Readship Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Readship ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, processes, and protects your personal information when you access or use the Readship mobile application and associated services (collectively, the "Service").

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR"), Readship is the Data Controller responsible for the processing of your personal data.

We collect information to provide, maintain, and enhance the social reading experience in Readship. The categories of information we collect include:

Account Information

• Identity & Contact Details: Email address, name, and profile picture provided through email registration or third-party sign-in (Google Sign-In or Apple Sign-In).
• User Identifier: A unique user ID assigned to your account.

Profile Information (Optional)

Information you voluntarily choose to add to your user profile:

• Age and gender.
• Favorite literary genres, bio, and location.
• Social media handles (e.g., Instagram, TikTok).
• Current book, reading goals, and reading history.

User-Generated Content

Content you create and share through the Service:

• Posts, book reviews, comments, and polls.
• Chat messages sent within reading circles (facilitated via GetStream).
• Images uploaded to the app (such as profile pictures, circle cover images, and photos in posts).
• Details regarding circles (book clubs) and meetups you create or organize.

Technical and Device Information

• Push Notification Tokens: Unique device tokens required to deliver notifications to your iOS or Android device.
• Device & App Telemetry: Basic information regarding device model, operating system version, app version, and crash logs for diagnostics.

We process your personal information for the following legitimate purposes:

• Core App Functionality: To establish and maintain your account, display your profile to other reading community members, track reading progress across shared circles, and coordinate group meetups.
• Communication & Social Features: To deliver real-time circle chat messages, updates, comments, and push notifications.
• Discovery & Books: To allow you to search for books and manage reading logs.
• Service Improvement & Maintenance: To diagnose bugs, analyze system performance, safeguard platform security, and prevent fraud or abuse.

We value your privacy. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

Your information is shared only in the following contexts:

• Within Reading Circles: Your display name, profile avatar, and messages/posts published within a specific circle are visible to all members of that circle. Circle owners and administrators have administrative rights to manage circle membership and content.
• Public Content: Content you designate as public (such as public book reviews or open circle posts) may be visible to other registered users of Readship.
• Legal Obligations: We may disclose information if required by applicable law, regulation, legal process, or lawful governmental request.

Readship relies on trusted third-party service providers ("Subprocessors") to deliver core infrastructure and capabilities. These providers process data on our behalf in compliance with their respective privacy policies:

Your information is stored securely on Google Firebase / Google Cloud Platform infrastructure. We enforce reasonable and appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or disclosure.

While we adhere to industry-standard safeguards, please note that no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% impenetrable.

We retain your personal data for as long as your Readship account remains active and as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy.

If you decide to close or delete your account, we will permanently delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable timeframe, unless we are legally required to retain specific records under applicable statutory obligations.

If you are a resident of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), you are entitled to the following statutory rights under the GDPR:

• Right of Access: Request confirmation of whether your data is being processed and obtain a copy of your personal data.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal information.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your personal data when it is no longer necessary for the purposes collected.
• Right to Restriction of Processing: Request that we limit the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Object: Object to processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests.
• Right to Data Portability: Receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@readship.app.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection supervisory authority. In Sweden, the competent supervisory authority is the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection:

Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMY)
Website: www.imy.se
Email: imy@imy.se

The Readship Service is not directed at or intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under 13 years old.

If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you confirm that you have obtained permission from a parent or legal guardian to use the Service. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13, we will promptly take steps to delete such information from our records.

Our primary database and server infrastructure are located within the European Union (Google Cloud eur3 region).

In instances where certain third-party subprocessors (such as GetStream or Google LLC) process data on servers located outside the EU/EEA, such transfers are conducted under valid GDPR transfer mechanisms, including the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and adequacy decisions.

We may revise and update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect operational, technical, or legal changes. Any material updates will be notified through the Readship app or via email prior to the changes taking effect.

The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision date. Continued use of Readship following any updates constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: