Privacy Policy

Welcome to Book Borough! We believe in connecting NYC neighbors through physical books while respecting and protecting your personal privacy. This Privacy Policy explains in plain language what information we collect, how we use it, when it is shared, and how you stay in control of your data.

By creating an account or using the Book Borough website, application, and related services (collectively, the "Service"), you agree to the collection and use of your information as described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect information necessary to help you catalog books, find nearby readers, and arrange swaps.

A. Information You Provide Directly

Account Credentials: When you sign up, we collect your name and email address. If you register via email, your password is stored exclusively in a one-way cryptographic hashed format (we never see or store your plaintext password). If you sign up using Google Sign-In, Google verifies your identity and shares your name and email with us; we do not receive or store your Google password.

Profile & Reading Preferences: You may choose to share your neighborhood, bio, pronouns, profile photo, reading goals ("here for"), favorite authors, favorite genres, and your "currently reading" title.

Books & Shelves: The titles, authors, cover images, and conditions of books you add to your "Available to Swap" shelf, wishlist, or favorites.

Community Interactions: Reading notes you write, comments, replies, uploaded photos, GIFs you attach from GIPHY, direct messages sent to connected readers, and swap requests.

Support & Safety Reports: Inquiries, feedback, or safety reports you submit through our in-app support tools or by email.

B. Barcode Scanner & Camera Access

If you use our barcode scanner to look up books by their 13-digit ISBN, your device's camera processes the barcode locally and in real time on your device.

We do not photograph your space, record video, or upload camera images to our servers. Only the detected numeric ISBN code is sent to search the catalog.

C. Information Collected Automatically

Log & Usage Data: Basic technical information when you interact with our website, such as browser type, operating system, pages viewed, and timestamps, as well as IP addresses through our hosting and authentication providers.

Local Storage & Cookies: We use strictly necessary session cookies and local storage tokens solely to keep you securely signed in and remember your app preferences. We do not use third-party tracking cookies for targeted or cross-site advertising.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your data solely to operate and improve Book Borough:

Facilitating Swaps & Connections: Displaying your public profile, shelves, and approximate neighborhood to other NYC readers so you can discover books and coordinate swaps.

Safety & Account Integrity: Enforcing our 18+ age requirement, verifying accounts, preventing spam, and moderating reports or blocked users.

Communications: Sending you essential notifications (such as swap proposals, new messages from connected readers, or account alerts). You can adjust your notification settings at any time.

Maintaining the App: Monitoring performance, fixing software bugs, and securing our systems.

3. How Information Is Shared

We do not sell your personal information or share it with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising. Ever.

Here is the only way your information is shared:

With Other Readers: Your display name, profile photo, neighborhood, reading notes, and shelf books are visible to other Book Borough members. Your direct messages and swap negotiations are only visible to the participant(s) in that conversation.

Third-Party Service Providers: We work with reputable cloud computing, hosting, database, and transactional email providers who process data strictly under our instruction and subject to confidentiality duties.

Book & Media Integrations: When you search for books or search for GIFs, your search terms query standard third-party APIs (such as Google Books, Open Library, and GIPHY). These queries do not transmit your profile identity or personal account information.

Legal Compliance & Safety: We may disclose information if required by a valid legal subpoena, court order, or to protect the personal safety of our members or the public.

4. Privacy & Neighborhood Safety

Book Borough is built for local communities, but we prioritize your physical privacy:

Neighborhood Level Only: We display your approximate neighborhood (e.g., Astoria, Park Slope, Greenwich Village). We never display or publish your exact street address or real-time GPS coordinates.

Arranging Swaps: Where and when you choose to meet for a book swap is entirely up to you. We strongly encourage all members to meet in well-lit, busy public locations (like local cafés, parks, or libraries) and never share private home addresses.

Reader Controls: You can block any reader at any time. Blocked readers cannot see your notes, view your shelves, or send you messages.

5. Your Rights and Choices

We believe every reader should have clear control over their personal data:

Access & Review: You can review your profile, books, and messages anytime inside the app.

Edit & Update: You can update or remove your display name, bio, neighborhood, photo, and reading preferences directly in Edit Profile.

Self-Service Account Deletion: You can permanently delete your account at any time in Profile Settings > Delete Account. Deleting your account permanently purges your profile, shelf listings, wishlist, reading notes, comments, and direct messages from our active database.

Email Preferences: You can unsubscribe from non-essential community notifications at any time using the link at the bottom of our emails or through your notification settings.

6. Data Security & Retention

We use industry-standard encryption protocols (HTTPS/TLS in transit, encrypted storage at rest, and salted cryptographic password hashing) to protect your information.

We retain your information only for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, your data is erased from our live application databases; residual copies in automated encrypted backups are overwritten in accordance with standard backup rotation cycles.

7. Age Requirement (18+)

Book Borough is designed exclusively for adults. You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account or use the Service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors and if we learn that we have unknowingly collected personal information from someone under 18 without verification, we will remove the data. Please report suspected underage accounts to support@bookborough.com.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect improvements to our app or changes in relevant laws. For significant changes, we may notify you through an in-app notice or via email.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions, feedback, or need assistance regarding your privacy or data, please contact us at:

Email: support@bookborough.com

Use the Contact Us option located in the account menu.