Privacy policy

Last updated 27 October 2026

Who we are

Shelfwide is a reading app at shelfwide.app and app.shelfwide.app. In this policy, “we” means the people who run Shelfwide. You can reach us at hello@shelfwide.app.

Reading without an account

Without an account, Shelfwide keeps everything on your device, in your browser's own storage:

• Books you import (EPUB and PDF files). They are never uploaded to us. The reading companion is the only exception, explained below.
• Books you import from a link. Our server downloads the file for you, because browsers can't fetch files from most other sites directly, and passes it straight to your device without keeping a copy. The site you linked to sees the request come from our server, not from you.
• Your library, your place in each book, and your reading settings such as typeface and page colour.

When you open a free classic, your device asks our server for the book file, and we fetch it from Project Gutenberg the first time anyone asks for it. Book covers are loaded straight from Project Gutenberg's website, so it sees that request as it would from any visitor.

Finding books and “I want this”

When you search for a book, our server asks Open Library, a free catalogue of books run by the Internet Archive, and passes the results back. Open Library sees the search, not who made it. Book covers in the results load straight from Open Library's website.

When you tap “I want this” on a book, we keep the book, the country you are in, and a random code made by your browser so you are only counted once. If you are signed in, we also link it to your account. We work out your country from your internet connection at that moment; we don't keep your internet address. We use these counts to decide which books to bring to Shelfwide, and may share totals by country, never who asked.

If you create an account

Signing in is optional. If you do, we keep:

• Your email address, to recognise you and to send your sign-in codes.
• Your name, if you sign in with Apple or Google and they share it with us.
• How you sign in: the account identifier Apple or Google gives us for you, so we can recognise you next time. We never see your Apple or Google password.
• Your signed-in devices: when each one signed in and was last active, and which browser or app it is, so you stay signed in and we can sign a device out. We store only a scrambled form of each session key.
• Sign-in codes, kept in a scrambled form for 10 minutes and deleted once used.

Syncing your reading

When you are signed in, your account also keeps these, so they follow you to your other devices:

• Your library list: the title, author and format of each book, when you added it and last opened it, and books you removed, so they are removed everywhere.
• Your place in each book and how far through it you are.
• Your reading settings, such as typeface, text size and page colour.

Books you import are still never uploaded. We only keep a fingerprint of each file, a short code worked out from its contents, so your other devices can recognise the same file when you import it there. The fingerprint can't be turned back into the book.

Signing in with Google

If you sign in with Google, we ask Google only for your name, email address and Google account identifier. We use them only to create and run your Shelfwide account. We do not use Google data for advertising, do not sell it, and do not share it with anyone except the service providers below who help us run Shelfwide. Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

Signing in with Apple

If you sign in with Apple, Apple may let you hide your email address. Then we receive a private relay address from Apple, and emails we send reach you through Apple.

The reading companion

When you ask the reading companion something, your device sends the words you selected or the question you typed, the book's title and author, and some of the text you have already read, never pages beyond the one you are on. Our server passes this to Anthropic, whose Claude AI model writes the answer. Anthropic doesn't use it to train its models. We save answers about a passage for up to 30 days, without linking them to you, so the same question about the same passage can be answered again straight away. Answers to questions you type yourself are never saved. We count how many questions each account asks each day. We don't store your questions or the book text. This is the one time text from a book you imported leaves your device, and only when you ask.

Why we use your information

• To provide Shelfwide: to sign you in, keep you signed in and sync your reading between your devices.
• To keep Shelfwide secure, for example by limiting how many sign-in codes can be sent.
• To reply when you write to us.

We only send you emails you need, such as sign-in codes. If we ever send news or updates, you will be able to turn them off.

Cookies and device storage

When you are signed in, we set one cookie that keeps you signed in. We also keep a few small items in your browser's storage: your reading settings, your page colour, and which way you last signed in on that device. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies.

Who helps us run Shelfwide

We use a small number of service providers. They handle data only to provide their service to us, under their own security and privacy commitments:

• Railway, which hosts our server and database in the European Union (the Netherlands).
• Open Library, which we ask when you search for books.
• Anthropic, whose AI answers questions you ask the reading companion.
• Vercel, which hosts our website.
• Resend, which sends our emails.
• Cloudflare, which runs our domain names.
• Apple and Google, if you choose to sign in with them.

Like any website, these providers keep short-lived technical logs, such as the address a request came from.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information for as long as you have an account. Sign-in codes last 10 minutes. Signed-in devices are forgotten after 90 days without use, or straight away when you sign out. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete it and its information within 30 days.

Your choices and rights

You can read without an account at any time. If you have one, you can ask us to see, correct, export or delete the information we hold about you by writing to hello@shelfwide.app. Depending on where you live, data protection laws such as the GDPR, the UK GDPR or Nigeria's Data Protection Act give you these rights, and the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

Shelfwide is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly create accounts for them. If you think a child has given us information, write to us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change matters, we will tell signed-in readers by email or in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or anything else: hello@shelfwide.app.