Last updated September 28, 2026

Privacy Policy

Novellow is a private reading room. This page explains, in plain words, what it keeps about you, why, who can see it, and how to download or delete all of it.

1. What Novellow keeps

Only what it needs to run your library:

• Your account: your email address and a password. The password is stored only as a scrambled one-way code (a "hash"), so nobody, Novellow included, can read it.
• Your profile: the display name you choose and, if you use Community, a username and a short bio.
• Your library: the shelves, books, reading dates and progress, ratings, reviews, journal notes, quotes, words, questions, characters, themes, challenges and reading sessions you add, and any cover pictures you upload.
• Your room: the theme, furniture, decorations and colours you choose.
• Community: your friend requests and friends, the book clubs and buddy reads you start or join, the chapter you've reached, and what you post in them.
• Notes you send us: problems and ideas you send from About Novellow, what kind of note each is, and, if you leave the box ticked, your browser and screen size (for example "Safari on iPhone, 390×844") to help fix a problem. Any reply is kept with the note.
• A sign-in log: when you signed in, how (password, sign-up or email link) and a description of the browser and device, so you can spot a sign-in that wasn't you (Settings → Recent sign-ins).
• Your agreement: the date of the Terms you agreed to, and that you confirmed you're 13 or older.

Novellow does not use advertising, analytics, tracking pixels or tracking cookies, and doesn't ask for your real name, birthday, location, phone number or payment details.

2. What stays on your device

Your browser keeps a few things for Novellow in its local storage, and never sends them anywhere else: the key that keeps you signed in, your sound and display preferences, and a copy of your room's layout so it loads quickly. These are needed for the site to work the way you've asked, so there's no cookie banner. Signing out removes the sign-in key; clearing your browser's site data removes the rest.

If you scan a book's barcode, the camera picture is read on your device and never saved or sent anywhere. Only the ISBN it finds is used, to look the book up. Novellow asks for the camera only when you tap Scan barcode.

3. How it's used

• To show you your library and room, and keep them in step across your devices.
• To share what you choose to share with the friends and clubs you choose.
• To keep accounts safe: checking passwords, spotting misuse and fixing problems.
• To read and answer the notes you send, and to make Novellow better.
• To send the emails your account needs: confirming your address and resetting your password. Novellow doesn't send newsletters or marketing.

Novellow does not sell your information, share it for advertising, build profiles of you, or use your writing to train artificial intelligence.

4. Who can see it

• Only you, by default. The database itself checks every request, so one reader can never read another's private library.
• Your friends, if you turn on "Share my shelves with friends" (Community): they can see your shelves, books, ratings and reviews. Journals, notes, quotes and words are never shared.
• Members of your book clubs and buddy reads see what you post there, and buddy reads hide comments from chapters a member hasn't reached yet.
• Readers you're connected with can see your display name, username and bio.
• Novellow's operator can reach the database to keep it running, fix problems or answer a request from you, and only for that.
• The law: information may be disclosed if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.

5. The services Novellow relies on

Novellow is built on a few trusted services, which handle information only to provide their service:

• Supabase stores the database, your cover pictures and your sign-in, and sends account emails. Like most services, it keeps short-lived technical logs, including IP addresses, for security.
• Cloudflare hosts the website itself (novellow.com), and may log visitors' IP addresses for security.
• jsDelivr supplies the code library that connects to Supabase, and sees your IP address when your browser fetches it.
• Open Library (the Internet Archive) supplies book covers and search results. When you search for a book or scan its barcode, your search words or the book's ISBN are sent to it.

These services may process information in the United States and other countries.

6. How long it's kept

Everything is kept for as long as you have your account, so your library is there when you come back. You can take back a note you sent at any time from About Novellow. When you delete your account, everything in it is deleted straight away. Copies can stay in the service providers' backups and logs for a short time (usually no more than 30 days) before they're overwritten.

7. Your choices and rights

Wherever you live, you can:

• See and download everything: Settings → Download all my data gives you one file with everything Novellow keeps about you.
• Correct it: change anything in your library, your name and your profile at any time.
• Stop sharing: turn off shelf sharing, unfriend, or leave a club whenever you like.
• Delete it all: Settings → Delete my account deletes your account and everything in it for good.
• Ask: write to [email protected] with any question or request, and you'll get an answer within 30 days.

In the United States: some states (such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and others) give residents rights to know, correct, delete and take a copy of their personal information, and to opt out of its sale or use for targeted advertising. Novellow doesn't sell or share personal information or use it for targeted advertising, and you won't be treated differently for using any of these rights. Novellow doesn't respond to "Do Not Track" signals differently, because it doesn't track you across other websites at all.

In the European Union, United Kingdom and similar places: Novellow uses your information to provide the service you asked for (to perform its agreement with you), to keep it secure (a legitimate interest), and to share what you choose to share (your choice, which you can change at any time). You have the rights listed above, plus the rights to restrict or object to processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority.

8. Children

Novellow is for readers 13 and older. It isn't meant for children under 13, and doesn't knowingly keep information about them. If you believe a child under 13 has made an account, write to [email protected] and it will be deleted.

9. Keeping it safe

Everything travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS), passwords are stored only as one-way hashes, and the database only ever lets each reader reach their own information (and what others chose to share with them). No system is perfectly secure; if something ever went wrong in a way that affected your information, you'd be told as the law requires.

10. Changes, and getting in touch

If this policy changes, the date at the top will change, and anything important will be announced in the app before it takes effect. Questions, requests or worries about your privacy: [email protected].