Effective: February 24, 2026 — Last updated: March 3, 2026
Hearth ("we", "us", "our") is a social book tracking app. This policy describes what data we collect, how we collect it, what we use it for, who we share it with, and how you can control or delete it.
| Data Type | How We Collect It | What We Use It For |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email, profile photo | From Google or Apple Sign-In when you create your account | Account identification and profile display to other users |
| Books, reading status, ratings, reviews | Entered by you in the app | Tracking your reading, sharing with friends, displaying community reviews |
| Location (coordinates) | From your device's GPS, only if you explicitly opt in | Computing your geographic area to display aggregated reader density on the map. Other users see reader clusters by area, not your individual location. |
| Messages | Entered by you in direct message conversations | Delivering messages between you and friends. Only the sender and recipient can view message content. |
| Usage data | Collected automatically as you interact with the app | Improving the app experience |
| Crash reports and diagnostics | Collected automatically by the Sentry SDK when errors occur | Identifying and fixing bugs. These include device info and error details but are not linked to your identity. |
| User ID | Generated when you create your account | Associating your data with your account |
Location sharing is off by default. You must explicitly opt in before any location data is collected or transmitted. When you opt in:
You can opt out at any time in Settings. When you opt out, your coordinates are immediately deleted from our servers and you are removed from all map data.
We share data with the following third-party services, and only as described below. Each provider is bound by its own privacy policy and provides protection of your data consistent with this policy and applicable law:
| Service | What We Share | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Google Sign-In / Apple Sign-In | Authentication tokens | Account creation and login only |
| Sentry | Crash reports, device info, error stack traces | Error monitoring and bug fixing. Not linked to your identity. |
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | All app data (stored on our servers) | Server infrastructure and data storage (US-East-1 region) |
We do not share personal data with any third parties beyond those listed above.
We retain your data for as long as your account is active.
You can delete your account at any time from Settings within the app. When you delete your account, the following data is permanently and immediately deleted from our servers:
Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. We do not retain any personal data from deleted accounts.
You can also request account deletion by emailing us at the address below.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, you may have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data. To exercise these rights, contact us at the email address below.
We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for all data transmission and secure server infrastructure. However, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure.
Hearth is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
If you have questions about this policy, your data, or your rights, contact us at: