Privacy Policy

Effective July 24, 2026

The short version: your library lives on your device. The Shelfd app has no servers, no accounts, no analytics, and no ads. We don't collect your personal information, we can't see it, and we have nothing to sell — because we never have your data in the first place.

Who we are

Shelfd is a book-tracking app for iOS, created and published by Zachary Selburg. This policy explains what information the app handles and where it goes — which, in almost every case, is nowhere.

What stays on your device

Everything you put into Shelfd is stored locally, on your device only:

Your display name, and your email address if you choose to add one (it's optional)
Your birthday, if you share it — used only for fun in-app stats
Your profile photo
Your library: books, reading progress, lists and shelves, ratings, goals, streaks, and achievements
Your preferences and settings

None of this is transmitted to us or to anyone else. We have no server for it to go to. If you add your email during onboarding, it simply stays on your device — it may power optional community features in a future version, and if that day comes, nothing will leave your device without an updated policy and your clear consent first.

What the app sends over the internet

Shelfd talks to the internet for exactly one job: looking up books. When you search for a title or scan a barcode, the app sends your search terms or the book's ISBN to public book-data services — Google Books and Open Library — and fetches cover images from their servers. These requests contain no name, email, or account information, because the app has no account to attach. The services' own privacy policies govern how they handle requests made to them.

Purchases

Shelfd Premium is an optional subscription, sold through Apple. When you subscribe, Apple handles the entire transaction — we never see your card number, billing address, or payment details. Your device receives a receipt confirming your subscription is active, and that check happens on your device. We don't operate a payment system and we don't store payment information, because we never receive any.

You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your iPhone's Settings, under your Apple Account. Refunds are handled by Apple.

Backups and imports

You can export a backup of your library to a file, and import reading history from services like Goodreads or StoryGraph. Both happen entirely on your device. Backup files you create are yours — they're stored wherever you choose to save them, and never pass through us.

The Shelfd website

This website (joinshelfd.com) is separate from the app. If you join a waitlist or mailing list here, the email address you enter is handled by our email provider, MailerLite, so we can write to you about launches and updates. That's the only personal information the website collects, it's used only to email you, and you can unsubscribe at any time from any message we send. This applies to the website only — your app library always stays on your device, exactly as described above.

What we don't do

No analytics or usage tracking in the app
No advertising, and no ad networks
No selling, sharing, or renting of data — ours or anyone's
No third-party tracking SDKs of any kind in the app

Deleting your data

Because your app data lives only on your device, deleting it is entirely in your hands: remove individual items in the app, or delete the app to remove everything. We can't access, recover, or delete your app data for you — we never had it. If you've joined a mailing list on the website, you can remove yourself at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by writing to us.

Children

Shelfd is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone — children included, by design.

Changes to this policy

If Shelfd's data practices ever change — for example, if optional community features arrive in a future version — this policy will be updated before those changes take effect, with the new effective date shown at the top.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Write to us at privacy@joinshelfd.com.

"Every reader leaves a trail." — Yours stays with you.