Leafed Privacy Policy

Overview

Thank you for using Leafed — a free book discovery app designed for readers who want to explore new titles in a simple, privacy-friendly way.

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect (if any), how we use it, and what your rights are.

Leafed Mobile App is built to be privacy-first:

We do not require an account

No sign-up, no email, no personal information needed.

We do not collect personal data

Zero personal information is collected or stored from app usage.

We do not track your activity

Your searches and browsing stay private.

We do not use analytics or ads

Clean experience without tracking or advertising.

All searches and browsing happen directly between your device and the Open Library API, which powers Leafed's book data.

Indie Book Database: If you submit a book through our submission form, we collect minimal data (book metadata and optionally a hashed email). See the "Indie Book Database Submissions" section below for details.

Indie Book Database Submissions

Information collected when you submit a book to Leafed's indie catalog

When you submit a book through our submission form, we collect the following information:

Book Metadata

Title, Author, Year Published (required) - Basic book information
ISBN (optional) - International Standard Book Number
Description (optional) - Book synopsis or description
Page Count (optional) - Number of pages
Language (optional) - Book language code
Subjects/Genres (optional) - Comma-separated list of genres or subjects
Cover Image (optional) - Book cover image file (stored on our server)
Book Links (optional) - URLs where readers can purchase or download the book (stored in a separate database table)

Contact Information

Email Address (optional) - Your email is hashed using SHA-256 before storage. Only the hash is stored in the database as submitter_email_hash. The original email is never stored and cannot be recovered from the hash. Email is used only for notifications about your submission.

Technical Data

IP Address - Temporarily logged for rate limiting and security purposes (preventing spam and abuse). IP addresses are not stored long-term and are used only for security monitoring.

Purpose and Use

The data collected is used for:

Manual curation and review of book submissions
Displaying books in the public indie book database
Preventing spam and abuse through rate limiting
Sending notifications (if email provided) about submission status

Data Storage

Book data is stored in our database with the following structure:

books table - Stores book metadata (title, author, year, ISBN, description, page count, language, subjects, cover filename, submitter email hash, timestamps)
book_links table - Stores purchase/download links associated with each book
Cover images - Stored as files on our server, referenced by filename in the database

Data Retention: Submitted book data is retained indefinitely unless you request deletion or the book is flagged for removal. You can request deletion by contacting us at mike@leafed.app.

Information We Don't Collect (Mobile App)

When using the Leafed mobile app, we do not collect, store, or process any of the following:

Note: This section applies to the Leafed mobile app. For information about data collected through the indie book submission form, see the section above.

Your name, email, or contact details
Your reading history or book preferences
Your location, device ID, or IP address
Any personally identifiable information (PII)

Your favorites and recently viewed books are stored locally on your device only. We never transmit that data anywhere.

Data from External Services

Leafed uses a few public, third-party APIs to power certain features

Leafed uses a few public, third-party APIs to power certain features:

Feature	Service	Purpose	Data Shared
Book search & details	Open Library API	Retrieve book metadata, authors, and cover images	None (anonymous requests)
Enhanced book metadata	Google Books API	Provide enhanced metadata and fallback data for books	None (anonymous requests)
Bestseller lists	NYT Books API	Display New York Times bestseller lists and rankings	None (anonymous requests)
Purchases	Amazon	Open affiliate links for books	Only book title/author used in search URL

We do not control or have access to data collected by these third-party sites when you leave the app (e.g., when you open an Amazon link).

Affiliate Disclosure

Leafed participates in the Amazon Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

When you tap "Buy on Amazon," we include an affiliate tag (leafedapp-20) in the link.
This does not affect your price and helps support ongoing development.

Local Storage

Leafed may store small pieces of data locally on your device (using app storage) for:

Saved favorites ("Saved for Later")
Recently viewed books
App settings (theme, filters, etc.)

This data never leaves your device and is deleted automatically if you uninstall the app.

Children's Privacy

Leafed does not knowingly collect or store any personal data from children under 13. The app is suitable for general audiences, but parents should supervise internet use as Open Library links may lead to external content.

Security

Since Leafed does not transmit or store personal data, your privacy risk is minimal. All requests to public APIs are made over secure HTTPS connections.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact the developer

Watson Consulting / Leafed App

📧 mike@leafed.app

Policy Updates

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted here and reflected in the "Last updated" date above.

TL;DR

Mobile App: Leafed doesn't collect or share any personal data. All searches happen directly between your device and public book data sources.
Book Submissions: We collect book metadata and optionally a hashed email (for notifications only). Your email is hashed before storage and cannot be recovered.
Your privacy isn't just protected — it's built into the design.