Privacy policy

1. Who we are

The Fae Shelf is a romantasy book community. It was founded by Dani, who still runs it.

The Fae Shelf is the controller of your personal data. That means we decide how it is used and we are responsible for protecting it. This policy covers the website thefaeshelf.com, The Fae Shelf iOS app, our newsletter and our support channels.

2. What we collect

Account data

Your email address, username and display name. If you sign up with a password, we store only a secure hash of it, never the password itself. If you use Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google, we receive an account identifier and the email they share with us. With Apple, that can be a private relay address.

Profile data

Anything you add to your profile: bio, avatar, Instagram and TikTok handles, other links, favourite tropes and your heat preference. Your profile is public by default. You can make your shelf private in Settings.

Your content

Reviews, star ratings, heat votes, threads, replies, likes, follows, the books on your shelves and the shelfie photos you upload. When you upload a photo, we remove its EXIF metadata, including GPS location, before we store it.

Usage and device data

Basic technical data our servers need to work and stay secure: IP address, browser or app version, device type, operating system, pages and screens viewed, and error logs.

Cookies

The website uses necessary cookies to keep you signed in and secure. Preference and analytics cookies only run with your consent. Details are in our cookie policy.

Newsletter, support and submissions

If you subscribe to the newsletter, we keep your email and whether you open it. If you contact us, we keep your message and our reply. If you are an author submitting a book, we keep your name, email, the book details you send and our decision.

3. How and why we use it

Data protection law says we need a legal reason, called a legal basis, for each use. Here is ours.

We do not use your data for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. We do not build advertising profiles.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal data. We share it only with:

• Hosting and database providers who store the service for us, under contract and only on our instructions.
• Email delivery providers who send account emails and the newsletter.
• Google Analytics, only on the website and only if you accept analytics cookies.
• Sign-in providers (Apple, Google) when you choose to use them.
• Affiliate partners such as Amazon Associates, Bookshop.org and Audible. When you follow a buy link, that partner knows you came from us and sets its own cookies on its own site. We receive a commission report, not your identity.
• Authorities, if the law requires it.

The iOS app does not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies, and it contains no third-party advertising SDKs.

5. International transfers

Some of our providers are based outside the European Economic Area, for example in the United States. When data leaves the EEA, we use the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, to keep it protected.

6. How long we keep it

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR you can ask us to:

• Access a copy of your data. You can also download it yourself in Settings, Privacy, Download my data.
• Rectify anything that is wrong.
• Erase your data.
• Restrict how we use it while a question is sorted out.
• Object to uses based on legitimate interest.
• Port your data to another service in a machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, for example for analytics or notifications. This does not affect what happened before.

Email privacy@thefaeshelf.com and we will answer within one month. You can also complain to the data protection authority in the country where you live.

8. Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself. In the app, go to Settings, Account, Delete account. On the website, go to Settings, Account. We confirm by email and delete your account and personal data within 30 days.

You choose what happens to your public posts. You can remove them all, or keep your reviews and replies as "Former reader" so threads still make sense. Shelfie photos are always removed.

9. Age limits

Accounts on The Fae Shelf are for adults aged 18 and over. Some books and discussions describe adult content. If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we delete it.

10. Security

We encrypt data in transit with TLS and at rest. Passwords are hashed. Staff access is limited to people who need it. If a breach puts your data at risk, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top always shows the latest version.

12. Contact us