Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 3, 2026

BooksAffair (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and disclose information about you when you access or use our website, applications, and related services (collectively, the “Service”), including book discovery, reviews, social features, BookVerse lists, recommendations, and author services. We aim to be transparent about our practices, including how we use cookies and analytics and how third-party book data services interact with the platform.

Depending on where you live, additional rights or rules may apply—for example the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Economic Area, or India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and rules issued thereunder. See Section 9 below for regional rights and our Grievance Officer.

Use of the Service requires acceptance of our Terms of Use. Where we rely on your consent for specific processing (such as marketing emails or personalization), we ask for that consent separately and you may withdraw it at any time through your account settings. Essential processing needed to provide your account (such as authentication and security notices) is described below and is not optional while your account remains active.

1. Information We Collect
  • Account and profile information: Name, email address, username, profile photo or avatar, and (if you provide it) postal address or other contact details. If you sign in via a third party (e.g. Google, LinkedIn), we receive information that the provider shares per your permissions.
  • Book metadata from integrations: When you search for books, add titles, or we enrich records, we may receive and process book-related data from third-party APIs (such as the Google Books API and, where applicable, ISBNdb). That can include identifiers (e.g. ISBN), titles, authors, descriptions, categories, cover image references, and similar catalog fields. Such processing supports discovery and display on the Service and is subject to our agreements with those providers and their terms; see also our Disclaimer & Content Sources.
  • User content: Book reviews, ratings, comments, and any other content you post on the platform. Reviews may be processed for content moderation (including automated tools) to keep the community safe.
  • Book activity: Books you bookmark, favorite, recommend to others, or add to BookVerse lists; and your rankings or votes on books within lists.
  • BookVerse data: Lists you create (title, description, visibility as public or private), books you add to lists, votes and rankings you assign, and associated tags or reading moods. Public lists and aggregate rankings may be visible to other users and used for discovery and analytics.
  • Social and connections: Your connections (e.g. who you follow and who follows you), follow requests, and information used to show you relevant content and recommendations.
  • Recommendations: When you recommend a book to another user, we store and process that action (and any optional message) to deliver the recommendation and for related features.
  • Author and book claim data: If you submit an author claim for a book, we collect and use the information you provide (e.g. author proof links, book links, notes) to verify and process the claim.
  • Security and authentication: If you enable two-factor authentication (2FA), we store your chosen method (e.g. email or authenticator app) and, where applicable, encrypted recovery codes. We do not store your actual 2FA codes.
  • Usage and technical data: Information about how you use the Service, such as IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, and general activity (e.g. for analytics, security, and improving the Service). We may use technologies such as cookies and similar identifiers; see our Cookie Notice for details.
  • Partner and business inquiries: If you use partner or contact forms, we collect the information you submit (e.g. name, email, message) to respond and provide requested services.
2. How We Use Your Information

We process personal information where we have a valid legal basis under applicable law, such as performance of a contract with you, legitimate interests (e.g. securing and improving the Service, fraud prevention), consent where required, or legal obligation.

  • Provide, operate, secure, and maintain the Service (including authentication, 2FA, and account management).
  • Retrieve, display, and reconcile book metadata from third-party APIs in line with those providers’ terms and our Disclaimer & Content Sources.
  • Personalize your experience (e.g. recommendations, content, and discovery based on your activity and preferences).
  • Display and manage your profile, reviews, bookmarks, favorites, BookVerse lists, votes, and recommendations in line with your privacy and visibility settings.
  • Process and communicate about book recommendations, follow requests, notifications, and (where applicable) author claims and partner inquiries.
  • Communicate with you (e.g. service-related and security messages; with your consent or where permitted, marketing or promotional messages).
  • Improve, analyze, and understand use of the Service (including via aggregated or de-identified data where appropriate).
  • Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security issues; enforce our terms and policies; and respond to legal requests and rights requests.
  • Comply with legal obligations and protect our rights and the rights of others.
3. User Content and Visibility
  • Content you post (e.g. reviews, comments) may be public or visible to other users according to your account and privacy settings.
  • BookVerse lists can be set to public or private. Public lists, and your public profile and activity, may be visible to other users and used for discovery and ranking features.
  • Even if you delete content, we may retain copies for a limited time for backup, legal, or operational reasons.
  • Recommendations you send are delivered to the chosen recipients; we process them as described in this policy and do not use them for advertising without your consent.
4. Privacy and Security Settings

In your account settings (e.g. under “Privacy & Security” or similar), you can:

  • Profile visibility: Choose whether your profile is public or private.
  • Follow permission: Control who can follow you (e.g. public vs. approved requests).
  • Review and tagging: Control who can comment on your reviews or tag you in content.
  • Two-factor authentication (2FA): Enable 2FA and choose email or authenticator app; manage recovery codes. 2FA data is stored securely and used only for authentication.
  • BookVerse list visibility: When creating or editing a list, you can set it as public or private. Private lists are not shown to other users.

You can also manage email preferences and, where the law allows, request access, correction, or deletion of your personal data.

5. Email Communications
  • Service emails: We send required notices (e.g. legal updates, security alerts, password resets, 2FA codes). You cannot opt out of these except by closing your account.
  • Marketing and promotional emails: With your consent or where permitted, we may send newsletters, feature updates, or offers. You can opt out at any time via your account settings or the link in the email.
6. Advertising and Analytics

We may use non-identifiable or aggregated data to improve the Service, analyze usage, and (where applicable) serve interest-based advertising. We do not share your personal identifiers with advertisers for their own use without your consent. More detail may be available in our Cookie Notice or Interest-Based Ads Policy.

7. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We may share your information:

  • With other users as needed to provide the Service (e.g. public profile and lists, recommendations, follow relationships), in line with your visibility and privacy settings.
  • With service providers and infrastructure partners who assist us in operating the Service (e.g. hosting, analytics, moderation, email delivery, security), under contracts that limit use to providing services to us.
  • With third-party API providers when their systems process requests we make on your behalf (e.g. when you search or add a book); those providers process data under their own privacy notices and terms.
  • When required by law, to protect rights or safety, or in connection with a merger, sale, or similar transaction (with notice where required).
8. Children’s Privacy

BooksAffair does not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under the age of 13. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has submitted personal information to us, please contact us.

9. Regional Privacy Rights and Grievances

Depending on your location, you may have additional rights (e.g. access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, objection, or opt-out of certain processing) under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the GDPR, or similar legislation. You may exercise these rights through your account settings or by contacting us as below.

India (DPDP Act 2023): If you are in India, you have rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, including the right to access, correct, and erase your personal data, to withdraw consent for consent-based processing, and to nominate another person to exercise these rights on your behalf. You may lodge a complaint with our Grievance Officer (see below). We aim to acknowledge grievances promptly and resolve them within 30 days where applicable law allows.

European Economic Area / UK: If GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process data as described in this policy; you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

See our State Privacy Disclosures or regional notices for more information where we provide them.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

11. Contact Us & Grievance Officer (India)

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or need to reach our Grievance Officer under the DPDP Act, contact us at:

BooksAffair
Contact form (Grievance Officer details pending publication)
General contact form