Skip to content
← Back to Home

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 19, 2026

Thank you for choosing Ether & Ink! Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information across our apps and services, including Bibliomancy and Lore Night.

1. Information We Collect

Local Data (Stored on Your Device by Default):

  • Your book library (titles, authors, page counts, cover images)
  • Reading progress and statistics
  • Personal notes, quotes, and journal entries
  • Achievement progress and familiars
  • Reading goals and preferences
  • App settings and preferences

Cloud Backup (Authenticated Users Only):

When you sign in with Google or email, your personal library data is backed up to enable cross-device sync and restore. This includes your books, reading logs, achievements, familiars, quotes, and reading goals. This backup is opt-in; it only happens when you sign in. Anonymous users keep all data local. Your journal entries are handled separately: we do not store them by default. Even when signed in, your reading journal stays only on your device unless you explicitly turn on "Back up my journal" (OFF by default). We simply give you the option to sync your journal privately across your own devices if you want it.

Authentication Data (When You Sign In):

  • Email address: Collected when you sign in via email magic link or Google OAuth. Used solely for authentication. Stored by our authentication provider (Supabase Auth).
  • Google account info: If you sign in with Google, we receive your email and display name from Google. We do not access your Google contacts, calendar, or other Google services.

Optional Social Features (If Enabled):

  • Wizard/Wizardess display name (chosen by you)
  • Reading statistics for leaderboards
  • Comments and replies: comments you write on other readers' reviews, and short replies you write, as a review's author, to comments on your review (see “Comments and Replies on Reviews” below)
  • Anonymous identifier (randomly generated, not linked to your device or identity)

Community Book Catalog (Automatic):

  • Book titles and authors (factual, non-personal data)
  • Anonymous aggregated reading counts (e.g., "5 people are reading this")
  • Your votes on book elements/tags (e.g., "fantasy", "adventure")
  • AI-generated book synopses: For books without publicly available descriptions, we may use AI to generate a brief synopsis based on the book's title and author. These are clearly labeled as "AI-generated."

Community Contributions:

  • Book element votes are stored with your anonymous user ID
  • Your reading status contributes to community "hot books" rankings

Your personal notes and quotes are private. If you sign in they are backed up to your own account, but they are never shared with or visible to other users.

Feedback You Send (Optional):

When you send feedback, a bug report, or a feature request from within the app, we store what you write (the category, title, and message) so we can read and act on it. If you are signed in, your account identifier and wizard name are attached so we can follow up; if you send feedback while signed out, it is stored without them. Feedback is used only to improve the apps and is never shared with other users.

Comments and Replies on Reviews (Bibliomancy, Optional):

Readers can praise a review by picking one of our pre-written phrases, or write a comment of their own, up to 500 characters. As a review's author, you can also answer a comment with a short reply, up to 280 characters. The rules below apply to written comments and to replies.

  • What we store: The text of your comment or reply, which review (and, for a reply, which comment) it belongs to, your account identifier, and its moderation status.
  • Moderation: Each comment and reply is checked on your device by a profanity filter, then by an automated moderation service (Google Gemini), before other readers can see it. Only the text and the book's title are sent to Google Gemini, never your name, email or account details.
  • Human review: Comments and replies that automated moderation holds or flags, or that readers report, are reviewed by a person (the developer). An AI model (Anthropic Claude) may help with that review. Only the text, the comment a reply answers and the book's title are sent to Anthropic, never your name, email or account details. A person makes every decision.
  • Who sees it: Once approved, your comment or reply is shown with your wizard name to readers who view the review. The review's author is told about a new comment, and the reader whose comment you answered is told about your reply, with an inbox note and, if they turned on notifications, a push notification.
  • Reports and blocks: Any reader can report a comment or reply, or block its author. A report stores the reason you chose, your account identifier, and a copy of what was reported so a person can review it even if it is later deleted. Comments and replies from readers you block are hidden from you.
  • Deleting: A comment or reply is deleted when you delete it or the review it belongs to is deleted. A review's author can also remove comments on their review.

Reading Parties (Optional):

  • Party membership and reading progress are visible to party members
  • Party names and book titles are visible to all users browsing active parties
  • Helper signup profiles (preferred classes, genres, wizard name) are visible to all community users
  • Recruitment invites and notifications are stored securely and visible only to the intended recipient

Note: When you change a book's reading status, we share only the book's title and author with our community catalog. Your specific reading activity is NEVER publicly linked to your identity — we only store anonymous aggregate counts.

