• Your favorite genres, an optional yearly reading goal, and your settings: Public profile, “Help improve Shelfcat” (analytics), which kinds of activity you share in your friends’ feed, push notification settings per group, and content warnings you asked to get a heads-up for.

Reading data and content you create

• The books you open, add or track: their status (Spotted, Want to read, Reading, Paused, DNF, Read), your own shelves and their order, reading progress, start and finish dates, re-reads, the edition or format you read, and your star ratings.
• Reviews (including whether they contain spoilers), comments, and hearts you give.
• Your answers to cards on Home (“rounds”), your Pawprints (the ranking those rounds build), books you send to Home, and your card filter.
• Book clubs: the clubs you create or join, your role, invites, book suggestions, your progress on the club’s current book, and club comments. Admins can also add a club name, description and photo.

Friends and safety

• Your friends and friend requests. To send a friend request, you enter the exact email address of the other person; we use it only to find that account and do not show it to anyone.
• The users you block, and the content or users you report (with the reason and an optional note).

Imports

If you import your library from Goodreads or StoryGraph, you choose an export file (CSV) on your device. The app reads the file on your device and sends us the book details it needs: for example titles, authors, ISBNs, statuses, shelves, dates read, ratings and reviews. Imported reviews are treated like reviews you write in the app.

Camera and photos

Shelfcat asks for access to your camera and photo library only when you use a feature that needs it, and you can refuse or withdraw access in your device settings at any time.

• Scanning a barcode: the barcode is read on your device; only the ISBN number is sent to us to find the book.
• Identifying a book from a cover photo (taken with the camera or picked from your photo library): the photo is sent to our server and to OpenAI to recognize the title and author. We do not store the photo.
• Profile and club photos: the photo you take or pick is resized on your device and uploaded to our storage.

Search

When you search for a book, your search text (a title, author or ISBN) is sent to our server and to Hardcover to find matching books. Your recent searches are stored only on your device.

Push notifications

If you allow push notifications, we store a push token for your device (provided by Apple or Google through Firebase Cloud Messaging) and the device platform (iOS or Android), so we can send you notifications, such as friend requests, hearts, comments and book club updates. You choose which groups you receive in Profile › Notifications, and you can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.

Activity log

To run the Services reliably and securely, every action you take in the app (for example adding a book, rating it, answering a card or changing a setting) is recorded in an activity log linked to your account, together with the time, a random session identifier, the app version, the platform (iOS or Android) and the screen it happened on. We also log a few behaviour events in this log, such as that a search was made (with the length of the search text and the number of results, not the text itself), a scan, opening the feed or a notification, and leaving a card unanswered. We use this log to provide features (such as your feed, statistics and notifications), to prevent duplicates and abuse, and to fix problems.

Analytics (only with your consent)

If you turn on “Help improve Shelfcat” (during onboarding or in Profile › Privacy; off unless you allow it), the app sends usage events to Google Analytics for Firebase: the behaviour events described above (for example, that a search was made with its length and number of results, a scan, a book opened from search, opening the feed or a notification, and card events), the screen and, where relevant, the ID of a book in our catalog, plus Firebase’s automatic events such as first open and sessions. We do not send your name, email address or user ID, do not use an advertising ID, and the advertising settings of Firebase are always off. You can withdraw your consent at any time with the same switch.

Crash reports

When the app crashes or runs into an error, Firebase Crashlytics collects a crash report: technical details of the error, the device model, operating system and app version, and a random identifier of the app installation. Crash reports do not include your name, email address or user ID. Crash reporting is part of how we keep the app working and is not tied to the “Help improve Shelfcat” setting.

App configuration

The app uses Firebase Remote Config to receive settings from us, which may let us try different versions of a feature. Firebase uses a random identifier of the app installation for this.

Technical data

Like any online service, our servers and service providers receive technical information when the app or website connects to them, such as your IP address, device and browser type and the time of the request. This is used to deliver the Services, protect them against abuse and fix problems.

When you contact us

If you email us (for example through “Help & feedback” in the app), we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message.

2. How do we use your information?

In short: to provide and improve Shelfcat, to keep it safe, and to communicate with you.

