This Privacy Policy explains how Librix ("Librix", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use the Librix mobile app for iOS and Android and related services, including our website and emails (together, the "Service"). It also explains the choices and rights you have.
Librix is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at any time at privacy@librix.app.
1. Summary
- We collect only what we need to run your library, social features, and the swap marketplace.
- We do not sell your personal information, show ads, or track you across other companies' apps and websites.
- Some things you post are public by design: your reviews, your marketplace listings, and the name and profile photo attached to them.
- You can delete your account and data at any time. See Delete your account.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account information: your email address, password (stored only as a secure one-way hash), name, and preferred language. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from Google.
- Profile information: profile photo, bio, favorite genre, reading goal, and app preferences such as theme.
- Library and reading data: the books you add, reading status, ratings, reading dates, shelves, custom cover images, and your reading streaks and achievements.
- Notes and bookmarks: quotes, notes, page and chapter references, highlights, the emotions you tag, and any photos you attach.
- Reviews and reactions: reviews, star ratings, and reactions you post on books.
- Marketplace data: swap and giveaway listings, including photos, book condition, description, optional price, and the meetup point and city you choose; the requests you send or receive; and a record of completed exchanges.
- Messages: the messages you send and receive in chats with other users.
- Family data: the families you create or join, your role, and the email addresses of people you invite.
- Support requests: when you use "Report a problem" or email us, we receive your message, category, account email, and technical details such as the app version, platform, and the screen you were on.
Information collected automatically
- Approximate time zone: sent with each request so that streaks and goals follow your local day.
- Activity data: when you were last active and the days you were active, used for streaks.
- Push notification token: if you allow notifications, a device token and your platform (iOS or Android) so we can deliver notifications.
- Diagnostics: crash reports, error logs, and performance data, such as device model, operating system, app version, and the steps that led to an error. These help us find and fix problems.
Information from device permissions (only if you allow it)
- Camera: used only to scan ISBN barcodes and to take photos of covers, notes, your profile, or listings. We receive only the barcode or the photo you choose to save.
- Photos: used only when you pick an image to upload.
- Location (while using the app): used on the swap and giveaway screen to show nearby listings and suggest your city. Your current location is sent to our servers to find nearby listings but is not stored. The meetup point you choose for a listing is stored and shown on that listing.
You can change these permissions at any time in your device settings. The rest of the app keeps working without them.
3. How we use information
- To provide the Service: creating your account, storing and syncing your library, notes and shelves, and running reviews, family sharing, messaging, and the marketplace.
- To personalize it: building a reading "taste profile" (such as your top genres, authors, and themes) from your library and ratings to recommend books. This is done by our own systems, not by third-party AI providers.
- To communicate with you: verification and password reset codes, family invitations, marketplace request updates, new-message notifications, and replies to support requests. We do not send marketing emails.
- To keep the Service safe and working: diagnosing crashes, preventing abuse, enforcing our Terms and Community Guidelines, and meeting legal obligations.
4. What other users can see
- Public to everyone, including people without an account: your reviews, ratings and reactions on books; your marketplace listings, including photos, description, city, and meetup point. Each of these shows your name and profile photo.
- Your family members: your library, shelves, and notes.
- People you chat with: your name, profile photo, and the messages you exchange.
Please don't include your home address, phone number, or other sensitive information in reviews, listings, or public notes. Choose a public place as your meetup point.
5. Service providers we share information with
We share information only with the service providers below, and only as needed to run the Service. They process it on our behalf.
- Cloud hosting: our servers and database, which store your account and app data.
- Cloudinary: storage and delivery of images you upload (profile photos, covers, note and listing photos).
- Expo push service, Apple Push Notification service, and Firebase Cloud Messaging: delivery of push notifications. A notification can contain the sender's name and a preview of the message.
- Google (Gmail): sending account and notification emails.
- Google Sign-In: if you choose to sign in with Google.
- Sentry: crash reporting and performance monitoring, hosted in the European Union. We configure it not to collect personal information by default.
- Book data sources (Google Books, Open Library, WorldCat, Internet Archive): we send only search terms and ISBNs to look up book details and covers, never your account information.
- CARTO: map tiles on the marketplace map. Like any website, it receives your device's IP address and the map area being viewed.
We may also disclose information if required by law or a valid legal request, to protect the rights, safety, and property of our users or others, or as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. In that last case, this policy will continue to apply to your information.
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
6. Tracking and advertising
Librix contains no advertising and no third-party advertising or analytics trackers. We do not use your device's advertising identifier and do not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.
7. How long we keep information
- We keep your account data for as long as your account is active.
- When you delete individual content, such as a note, review, listing, or shelf, it is removed from our active systems.
- When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we must keep it to meet a legal obligation, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.
- Messages you sent remain visible to the people you sent them to, but are no longer linked to your profile.
- Residual copies in backups and diagnostic logs are overwritten in the normal course, generally within 90 days.
- Verification and password reset codes expire after 15 minutes, and family invitations after 7 days.
8. Security
We protect your information with measures such as encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and secure on-device storage of your sign-in token. Chat messages are protected in transit but are not end-to-end encrypted. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. International transfers
Our service providers may process information in countries other than your own, including the United States and countries in the European Union. When personal information from the European Economic Area, the UK, or Switzerland is transferred, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
10. Legal bases (EEA, UK, and similar laws)
Where these laws apply, we process personal information:
- to perform our contract with you, which is providing the Service you signed up for;
- for our legitimate interests in keeping the Service secure, fixing bugs, and improving recommendations;
- on the basis of your consent, for location access and push notifications, which you can withdraw at any time in your device settings;
- to comply with legal obligations.
11. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- access or receive a copy of your personal information;
- correct information that is wrong;
- delete your information;
- object to or restrict certain processing;
- receive your data in a portable format;
- withdraw consent at any time.
You can edit most of your information directly in the app. For any other request, email privacy@librix.app from the address on your account. We will respond within 30 days, and we will not discriminate against you for using your rights. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
12. Children
Librix is not directed at children under 13, and you must be at least 13, or the minimum age of digital consent in your country if it is higher, to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below that age. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and notify you in the app or by email before the changes take effect.