Privacy Policy

1. Our Privacy Commitment

At Shelf Checkout, we believe your family's reading habits are private. We designed our app with a simple principle: collect as little as possible, store it securely, and never sell it.

This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, what we don't, and how we protect your privacy.

2. What We DON'T Collect

Let's start with what we deliberately DON'T collect:

Personal Family Information (Stored Only On Your Device)

• Reader profiles — your children's names, ages, and birth dates
• Content preferences — what content filters you've set for each child
• Reading lists — which books you've scanned for which kids
• Personal notes — any notes you add to books
• Reading history — what books your family has read or is planning to read

All of this information stays on your device. We never transmit it to our servers, and we never have access to it. If you delete the app, this data is gone (unless you back up your device to iCloud — that's between you and Apple).

Information We Never Collect

• No user accounts — no email, no password, no login
• No personal identifiers — no name, address, phone number, or email (unless you voluntarily provide it for support)
• No tracking across apps or websites — we don't follow you around the internet
• No advertising identifiers — we don't use ad tracking or share data with ad networks
• No financial information — no credit cards or payment info (the app is free)

3. What We DO Collect

We collect a minimal amount of data to make the app work and improve it over time:

Book Scan Data

Community Feedback Reports

When you submit feedback about a book's content analysis, we collect:

• ISBN of the book being reported
• Type of report (inaccurate rating, missed content, etc.)
• Meter corrections (if you adjust content ratings)
• Optional: Your notes explaining the issue
• Optional: Your email address (if you want a response)

Feedback is anonymous unless you provide your email. Email addresses are discarded after 30 days.

Anonymous Usage Analytics

What we track:

• Number of books scanned (aggregate counts, not linked to you)
• Which features are used most often
• Error rates and app crashes (to fix bugs)
• Basic device info (iOS version, device type) to ensure compatibility

What we DON'T track:

• Your identity or device ID
• Which specific books you scanned
• How you use the app over time
• Your location

You can disable analytics in the app settings.

4. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Shelf Checkout is designed for parents, not children. However, we recognize that the app deals with information about children (their ages, reading preferences). Here's how we comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):

• No server-side collection of children's data. All information about children is stored exclusively on your device.
• No accounts for children. We don't offer user accounts, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
• Parental control. You (the parent) control all data on your device. You can delete reader profiles, change settings, or delete the app entirely at any time.

5. How We Use Data

Book Content Analysis

When you scan a book:

1. We send the ISBN to our server to check if we've already analyzed it
2. If not, we fetch book metadata from Open Library or Google Books API
3. We send the book content to Anthropic (the company that makes Claude AI) for analysis
4. We cache the analysis so the next parent who scans it gets instant results
5. We don't know who requested it — the analysis is stored by ISBN, not by user

Improving the AI

We use aggregated community feedback to identify books where the AI analysis was inaccurate, understand patterns in what parents find helpful, and refine prompts and logic to improve future analysis.

We never use your personal data for AI training. Only anonymized, aggregated feedback about content accuracy.

6. Third-Party Services

We use these external services to make Shelf Checkout work:

Anthropic (AI Analysis)

Provides the Claude AI model that analyzes book content. They receive book text content (not linked to you or your family).

Anthropic Privacy Policy →

Open Library & Google Books (Metadata)

Provide book titles, authors, cover images, and descriptions. They receive ISBN numbers you scan (not linked to you).

Railway (Hosting)

Hosts our backend servers. Receives server logs (IP addresses, request times — standard web hosting data).

Apple (Your Device)

Stores all your family data locally via iOS. If you enable iCloud backup, your reader profiles and preferences may back up to iCloud (this is between you and Apple).

7. Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect the limited data we collect:

• Data in Transit: HTTPS/TLS encryption for all communication between the app and our servers. API authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
• Data at Rest: Managed PostgreSQL database with encryption at rest. Limited access controls — only authorized systems can access the database.

No system is 100% secure. While we take security seriously, we cannot guarantee absolute security. That's one reason we minimize data collection — if we don't have it, it can't be breached.

8. Your Rights & Choices

Data on Your Device

Managed entirely by you — view, edit, or delete anytime in the app. Delete the app to remove all local data.

Data on Our Servers

Request deletion of feedback you've submitted by emailing support@shelf-checkout.com. Note: We can't delete cached book analyses (they're not linked to you and benefit all users).

Opt-Out of Analytics

Disable anonymous usage analytics in the app settings. This stops collection of usage patterns (but not basic error logging needed to fix crashes).

9. Data Retention

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we'll update the "Last Updated" date at the top. If changes are significant, we'll notify you in the app. Continuing to use the app after changes means you accept the new policy.

11. California Privacy Rights

If you're a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it (described above)
• Right to delete personal information (contact us to request deletion)
• Right to opt-out of sale of personal information (we don't sell your data, period)

To exercise these rights, email support@shelf-checkout.com.

12. International Users

Shelf Checkout is operated from the United States. If you use the app from outside the US, your data (book ISBNs and optional feedback) will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the app, you consent to this transfer and processing.

13. Contact Us

Questions or concerns about privacy? We're here to help:

Email: support@shelf-checkout.com

Response time: We'll do our best to respond within 5 business days.