Device Permissions (Bibliomancy): All device permissions are optional. You can deny or revoke any of them in your device settings; only the related feature will be affected. The list below applies to Bibliomancy on both iOS and Android — some permissions may only be requested on one platform today, but the intended use is the same on both.

  • Camera: Used solely to scan book barcodes (ISBNs) when adding books to your library. Camera frames are processed on-device for barcode recognition and are never stored, transmitted, or shared.
  • Photo Library / Photos: Used to let you pick a custom cover image for a book from your own photos, and to save or share cover images you choose to export. We only access images you explicitly select — we never scan or upload your photo library.
  • Notifications: Used to send optional reading reminders (e.g., to help maintain your reading streak), trivia reminders, and, if you opt in, community alerts such as reading party invites, when another reader cheers on a review or a book you finished, when another reader comments on your review, or when a review’s author replies to your comment. Local reminders stay on your device; community alerts are delivered as push notifications (see “Push Notifications” below).
  • Scheduled / Exact Alarms: Used to deliver your reading-streak and trivia reminders at the specific times you choose. No data leaves your device for this.
  • Run at Startup / Boot Completed: Used only to reschedule your local reminders after your device restarts, so your reading reminders continue to fire at the right time.
  • Background Book Enrichment: Used to fetch cover images, ISBNs, page counts, genres, and short synopses from public book sources (Open Library, Google Books, Wikipedia, Inventaire) after you add a book to your library, so your newly added titles are fully illustrated even if you navigate away from the Add Book screen. Shows a progress notification while it runs and stops as soon as enrichment is complete. No personal data is transmitted — only the book title, author, and ISBN are sent to these public sources.
  • Cloud Library Sync: If you are signed in, your library changes (books, reading progress, notes, quotes, achievements) are uploaded to your secure cloud backup so they can be restored or synced across devices. This runs as a standard background task and does not require a persistent notification.
  • Vibration / Haptics: Used for subtle haptic feedback on notifications and in-app interactions. No data is collected.
  • Network / Internet: Used to fetch book metadata and covers from public APIs (Open Library, Google Books, Wikipedia, Inventaire) and, if you sign in, to sync your library with our secure cloud backup.

Push Notifications (If Enabled):

If you turn on notifications, we register a push token for your device so we can deliver community alerts (for example, when another reader cheers, likes, or comments on your review or a book you finished, or when a review’s author replies to your comment).

  • Push token: A device identifier issued by your operating system's push service. It is stored with your account so notifications reach your devices, and is removed when it becomes invalid.
  • Delivery providers: Notifications are delivered through Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) on both platforms, which on iOS also uses the Apple Push Notification service (Apple). The push token and the notification's title and body pass through these providers to reach your device. See Google's Privacy Policy and Apple's Privacy Policy.
  • You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings; we then stop sending pushes to that device.

We do NOT collect:

  • Your real name or personal identity (beyond email for authentication)
  • Phone numbers
  • Passwords (authentication is handled by Supabase Auth / Google)
  • Location data
  • Payment information
  • Data from other apps

Analytics & Crash Reporting:

We use Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (provided by Google) to collect anonymous usage analytics and crash reports. This data helps us understand how the app is used and diagnose technical issues. Firebase may collect:

  • Crash logs and stack traces
  • App performance metrics
  • Anonymous usage statistics (e.g., screens visited, features used)
  • Device type, operating system version, and app version

This data is collected in aggregate and is not linked to your personal identity. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.

Platform note: Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics are used in the Android app. The iOS app does not include a third-party analytics or crash-reporting SDK — analytics collection is disabled there, and Firebase is included only to deliver push notifications.

Our own product-analytics log: Separately from Firebase, we record app activity events — screens opened, books added, started or finished, trivia and quest activity — to a server-side log we operate ourselves. If you are signed in, these events are attached to your account identifier so we can tell one reader's experience from another's when something goes wrong; signed out, they are recorded without it. We use them only to understand how the app is used and to fix it, and we never sell them or share them with other readers.

Sync health check: Each time the app syncs, it reports how many books, reading logs and reviews your device is holding, along with your app version and whether the last sync succeeded. We store counts only — never titles, never what you are reading. This exists because a library that fails to upload is otherwise invisible to us: our servers can only see what arrived, so without your device telling us what it holds we cannot tell a reader who owns two books from one who owns three hundred and lost them.

Anonymous by Design: Our apps use randomly generated anonymous identifiers instead of traditional accounts for community features. Your identity on leaderboards and reviews is simply a random string (UUID) plus a wizard name you choose. This identifier is not derived from any device hardware or personal information.

2. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your data under the following legal bases:

  • Consent: For cloud backup, community features, and authentication — you actively opt in by signing in or using social features.
  • Legitimate Interest: For local app functionality (displaying your library, tracking reading progress) — this processing is necessary for the app to function as expected.
  • Contract Performance: For account management when you create an authenticated account.

You may withdraw consent at any time by signing out, deleting cloud data via Settings, or uninstalling the app.

3. How We Use Your Information

  • To display your book library and reading progress
  • To track achievements and reading goals
  • To provide personalized reading statistics
  • To authenticate your account (if you sign in)
  • To back up and sync your library data across devices (if you sign in)
  • To display your chosen name on public leaderboards (optional)
  • To show community reading activity (e.g., "12 people are reading this book")
  • To display community-voted book elements/tags
  • To show comments and replies you write on reviews, and to tell the review's author or the reader you answered
  • To moderate comments and replies, review reports, and keep the community safe
  • To improve app functionality and user experience

4. Data Storage & Security

Local Storage: All your book data, reading progress, and personal notes are stored locally on your device using encrypted database storage.

Cloud Backup (Authenticated Users Only): When you sign in, your personal library data is backed up to our secure servers. This enables cross-device sync and restore. Anonymous users keep all data local.

All cloud data is:

  • Encrypted in transit using HTTPS (cleartext traffic is blocked)
  • Protected by Row Level Security (only you can access your own data)
  • Stored on secure, access-controlled servers
  • Never sold to third parties
  • Deletable via the "Delete Cloud Data" option in Settings

5. Data Sharing

We do NOT sell your personal data. Ever.

Your data may be shared only in these circumstances:

  • With other users: Your chosen display name and reading stats on public leaderboards, and comments and replies you post once they pass moderation
  • Community catalog: Anonymous, aggregated counts — never linked to your identity
  • Legal requirements: If required by law or valid legal process
  • With your consent: If you explicitly choose to share
  • Service providers: Supabase (database and authentication hosting), Google Firebase (analytics, crash reports and push notification delivery), Apple Push Notification service (notifications on iOS), Google Gemini (automated moderation of comments and replies) and Anthropic Claude (helping a person review comments and replies that moderation held or flagged). Each one only processes data on our behalf, under its own privacy terms
  • Moderation providers: Google (Gemini) and Anthropic (Claude) receive the text of comments and replies for moderation, as described above. They never receive your name, email or account details.

6. Promotions and Advertising

Bibliomancy may show promotions inside the app: our own features, books and bookshops we think are worth your attention, and sponsored placements.

What we do not do with your data. We do not sell, share or license your personal data to advertisers or data brokers, and we do not use third-party advertising SDKs or ad networks that track you across other apps and websites. Promotions are chosen from what is happening in the realm and from broad interests such as the genres in your library — not from profiles sold to anyone else.

Affiliate links. A book’s page may offer a “Buy” link to a book retailer. If you buy through it we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you, disclosed on the screen where the link appears. Following one takes you to that retailer, whose own privacy policy then applies — we do not send them anything about you.

7. Lore Night (Companion Web Experience)

Lore Night is a multiplayer book trivia game that connects to your Bibliomancy account. When you use Lore Night:

Data Collected:

  • Wizard name (your chosen display name — visible to other players in your room)
  • Familiar selection (which familiar avatar you use)
  • Game scores, answers, and streaks during gameplay
  • A random device identifier stored in your browser (localStorage)
  • Room codes and game session data

Data Shared with Other Players:

  • Your wizard name and familiar avatar are visible to all players in your game room
  • Your score and streak are visible in real-time during gameplay
  • Leaderboard scores are visible to all Lore Night users

Data Retention:

  • Game rooms and answer data are automatically deleted after 24 hours
  • Leaderboard entries are retained until you request deletion
  • Browser localStorage data persists until you clear your browser data
  • Session data (sessionStorage) is cleared when you close the browser tab

Authentication: If you log in with your Bibliomancy account via magic link, Lore Night accesses your wizard name and unlocked familiars from your existing Bibliomancy profile. No additional personal data is collected beyond what Bibliomancy already stores.

