Privacy policy
Your library is personal. This page explains exactly what BookMack stores, who else sees it, and how to take it back.
Last updated: September 2026
The short version
We keep what we need to run your library and nothing more. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising. Cover photos are read and discarded. You can delete everything whenever you like.
What we collect
Your account
Your name, email address and a hashed password. If you set a profile picture, we store the image you upload. We keep a record of the devices you are signed in on so you can sign them out.
Your library
The books you add, with their titles, authors, covers, ratings, tags and status. This is your data: you can export it or delete it at any time.
People you lend to
The name, email address and optional phone number you enter for each borrower, plus the loans, reminders and recommendations attached to them. Only add details of people who are happy for you to keep them.
Technical information
Ordinary server logs such as your IP address and browser or device type, kept so we can keep the service running and spot abuse.
How we use it
Running the service
Your data is used to show your library, track loans, and send the emails you ask us to send: loan confirmations, due-date reminders and book recommendations.
Emails we send you
Account emails such as verification codes, password resets and notices when your email address or password changes. You can turn optional notifications off in your settings.
Keeping accounts safe
We use your data to sign you in, limit repeated failed attempts and end sessions you no longer recognise.
No advertising
We do not sell, rent or trade your information, and we do not use your library or reading habits for advertising.
Keeping it safe
In transit
Traffic between your device and BookMack is encrypted with HTTPS.
Passwords
Passwords are stored only as bcrypt hashes; we never see or store the password itself. Verification and password-reset codes are stored hashed too.
Sessions on your devices
Signing in creates a session per device. Access expires quickly and refreshes in the background, and you can end any session from your account settings, which cuts it off immediately.
Honest limits
No service can promise perfect security. Please use a password you do not reuse elsewhere, and keep your own copy of anything you would hate to lose.
Who else is involved
Book information
When you search for a book or scan a barcode, we send the title, author or ISBN to Google Books and, if needed, Open Library, to fetch the details and cover.
Cover photos
If you photograph a cover in the Android app, the photo is sent to Anthropic, which reads the title and author from it. The photo is held in memory only for that request and is never stored by us.
Payments
Premium is bought through Google Play. Google handles the payment and we never see your card details. Subscriptions bought on the old website were handled by Paystack, which still processes their renewals and cancellations.
Email and hosting
We use an email provider to deliver messages, and a hosting provider to run the servers and database. They only handle what is needed to do that.
Legal requests
We may disclose information where the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of BookMack, our users or the public.
Your controls
See and change your data
Everything in your library can be edited in the app or on the web at any time.
Export it
Premium can export the whole library to CSV or PDF, so you can take it elsewhere.
Delete your account
Deleting your account removes your books, borrowers, loans, reminders, recommendations and history, and cancels any subscription we manage. It cannot be undone. Ordinary backups and server logs age out on their own schedule.
Choose your emails
Optional emails can be turned off in settings. Essential account and security emails are always sent.
Contact and changes
Questions
Write to privacy@bookmack.com and a person will read it.
Children
BookMack is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will say so on this page and, for significant changes, by email. The date below always shows the current version.