encircled is a private book-sharing app for small groups of friends. We take your privacy seriously and collect only what's needed to make the app work. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.
Who we are
encircled is operated by Spacera LLC, based in Austin, Texas, USA.
If you have questions about this policy or your data, contact us at hello@encircled.app.
What we collect
We collect only the information needed to run the app:
- Email address — used to sign you in via one-time codes.
- Display name and username — shown to other members of your circles.
- Profile photo (optional) — shown to other members of your circles.
- City (optional) — shown on your profile.
- Bio (optional) — shown on your profile.
- Books you add — including titles, authors, ISBNs, your notes, and reading status. Visible to members of your circles.
- Messages — direct messages and circle chat content.
- Borrow activity — borrow requests, loans, and return confirmations.
- Reading history — books you've marked as read.
- A unique user ID — assigned by our authentication system.
- Device push token (optional) — if you enable notifications, we store an Apple-issued token so we can deliver push notifications about activity in your circles. You can revoke this at any time from Settings.
- Reports and blocks (only if you choose to use them) — if you report content or block a user, we record the reporter or blocker, the target, the reason or description you provide, and the timestamp. We use this to enforce our community standards.
- Terms acceptance timestamp — the date you agreed to our Terms of Service.
What we do with it
We use your data only to operate the app:
- Authenticate you when you sign in.
- Show your profile, books, and activity to members of circles you've joined.
- Deliver messages between you and circle members.
- Process borrow requests and track active loans.
- Send you notifications about activity in your circles.
What we do NOT do
- We do not sell your data.
- We do not share your data with advertisers or data brokers.
- We do not use your data to track you across other apps or websites.
- We do not show ads in the app.
- We do not use third-party analytics services.
Who has access to your data
Your data is visible to:
- You — always.
- Members of circles you've joined — they see your profile, your books, and messages you send to them.
- No one else.
Service providers we use
We work with the following companies to operate the app. They process data only on our behalf and only to provide their services:
- Supabase — hosts our database and handles authentication. Stores all user data securely.
- Resend — delivers one-time login codes to your email.
- Open Library and Google Books — used to look up book metadata when you add a book. We send book identifiers (ISBN or title) to these services. We do NOT send your personal information to them.
- Apple Push Notification service (APNs) — Apple's system for delivering push notifications to your device. We send Apple a token associated with your device along with the notification text.
Your rights
You can:
- Access your data — view it directly in the app.
- Update your data — edit your profile, books, and messages anytime.
- Delete your account — use the “Delete account” option in Settings. This permanently removes your profile, books, messages, and all associated data within 30 days.
- Contact us — email hello@encircled.app for any questions or to request data export.
Data retention
- Active accounts: data is kept while your account exists.
- Deleted accounts: all data is permanently removed within 30 days of deletion.
- Backups: backups are retained for up to 30 days, after which deleted data is fully purged.
Security
We use industry-standard security practices:
- All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS).
- Passwords are not stored — we use one-time email codes for sign-in.
- Database access is restricted by user-level permissions.
No system is perfectly secure, and we encourage you to use a strong, unique email account for sign-in.
Children
encircled is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has used our app, contact us at hello@encircled.app and we will delete the account.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top will reflect the most recent changes. Significant changes will be communicated via in-app notification or email.
Contact
For any privacy questions, email hello@encircled.app.
Spacera LLC
Austin, Texas, USA