Information we collect
Account information
When you create an account, we collect your email address, authentication information, an account identifier, and the display name you choose. A new account starts with no display name. Your display name is shown only on reviews you post to The Lure. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are not available to Literary Lure LLC in readable form.
Google sign in information
If you choose Google sign in, Google may provide your name, email address, profile image, and a stable Google account identifier. Our authentication provider stores what Google sends. We use your email address and identifier only to create and secure your LiteraryLure account and sign you in. We do not show your Google name or picture anywhere. We do not use Google account information for advertising, and we do not sell it.
Book and collection information
We collect the information you add to the service. This may include book titles, authors, editions, ISBNs, quantities, shelf names, ownership and reading status, order or sale details, prices, valuations, dates, notes, reviews, and other book details you choose to provide. All of it is private to your account. It is never shown to other readers. The one exception is a review you choose to post to The Lure, one review at a time.
Images and scanner information
Every place you can add an image says, beside the control, which of five things happens to it. The same five things are listed here.
- Read and discarded. A shelf, stack, cover or barcode photo in Add books, a page photographed for a quote, a cover screenshot for Maybes, and a marketplace screenshot read for its numbers. The image is used for that one request and is not stored. From a shelf photo, a draft you confirm keeps only the details you confirm and a spine colour sampled from the photo. When you speak instead of typing, your browser turns your words into text, so no recording reaches LiteraryLure.
- Kept privately with the listing. Photos you add to a listing in Selling. They are stored in your own private folder and opened only through short-lived links for your signed-in account.
- Kept where anyone with the link can see it. A cover you upload for an edition is stored at an address anyone holding the link can open, so it can show with a review you post. Upload the cover itself, not a photo of a room.
- Kept as a card. An image you keep in Images, whether you made it or uploaded it, is stored in your own private folder with its alt text and design. Pictures you add to a collage or carousel are kept privately with the card's design only when you keep the card. Otherwise they are discarded.
- Published with your review. A card you attach to a review and publish to the Lure is public, with its alt text, for as long as the review stays published.
Do not upload photographs of people, or of documents that show account numbers or other sensitive information. The one exception is an order confirmation or receipt in Orders, handled as described below.
Order confirmations
When you add an order in Orders, the screenshot, receipt image or photograph is sent to our AI provider for that one request, with its storage turned off, and we never save it. Nothing about the document is written to your account except the fields you confirm on screen. The analysis is instructed not to return a postal address, a city, a post code, a phone number, an email address, a payment card number or any part of one, a tracking number, or your own name. The most common of these, such as email addresses, card numbers, street lines and phone numbers, are removed before you see the draft if one slips into a field, so check the draft before you save it. There is no column in our database for any of it.
We keep only what you confirm. For the order, that is the retailer, order number, order date, currency, order total, shipping and your notes. For each book, it is the title, author, series, ISBN, publisher, year, pages, cover, format, edition, retailer, printing, signature, sprayed edges, set details, quantity, price, why you bought it, status, release and expected dates, and your notes.
Orders are private without exception. A calendar reminder for a release date is built inside your browser. We do not connect to your calendar, and we do not read your email.
Technical information
We and our service providers may automatically receive information such as your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, referring page, session cookies, requested pages, dates and times, error logs, and security events. We use this information to operate, protect, and improve the service.
How we use information
- Provide account access and keep you signed in.
- Catalog, display, search, export, and manage the book information you submit.
- Analyze uploaded images and suggest book or edition matches for your confirmation.
- Draft a review from what you say or type, for you to edit and approve.
- Estimate values and provide collection statistics.
- Respond to support, privacy, and account requests.
- Prevent fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, and security incidents.
- Debug, maintain, and improve the service.
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
AI assistance
Uploaded images and related instructions may be sent to OpenAI to identify visible book information. Suggested results may then be compared with book data from Google Books, Open Library, and ISBNdb. These services may process the image, detected title, author, ISBN, or search terms needed to return a result. LiteraryLure asks you to confirm results because AI analysis and third party book data can be wrong or incomplete.
When you write a review in Reviews, what you say or type, and your answers to its questions, are sent to OpenAI to draft the review and check that it keeps to your words. A review is saved only when you approve it, together with your answers, the draft it started from, and any book facts you confirmed.
How we share information
We may share information in the following limited circumstances.
- Service providers. We use providers for authentication, hosting, database and file storage, image analysis, book data, email delivery, monitoring, and security. They receive only the information needed to perform their services for us.
- Reviews you post. A review you post to The Lure, with the details and images you attach and your display name, can be seen by anyone until you take it down. Nothing else you keep is public. There are no public shelves or profiles.
- Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law, respond to valid legal process, protect rights or safety, investigate abuse, or secure the service.
- Business transfer. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or part of the business. We will require the recipient to honor applicable privacy obligations.
We do not sell personal information or Google user data.
Google API data
LiteraryLure requests only the Google account information needed for sign in unless a future feature clearly asks for additional permission. Literary Lure LLC's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements where they apply.
Storage and retention
Account and collection information is generally kept while your account is active. Source shelf photos and raw scanner results are not retained after the request. Listing photos and the images in My images stay until you remove them or the account is deleted. A cover you upload stays at its address even after you replace it. Email us to have one removed. We may retain limited backups, security records, transaction records, or legal records after deletion when reasonably necessary. Retention by a service provider may also follow that provider's backup and legal retention schedule.
Your choices
- You can review and edit book information from your account.
- You choose which reviews to post to The Lure, and you can take any of them down.
- You can export supported collection information.
- You can stop using Google sign in and revoke access from your Google Account settings.
- You can request access, correction, or deletion by emailing theliterarylure@gmail.com from the email address associated with your account.
Revoking Google access stops future Google sign in authorization but does not automatically delete your LiteraryLure account or information already stored in it. Contact us if you also want the LiteraryLure account deleted.
Security
We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards intended to protect information. No online service can guarantee complete security. You are responsible for protecting your sign in method and for notifying us if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.
Children
LiteraryLure is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information so we can investigate and delete it where required.
International use
Information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. Those locations may have different data protection laws from your home country.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service changes. We will post the updated version here and revise the effective date. If a change materially affects how we use Google user data, we will provide notice and request consent when required before using that data for the new purpose.
Contact us
Questions or privacy requests can be sent to theliterarylure@gmail.com. You can also review our Terms of Service.