Privacy Policy

Effective date: May 21, 2026

Last updated: June 9, 2026

Introduction

Blackauthored, LLC ("Blackauthored," "we," "us," or "our") takes your privacy and the protection of your personal information seriously.

This Privacy Policy (the "Policy") explains how we collect, use, share, safeguard, and transfer your information when you visit or use blackauthored.com (the "Site"), our iOS and Android mobile applications, and any related products, services, and content we offer (collectively with the Site, the "Services").

Please read this Policy carefully. By creating an account or otherwise using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy and that you consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and other processing of your information as described here. If you do not agree with this Policy, please do not use the Services.

The Information We Collect

We collect certain information when you use Blackauthored. This includes information you provide to us, information we collect automatically, and information we receive from other third parties.

Information you provide to us

Account Information: When you create an account on the Services (an "Account"), we’ll ask you for information such as your username, password, and email address (“Account Information”). You may also choose to provide optional profile details such as a display name, profile photo, bio, birthday, or location. We use Account Information to create and maintain your Account, communicate with you, and personalize your experience.
User Content: When you use the Services, you may create or submit content that is stored in your Account and, in some cases, made visible to other users. This includes book reviews and ratings (including star ratings and spice ratings), custom shelves and collections, reading progress and read logs, comments, lists, likes, follows, and any other content you post, upload, or otherwise make available through the Services ("User Content"). You are solely responsible for any User Content you submit. Public reviews and similar User Content may be visible to all users of the Services, while other User Content, such as status updates from private accounts, remains visible only to you unless you choose to share it with others.
Communications: When you contact us for support, respond to a survey, request a feature, or otherwise communicate with us, we collect the content of those communications and any additional information you choose to provide.
Transaction Information: For example, if you purchase a subscription, make a donation, or buy any other paid feature, our third-party payment processor collects the information needed to complete the transaction (such as your name, billing address, and payment card details). We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers; we receive only limited information, such as the last four digits of the card, card type, and a transaction identifier.
Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions. If you enter a sweepstakes, contest, giveaway, or promotion run on the Services, we collect the information required to administer it, which may include your name, email address, shipping address, and any additional information described in the official rules.

Information we collect automatically

Whether or not you create an Account, any time you visit or use the Services, we and our service providers may automatically collect certain information about you and your device. This includes:

Device Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, IP address, unique device identifiers, browser type, and app version.
Usage Data: We collect log and event information about how you interact with the Services, including the pages and screens you view, the books and reviews you engage with, the features you use, the searches you run, the buttons you click, referring and exit pages, dates and times of access, and crash or error reports.
Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies, pixels, local storage, mobile SDKs, and similar tracking technologies to operate the Services, remember your preferences, understand how the Services are used, and improve them over time. Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit to store your preferences between visits.

We use cookies and similar technologies in the following categories:
Strictly Necessary: Required for services to function and to meet our legal obligations. If you try to use tools to disable these cookies, parts of the services may not work properly.
Functional: Help us provide enhanced functionality and personalization, such as remembering your language or display preferences. Disabling these could affect some service functionality.
Performance and Analytics: Allow us and our analytics providers to understand how visitors use the Services, which pages are most and least popular, and how people move through the site, so we can measure and improve performance.
Advertising: Allow us and our advertising partners to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads, features, products, and services. We do not sell or share information that personally identifies you for the purpose of displaying advertisements.

You can disable and manage some cookies through your browser settings. Please note that if you choose to do so, some parts of the services may not function properly.

Information we receive from other sources

We may receive or collect certain information about you from third-party websites, platforms, or services in the event you choose, and combine that information with the other information we have about you. Sources may include:

Social Login and Linked Accounts. If you choose to create an Account or sign in using a third-party service (such as Google or Apple), that service may share information with us, such as your name, email address, profile picture, and any other information you have authorized the service to share.
Book and Content Data Providers. We receive book metadata, cover images, author information, and related content from publishers, distributors, and book data providers so we can display accurate information in our catalog.
Service Providers. We receive information from our service providers who help us operate the Services, including analytics providers, email delivery services, customer support tools, fraud prevention services, and hosting providers.
Marketing and Advertising Partners. We may receive information from advertising networks and marketing partners about how you interacted with our ads or campaigns.
Publicly Available Sources. We may collect information from publicly available sources, such as public social media profiles, when you choose to make that information public.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

Provide, maintain, operate, and improve the Services, including troubleshooting and resolving issues.
Create and manage your Account, authenticate you, and keep the Services secure.
Personalize your experience, including tailoring book recommendations, reading statistics, home feed content, and search results based on your activity and preferences.
Display and distribute your User Content on the Services in accordance with your settings (for example, showing your public reviews to other users).
Communicate with you about the Services, including sending transactional emails (such as account confirmations, password resets, and important notices), responding to support requests, and sending marketing or promotional messages where permitted by law.
Process transactions and send related information, including receipts and order confirmations.
Administer sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and promotions you choose to enter.
Measure, analyze, and understand how users interact with the Services so we can improve features, design, and performance.
Detect, investigate, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, violations of our Terms of Service, and other harmful or unlawful activity.
Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and enforce our rights, including establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims.
Conduct research and aggregated analysis, including creating de-identified or aggregated information that does not identify you.

