Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

Book Share is a community project. This page is a template to show how the site handles this topic and has not been reviewed by a lawyer — it should not be relied on as legal advice, and must be reviewed by qualified counsel before the site is used to process real user data.

1. Who this covers

This policy explains what personal data Book Share collects when you use the platform, why, and what rights you have over it under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The data controller is [operator legal name to be added], based in Luxembourg. Contact for data protection matters: [privacy contact email to be added].

2. What we collect

Account data — display name, email or phone number, and a hashed password. We never store your password in plain text.
Listing data — the cover photo you upload, the title, author, publisher, genre, language, and description (whether entered by you or suggested by AI and confirmed by you), and the city you list a book in.
Request & exchange data — which listings you've requested or offered, and the status of those requests.
Technical data — a session token stored in your browser's local storage to keep you logged in. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.

3. Why we process it, and on what basis

To operate your account and listings (performance of our contract with you) — creating listings, matching donation and exchange requests, showing your profile activity.
To moderate content (legitimate interest) — an admin reviews every listing before it's published, to keep the catalog genuine and safe.
To identify books from cover photos (performance of our contract with you) — see Section 4.

4. AI-assisted book recognition

When you upload a cover photo, the image is sent to Anthropic's Claude API to suggest the title, author, publisher, genre, and language. This means a cover photo you upload is processed by Anthropic (a sub-processor based outside the EU) under their API terms. You always see and can correct the suggested details before your listing is submitted for admin review — the AI output is never published without your confirmation.

5. Who we share data with

Your book listings are public to anyone browsing the site. Your direct contact details (email or phone) are not visible to other users by default — they are only shared with the other party once you accept or your request is accepted for a specific book, so you can arrange the handover. We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it with third parties for marketing.

6. How long we keep it

We keep account and listing data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we're required to keep records for legal reasons.

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Correct inaccurate data
Request deletion of your data
Restrict or object to certain processing
Receive your data in a portable format
Lodge a complaint with Luxembourg's data protection authority, the Commission Nationale pour la Protection des Données (CNPD)

To exercise any of these, contact us at [privacy contact email to be added].

8. Children

Book Share is not intended for anyone under 16 years old.