Privacy Policy

We only see photos you select and upload. On the web, ShelfGarden has no access to your device's photo library.

You choose each image and approve it before anything is sent. We remove location and camera details before upload. Screenshots are kept privately only until they've been read, then deleted from our storage — anything not read within 24 hours is deleted automatically. Copies may remain in our hosting provider's backups for a limited time.

To find books, screenshots are sent to an AI service operated on our behalf. We ask it not to store them; we are still confirming that provider's retention terms.

We keep only the books found, a short note about why you saved them, and what you add yourself. We do not keep the full text of your screenshots.

We do not sell your personal information, share it with advertising networks, or use your private content to train AI models.

You can download your data or delete your account at any time from Privacy & Account. Records of purchases and of marketing opt-outs are kept where the law requires.

Book details come from third-party catalogs such as ISBNdb.

Personalized recommendations: if you turn on AI reading personalization, your ratings, reading statuses, steam takes, structured feedback and your own notes may be used to suggest books you haven't saved yet. This is off by default, you can view, change, reset or delete these preferences at any time, and recommendations are never based on your data being sold or shared — we don't do either. We never infer sensitive personal characteristics from the books you read, and your reading is never used for advertising profiles.

Cookies: essential storage keeps you signed in and remembers your settings. Optional analytics or marketing technologies are blocked until you allow them in your cookie preferences, and you can withdraw that permission any time.

Community (open beta, draft for review): Community is part of your ShelfGarden account. New readers choose a username and display name during setup. Your profile starts completely private, shelves start Private, and discovery and activity sharing start off. You can browse Community without making your profile visible. If you choose to share your profile, other readers you allow can see your chosen username, public name, optional picture and bio, your Bookmate count, favorite books you pick, and only the shelves you set to Bookmates or Public — with their books and your ratings. Notes, screenshots, AI preferences and your email are never shown. Activity posts are created only for actions you take after turning sharing on. Reactions you leave are visible to people who can see that post. Reports are reviewed by the ShelfGarden team, and the reported reader isn't told who reported them; we keep a record of moderation decisions. You can make shelves private, delete your activity, remove or block readers, or make your profile completely private at any time, and deleting your account removes your community data. Anything you share can be seen, copied or screenshotted by others before you remove it.

Marketing emails and texts are optional. We keep a record of when and how you agreed or opted out, and you can change your choice in Settings at any time.