• To create and manage your account and let you sign in.
• To provide the features you use: your library and shelves, progress, reviews, Home cards and Pawprints, statistics and reading goal, imports, search and scanning, friends, the feed, book clubs, content-warning heads-ups and in-app notifications.
• To personalize Home: your genres, your books and your rounds decide which books and cards you see, including book suggestions made with AI (see section 5).
• To send push notifications you allowed.
• To moderate and keep the community safe: to check reviews and comments before they are shown, handle reports, apply blocks, and prevent spam, fraud and abuse.
• To keep the Services secure and working: to fix errors and crashes, prevent duplicate actions and protect our systems.
• To understand and improve the app with analytics, only if you allowed it.
• To respond to your messages and provide support.
• To comply with the law and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not use your personal data for advertising, and we do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.

3. What legal bases do we rely on?

In short: we only process your personal data when the law allows it.

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and similar laws require us to explain the legal bases we rely on:

• Performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR): to provide the Services you signed up for under our Terms of Use, including your account, profile, library, social features, book clubs, Home cards, imports and features you ask for, such as identifying a book from a cover photo.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR): for analytics (“Help improve Shelfcat”) and push notifications, and for access to your camera and photo library. You can withdraw your consent at any time in the app or in your device settings; this does not affect processing before you withdrew it.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): to keep the Services secure and working (activity log, crash reports, technical data), to moderate content and handle reports and blocks, to prevent fraud and abuse, and to answer your messages. We only rely on these interests where they are not overridden by your interests and rights.
• Legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR): where we must process data to comply with the law, for example to respond to a lawful request from an authority.

4. When and with whom do we share your information?

In short: only with service providers that help us run Shelfcat, with other users as you choose, and where the law requires it. We never sell your personal data.

Service providers

We use the following service providers (processors). They may only use your data to provide their services to us, under a data processing agreement or their standard data processing terms.

Social sign-in

If you use Sign in with Apple or Google sign-in, Apple or Google confirms your identity to us and shares the details described in section 1. Their use of your data is governed by their own privacy policies. If you use the same verified email address with more than one sign-in method, these are linked to the same Shelfcat account.

Book data providers

Book information (titles, authors, covers, descriptions, series, editions, ratings and tags) comes from Hardcover. To find books, we send Hardcover search texts, ISBNs and book identifiers. We do not send Hardcover your name, email address or any information about your account.

Other users

Some of your information is visible to other Shelfcat users, as explained in section 6.

Legal reasons and business transfers

We may disclose information where we are legally required to, for example in response to a court order, or where necessary to protect the rights, safety or property of our users, ourselves or others. If Big Meow is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of all or part of its business, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction; we will tell you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. How do we use AI and third-party book data?

In short: we use OpenAI for moderation, cover recognition and some book features. Most of this involves book data only.

• Moderation. New and edited reviews, comments on reviews and comments in book clubs are sent to OpenAI’s moderation service before they are shown to others. A text that is flagged is not published.
• Cover recognition. If you identify a book by photographing its cover or picking a photo, that photo is sent to OpenAI to read the title and author.
• Book suggestions on Home. After you have answered some cards, Shelfcat may ask OpenAI to suggest books you might like. For this we send your favorite genres and lists of book titles and authors from your library (for example books that win your rounds, recent reads, books you did not finish and books already on your shelves). We do not send your name, email address or user ID with these requests.
• Book texts. Short texts on Home cards and AI summaries on book pages are written from book data only (such as a book’s description). Vote percentages on new Home cards may start from an estimate that we make with an AI service from book data only, without any personal data.

We access OpenAI through its API from our servers, never directly from the app. According to OpenAI’s API terms, data sent through the API is not used to train OpenAI’s models by default. OpenAI may keep API data for a limited time for abuse monitoring.

AI can make mistakes. Book texts, summaries and suggestions may be inaccurate, and moderation is not perfect: please report anything inappropriate.

6. What can other Shelfcat users see?

• Your name and profile photo can be seen by other users who come across you in the app, for example in friend requests, book clubs, comments and reviews. Your email address is never shown to other users.
• Your profile, shelves and activity can be seen by your friends. If you turn on Public profile (off by default), other signed-in users can see them too.
• The feed: your friends see your activity (for example starting or finishing a book, ratings and reviews) only for the kinds you share in Profile › Privacy › Share in the feed. Turning a kind off also removes your earlier activity of that kind from their feed. Books on Spotted are never shared.
• Reviews you publish, and their hearts and comments, can be seen by other users on the book’s page.
• Own shelves you share with friends can be seen by those friends.
• Ratings and Home answers count, without your name, toward the average ratings of books and the percentages shown on Home cards.
• Book clubs are private: club members can see the club, its members, each member’s progress on the club’s current book, and the club’s comments.
• Blocking: users you block, and users who block you, cannot see each other’s profiles, activity, reviews or comments.
• Profile and club photos are stored as image files that can be opened by anyone who has their web address.

