Privacy Policy
Last updated: February 1, 2026
Overview
BookCircl ("we," "us," or "our") operates bookcircl.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information.
We take your privacy seriously. We collect only what we need to make the platform work. We don't sell your data. We keep it simple.
1. Information We Collect
When You Sign Up
When you create an account using Google OAuth, we receive:
- Your email address
- Your name
- Your Google profile picture
Google handles your authentication. We never see your Google password. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.
When You Use BookCircl
We collect:
- Book information: Titles, authors, ISBNs, and descriptions you provide when listing books
- Location data: Your approximate latitude/longitude (rounded to ~1 mile precision for privacy) to help match you with nearby readers
- Avatar: A profile picture you upload
- Chat messages: Text you send through in-app chat with other users
- Usage data: Pages you visit, actions you take (with timestamps)
- IP address: For security and abuse prevention
- Email notification preferences: Whether you want email alerts for new messages
- Reported users: Anonymous flags if you report another user for abuse
Cookies
We use session cookies only to keep you logged in. These cookies:
- Contain no tracking identifiers
- Don't follow you across the web
We do NOT use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party tracking cookies (except for Umami, see section 4).
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Create and maintain your account
- Display your profile to other users
- Match you with readers near you (based on rounded location)
- Enable messaging between users about books
- Prevent spam, abuse, and fraud (reports are reviewed manually)
- Improve BookCircl based on usage patterns and analytics
- Send transactional emails (new message notifications)
- Contact you about your account or legal obligations
We will never:
- Sell your data to third parties
- Use your email for marketing (unless you explicitly opt in)
- Share your information with advertisers
- Use your chat messages for purposes other than displaying them to the relevant user
- Share your personal data with law enforcement without a court order
3. Who Has Access to Your Information
Other BookCircl Users
- Your public profile (name, avatar, rounded location, books listed, reports received) is visible to help them discover you as a trading partner
- Your chat messages are visible only to the specific user you're messaging
BookCircl Staff
- Only when necessary to investigate abuse, respond to legal requests, or maintain the platform
Service Providers
- Third-party services for infrastructure and analytics (see section 4)
4. Third-Party Services
Google OAuth
We use Google for authentication only. Google provides your email, name, and profile picture. See Google's Privacy Policy.
Open Library
We query the Open Library API to look up book metadata (titles, authors, covers) when you list a book. Open Library is a public resource operated by the Internet Archive. See their privacy policy.
DigitalOcean
We host BookCircl on DigitalOcean infrastructure (servers, databases). See their privacy policy.
Brevo (Email Delivery)
We use Brevo's transactional email API to send notification emails (new messages, administrative alerts). Brevo does not use your data for marketing. See their privacy policy.
OpenStreetMap Nominatim
If you manually enter your city instead of using browser geolocation, we send your city name to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service to convert it to coordinates. See their privacy policy.
Umami Analytics
We use Umami for privacy-friendly analytics. Umami does not use cookies or track you across sites. It only counts page views and basic actions in an anonymized way. See Umami's privacy policy.
5. Data Retention
Account Data
- Kept as long as your account is active
- When you delete your account, we delete your personal data (name, email, avatar, location) immediately
- Your books are anonymized but not deleted (to preserve the book exchange history)
Chat Messages
- Kept as long as both parties have accounts
- When a user deletes their account, their chat messages remain visible to the other party but are no longer associated with the deleted account
Reports
- We keep report data indefinitely for abuse prevention
- Your identity as the reporter is not shared with the reported user
Location Data
- Your rounded coordinates are updated whenever you change your location
- Old location history is overwritten (not archived)
Server Logs
- Kept for 30 days for security and debugging purposes
- Then permanently deleted
6. Your Rights (GDPR)
If you are in the EU, you have the right to:
Access
- Request a copy of all data we hold about you
Correction
- Request we fix inaccurate information
Deletion
- Request we delete your account and personal data (right to be forgotten)
- Note: This does NOT delete your books (they are anonymized for history)
Portability
- Request your data in a portable format
Objection
- Object to how we process your data
To exercise any of these rights, email bookcircl@gmail.com with your request. Include your user ID or email address. We'll respond within 30 days.
7. Children
BookCircl is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors. If we discover we have, we will delete it immediately.
8. Security
We use industry-standard security measures:
- HTTPS encryption for all traffic
- Hashed passwords (bcrypt)
- Secure database backups
- Docker containerization with restricted network access
- PostgreSQL with authenticated access only
However, no system is perfect. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at bookcircl@gmail.com.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy occasionally. If we make material changes, we'll notify you via email and update the "last updated" date above. Your continued use of BookCircl means you accept the updated policy.
10. Contact Us
Questions about this privacy policy or your data?
Email: bookcircl@gmail.com