Privacy
In short: your books, reading positions and settings stay in your own browser. Velvet Scroll has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no server that receives your library. The only information it sends anywhere is a book's title and author, and only when you ask it to look up a book's details.
What stays on your device
The books you add, their covers, your reading positions, shelves, book details and display settings are stored in your browser's own storage on your device. They are not uploaded to velvetscroll.net or anywhere else. Clearing your browser's site data, or removing the extension, deletes them.
Looking up book details (extension only)
When you use Find details, or search from a book's Details window, Velvet Scroll sends that book's title and author to these public book databases, and downloads cover images from them:
- Open Library (Internet Archive): openlibrary.org, covers.openlibrary.org
- Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons: wikidata.org, commons.wikimedia.org, upload.wikimedia.org
- Project Gutenberg, through the Gutendex search service: gutendex.com, gutenberg.org
No other information about you or your library is sent. Your browser asks your permission before the extension contacts these sites, and you can withdraw it at any time in your browser's extension settings. Those services handle requests under their own privacy policies.
Browser sync (extension only, optional)
If you turn on sync, your reading positions, shelves, book details and settings are saved to your browser's built-in sync (Firefox Sync or Chrome sync) so they follow you between your own computers. The books themselves are never synced. This data is handled by Mozilla or Google under their privacy policies. Sync is off unless you turn it on.
Backups
A backup is a file saved to your own device. Velvet Scroll doesn't send it anywhere. If you choose a password, the backup is encrypted with AES-256 before it's saved.
The website
velvetscroll.net is hosted by GitHub Pages. Like any web host, GitHub may record technical information such as IP addresses when pages are loaded. The website also loads fonts from Google Fonts and code libraries from cdnjs (Cloudflare), which receive the same kind of technical request information. The extension includes its fonts and libraries, so it doesn't contact these services.
Donations
Donations are optional and made directly through PayPal or Bitcoin. Velvet Scroll never sees or stores payment details. PayPal handles payments under its own privacy policy, and Bitcoin transactions are public on the Bitcoin network.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the updated version will be published on this page with a new date. Questions can be raised through the project's page at github.com/brobborb/velvet-scroll.