Where required by applicable law, we rely on a lawful basis to process your personal information, including your consent, our legitimate interests in operating and improving the Services, performance of our contract with you, and compliance with legal obligations.

How we share your information

With your consent. We may share information about you when we have your consent or at your direction.
With our service providers. We may share information with third parties when you ask us to or otherwise consent to the sharing, such as when you connect a third-party integration to your Account.
To comply with the law. We may share information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or permitted by law, such as in response to a subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process, or to cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities.
To enforce our policies and rights. We may share information if needed to enforce our Terms of Use, Community Guidelines, any of our other policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of ourselves and others.
In an emergency. We may share information if we believe in good faith that it's necessary to prevent death or other serious harm to a person.
With our related companies. We may share information with our current or future parent companies, subsidiaries, and other corporate affiliates for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.
In connection with Sweepstakes, Contests and Promotions. If you participate in a sweepstakes, contest, or promotion, we may share information as described in the official rules, such as publishing winners’ names or sharing information with co-sponsors.
For the purposes of a merger or acquisition. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, sale of company assets, or similar transaction (or negotiations for any of the foregoing), we may transfer or share your information as part of that transaction or process.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including providing the Services, complying with legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements.

If you choose to delete your Account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period of time. However, certain information may be retained as required for legitimate business purposes, such as fraud prevention, recordkeeping, or compliance with legal obligations.

How we safeguard your information

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include encryption in transit, access controls, and regular security reviews.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is fully secure. While we use reasonable efforts to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. You acknowledge that we are not responsible for any intercepted information sent via the internet, and you release us from any and all claims arising out of or related to the use of intercepted information in any unauthorized manner.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account credentials and for any activity that occurs under your Account. If you believe your Account Information or Account security has been compromised, please notify us immediately at privacy@blackauthored.com.

How to control your privacy

We may provide you with the option to protect and limit the collection, use, and sharing of information about you when you use the Services.

Depending on the geographical region in which you live, you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information, including rights to: correction/rectification of your personal information, to opt out of certain advertising practices, or to withdraw consent for processing where you have previously provided consent. Below, we explain how to exercise each of these rights.

Access and update your information. You can access and edit most of your basic account information right in our Services. Just navigate to your settings, and you will see the options available to you.
Marketing Communications. You can opt out of marketing emails by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email we send or by adjusting your notification preferences in your Account. We may still send you transactional or service-related messages (such as password resets or changes to this Policy) regardless of your marketing preferences.
Cookies and Tracking. You can manage cookies through your browser settings and, where provided, through our cookie preference center. Most browsers let you refuse or delete cookies. Mobile operating systems provide controls for advertising identifiers and tracking.
Do Not Track. Most modern web browsers give you the option to send a Do Not Track signal to the sites you visit, indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. However, no common industry standard for responding to them has been adopted. As such, we do not take any action in response to this signal from browsers.
Account Deletion. You may delete your Account at any time through your Account Settings. Please note that deleting your Account does not necessarily result in the immediate or complete removal of all content associated with your Account from our systems. For example, cached data, backups, or residual copies of your information may persist for a limited period of time.

Additionally, due to the nature of user-generated content on the Services, certain public activity associated with your Account prior to deletion—such as posts, comments, and reviews—may remain visible to other users unless you delete that content before initiating account deletion.

Once you submit a request to delete your Account, we will begin a process designed to delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable timeframe. After this process is complete, Blackauthored will no longer be able to provide access to your deleted data.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may retain certain information where necessary for legitimate business purposes, including to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, or maintain the security and integrity of the Services.

International Data Transfers

Blackauthored is based in Canada and the United States, and your personal information is processed and stored on servers located in Canada and the United States and, in some cases, other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. As a result, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed outside of your country of residence.

By using the Services or otherwise providing your information to us, you acknowledge and consent to the transfer, processing, and storage of your information in Canada and the United States and other countries, which may have data protection laws that differ from those in your jurisdiction and may not provide the same level of protection.

Where required by applicable law, we take appropriate measures to safeguard your personal information during international transfers. These measures may include entering into contractual agreements with service providers, relying on legally recognized data transfer mechanisms, or ensuring that recipients are subject to appropriate privacy and security obligations designed to protect your information.

Children

The Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 13, or the applicable age of digital consent in their jurisdiction. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you can form a legally binding contract under applicable law and are of the legal age of majority where you reside, and that you agree to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Policy.

If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without appropriate consent, we will take steps to delete such information.

If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 13 years of age and you believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@blackauthored.com.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice through the Services or via email.

Your continued use of the Services after any changes to this Privacy Policy become effective constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the updated Privacy Policy, you should discontinue use of the Services.

Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Policy, please contact us at privacy@blackauthored.com with “Privacy” in the subject line of your email.