Privacy Policy

Effective Date: March 19, 2026

ShelfIndex ("we," "our," or "us") operates the ShelfIndex mobile application and website (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use the Service.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Name and username
• Email address
• Password (stored securely as a hash)
• Date of birth (used for age verification; minimum age 13)

Social Sign-In

If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name, email address, and an authentication token from the provider. We do not receive or store your Google or Apple password.

Profile Information

You may optionally provide a bio and profile picture. Profile pictures are uploaded to and hosted by Cloudinary, a third-party image hosting service.

Library & Reading Data

We collect the book data you add to your library, including:

• Book metadata (title, author, ISBN, cover image)
• Reading status, progress, and dates
• Ratings, reviews, and personal notes
• Bookshelves and their organization
• Reading statistics derived from the above

Social & Community Data

If you use social features, we collect:

• Follow relationships and follow requests
• Recommendations you create or receive
• Recommendation lists and list activity

Camera & Photos

The App requests camera access solely to scan book barcodes (ISBNs). Photo library access is used only if you choose to set a profile picture. We do not access your camera or photos for any other purpose.

Device & Notification Data

If you enable push notifications, we collect a device push token to deliver notifications. You can disable notifications at any time in the App's settings.

Error & Performance Data

We use Sentry for error tracking and performance monitoring. When errors occur, diagnostic data including your user ID, email, and app state may be sent to Sentry to help us fix issues. Sentry may record a portion of app sessions for quality assurance purposes.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain the App's core functionality (library management, book tracking, social features)
• To authenticate your identity and secure your account
• To deliver push notifications you have opted into
• To look up book information via the Google Books API when you scan a barcode or search for books
• To diagnose errors and improve App performance

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the following third-party services, solely to operate the App:

• Google Books API — to retrieve book metadata from search queries and ISBNs
• Open Library API — to retrieve book metadata as a supplementary source
• Cloudinary — to store and serve profile pictures
• Sentry — to track and resolve application errors
• Google Sign-In / Apple Sign-In — to authenticate your identity if you choose social sign-in
• Expo — to deliver app updates and push notifications

4. Public vs. Private Information

You control what is visible to other users:

• Your profile can be set to public (discoverable by others) or private (requires follow approval)
• Reading statistics can be hidden from your profile
• Reviews and recommendations can be marked as public or private
• Bookshelves can be set to public or private individually

Personal notes on books are always private and never shared with other users.

5. Data Storage & Security

Authentication tokens are stored using encrypted secure storage on your device. App preferences are stored locally using standard device storage. All communication between the App and our servers uses HTTPS encryption.

6. Data Backup & Export

You can export a copy of all your data (profile, library, reviews, social connections) at any time from the App's settings. You may also create and manage backups of your library data.

7. Account Deletion

You can permanently delete your account from within the App's settings. Deletion removes all of your data, including:

• Profile information and avatar
• All books, bookshelves, and reading data
• All reviews and ratings
• All recommendations and recommendation lists
• All social connections (followers, following)

Account deletion is irreversible. All data is permanently removed from our servers within 30 days of deletion.

8. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have additional rights under applicable privacy laws (such as the GDPR or CCPA), including:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you
• The right to request correction of inaccurate data
• The right to request deletion of your data
• The right to data portability (export your data)
• The right to opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell your data)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@shelfindex.com. You can also export your data and delete your account directly from the Service's settings at any time.

9. Children's Privacy

The App is not intended for children under the age of 13. We require a date of birth during registration to verify that users meet the minimum age requirement. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

10. Data We Do Not Collect

We do not collect location data, contacts, phone numbers, advertising identifiers, health data, browsing history, or financial information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes through the App or by updating the effective date above.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at:

support@shelfindex.com