8. Third-Party Services

  • Open Library API: Book covers and metadata (no personal data shared)
  • Google Books API: Book information, trending books, and new releases (no personal data shared). Cover images load directly from Google’s servers. We may store links to Google’s cover images (not the images themselves) so books show a cover. We do not add descriptions from Google Books to our shared catalog; they stay on your device and, if you sign in, in your own library backup.
  • Wikipedia API: Book descriptions (no personal data shared). Wikipedia descriptions may be stored in our shared book catalog so other readers can see them. They are credited to Wikipedia and used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Open Trivia Database: Trivia questions (no personal data shared)
  • Google Gemini API: Automated moderation of comments you write on reviews and replies you write to comments on your reviews. Only the text and the book's title are sent, never your name, email or account details (provided by Google; see Google's Privacy Policy)
  • Anthropic Claude: Helps a person (the developer) review comments and replies that automated moderation held or flagged or readers reported. Only the text, the comment a reply answers and the book's title are sent, never your name, email or account details. A person makes every decision (provided by Anthropic; see Anthropic's Privacy Policy)
  • Supabase: Cloud database and authentication
  • Firebase Analytics: Anonymous app usage analytics (provided by Google; see Google's Privacy Policy)
  • Firebase Crashlytics: Crash reporting and diagnostics (provided by Google; see Google's Privacy Policy)
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging: Push notification delivery (provided by Google; see Google's Privacy Policy)
  • Apple Push Notification service: Push notification delivery on iOS (provided by Apple; see Apple's Privacy Policy)
  • Book retailers: Affiliate purchase links; ISBNs are sent to confirm a book is stocked and that the link resolves to the right title (no personal data shared)

Affiliate Disclosure: If you buy books linked from the app or this site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. A retailer paying a commission does not change which books we show.

Before we show or open a “Buy” link we ask the retailer whether that book is stocked. If the edition we hold is not stocked we may check the ISBNs of other editions of the same book, and we confirm those links resolve to the right title rather than to a different book, so this can be more than one request. Each request carries an ISBN and nothing else — no information about you, your library or your account.

9. Children's Privacy

Our apps — Bibliomancy and Lore Night — can be used locally by readers of any age, and the offline experience collects no personal data. Community and cloud features (leaderboards, reading parties, reviews, cloud backup, and Lore Night's multiplayer games) require signing in and are restricted to users aged 13 and older. Under COPPA and similar children's privacy laws, we choose not to collect personal data from children under 13, so we gate these social features to ages 13 and up rather than collect kids' data. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at admin@etherink.net for immediate removal.

10. Your Rights

All Users:

  • Access: View all data we have about you within the app
  • Export: Download your library data at any time (JSON or CSV format)
  • Delete: Remove local data by uninstalling, or delete cloud data via Settings
  • Opt-out: Don't sign in to keep all data local

GDPR (European Users):

  • Access your personal data
  • Rectify inaccurate data
  • Erase your data ("right to be forgotten") — use "Delete Cloud Data" in Settings or contact us
  • Restrict processing
  • Data portability — export in JSON or CSV
  • Object to processing
  • Lodge a complaint with your local Data Protection Authority
  • Withdraw consent at any time

CCPA/CPRA (California Users):

  • Know what personal information is collected, used, and shared
  • Delete your personal information
  • Correct inaccurate personal information
  • Opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do not sell or share your data)
  • Non-discrimination for exercising your rights

11. Data Retention

  • Local data: Retained until you delete it or uninstall the app
  • Cloud-synced personal data: Retained until you delete it via Settings or request deletion
  • Authentication data: Retained until you delete your account
  • Community data (reviews, comments, replies, leaderboard): Retained until you request deletion or 2 years of inactivity. A comment or reply is also deleted as soon as you delete it or the review it belongs to.

11. Account & Data Deletion

You can delete your Bibliomancy account and all associated cloud data at any time. You do not need to install or re-install the app to request deletion.

In-app (fastest):

  1. Open Bibliomancy and go to Settings.
  2. Tap Delete Cloud Data to erase all of your cloud-synced library, journal entries, achievements, reading parties, and community data.
  3. Sign out to remove your authentication record.

Email request (works without the app):

If you no longer have the app installed, or would prefer to request deletion directly, email admin@etherink.net with the subject line "Delete my Bibliomancy account" from the email address you signed up with. We will confirm deletion within 30 days, though we typically act much faster.

What gets deleted:

  • Your authentication record (email, Google sign-in association)
  • Cloud-synced library, reading progress, notes, quotes, and journal entries
  • Wizard name, familiar bond, and community profile
  • Reading party membership, votes, and leaderboard entries
  • Any shared quotes or notes you submitted to the community

What may be retained: Anonymous aggregate community data (e.g., "5 people are reading this book") that contains no identifier linking back to you, and any records we are legally required to keep.

12. Data Protection Contact

For privacy questions, data access requests, or data deletion requests:

European users may also contact your local Data Protection Authority.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through our apps. We will not reduce your rights under this policy without your explicit consent.

Created with care by Ether & Ink LLC