7. Is your information transferred internationally?

We are based in the Netherlands. Our database is hosted in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany). Some of our service providers (such as Google, OpenAI, Apple and Cloudflare) may process your data in the United States or other countries outside the EEA.

Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA or the UK, we rely on an adequacy decision of the European Commission (such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified) or on the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, together with any additional safeguards needed. You can contact us for more information about these safeguards.

8. How long do we keep your information?

In short: as long as you have an account, unless the law requires otherwise.

• Account data (your profile, library, shelves, ratings, reviews, comments, hearts, friends, book club memberships, settings, push tokens and activity log) is kept for as long as your account exists.
• When you delete your account in the app (Profile › Delete account), your account and the data linked to it are deleted, including your profile and photo, library, shelves, reviews, comments, hearts, friendships, book club memberships, reports you made, push tokens and your activity log. Book clubs you started continue for their other members. Remaining copies in backups and in our internal security log are kept only as long as needed for security and recovery, and are then deleted.
• Crash reports and analytics data are kept by Google according to the retention settings of Firebase.
• Emails you send us are kept as long as needed to help you, and then deleted.

Recent searches stored on your device are removed when you remove the app.

9. How do we keep your information safe?

We use appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data. For example: all connections are encrypted (HTTPS), access to every table in our database is limited by row-level security rules, the app can change data only through checked server functions, and API keys for our service providers are kept on our servers, never in the app. However, no electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please keep your password safe and contact us if you think your account has been compromised.

10. Do we collect information from minors?

Shelfcat is not intended for anyone under 16 years of age, and you must be at least 16 to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 16, we will delete the account and its data. If you believe a child under 16 is using Shelfcat, please contact us at [email protected].

11. What are your privacy rights?

In short: you can review, change or delete your data, and you have additional rights under the GDPR.

In the app

• Change your name, photo, genres, reading goal and privacy and notification settings in Profile.
• Withdraw your consent for analytics with the “Help improve Shelfcat” switch in Profile › Privacy, and for push notifications in Profile › Notifications or your device settings.
• Delete your account and its data in Profile › Delete account.

Your rights in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

Under the GDPR and similar laws, you have the right to:

• access your personal data and receive a copy of it;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data deleted;
• restrict the processing of your data;
• receive the data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (data portability);
• object to processing based on our legitimate interests;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To exercise these rights, email us at [email protected] from the email address of your account. We may need to verify your identity, and we will respond within one month (which may be extended in certain cases as allowed by law).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live. In the Netherlands, this is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl). We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, so please feel free to contact us.

12. Cookies, tracking and Do-Not-Track

This website does not use cookies or analytics. The Shelfcat app does not use cookies; the identifiers it uses are described in section 1 (crash reports, app configuration, push notifications and, only with your consent, analytics). Shelfcat does not use an advertising ID and does not track you across apps and websites owned by other companies.

Some browsers offer a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) setting. Because there is no agreed standard for responding to DNT signals, we do not respond to them; as described above, we do not track you for advertising in any case.

13. Do United States residents have specific privacy rights?

If you live in a U.S. state with a consumer privacy law (such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah or Virginia), you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to access it, to correct it, to delete it and to receive a copy of it. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

• Categories we collect: identifiers (such as email address, name and device identifiers), user content (reviews, comments and photos), internet or other electronic activity (use of the app), and inferences about your reading taste (such as your Pawprints and book suggestions). See section 1 for details.
• No sale or sharing: we do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising or use it for targeted advertising or profiling with legal or similarly significant effects.
• Sensitive information: we do not collect sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you.

To make a request, email [email protected]. We will verify your request using the email address of your account. You may use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof that the agent may act for you. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision; if your appeal is denied, you may contact your state’s attorney general.

14. Do we make updates to this policy?

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when we add features or when the law changes. The updated version is indicated by the “Last updated” date at the top. If we make material changes, we will let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.

15. How can you contact us?

If you have questions or comments about this policy, or want to exercise your rights, contact us at: