In this privacy policy, we share how and why we collect, use, and share information about you when you interact with us. We appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. We'd love for you to read the whole policy, but if you don't, here is the TL;DR:

Pagebound is a public platform.
Our forums and communities are public, and anyone can see your profile, posts, and comments.

We collect minimal information about you.
We collect minimal information that can be used to identify you by default. If you want to just browse, you don't need an account. If you want to participate in forums and use specific features of our Service, you will need to create an account, but we encourage anonymity in usernames. 

We only use data to make Pagebound a better place.
Any data we collect is used primarily to provide our service, which enables readers to come together and form communities. We don't sell your personal data to third parties, and we never work with data brokers.

If you have questions about how we use data, just ask.
Privacy policies can be confusing! If you need help understanding this policy or anything about Pagebound, email us at team@pagebound.co.

What this Privacy Policy covers:

This Privacy Policy describes how Pagebound LLC ("Pagebound," "we," or "us") collects, processes, uses, and discloses personal information in connection with the www.pagebound.co website (the “Site”).

In addition, the Privacy Policy covers the related content, products, services, platforms and other functionality offered on or through the Site, and any other website or application that we own or control which posts or links to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Service”). 

This Privacy Policy explains

• The types of personal information we collect

• How we collect and process your personal information

• When and how we share information with third parties

• Disclosures about storing personal information in the U.S.

• Data security

• Data retention

• Our policies on not collecting Personal Information from children

• How to contact us 

The types of personal information we collect

What is personal information?

When we use the term “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to an individual. 

We collect Personal Information in connection with your use of the Service. This collection includes information that you provide in connection with the Service, information from third parties, and information that is collected automatically such as through the use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

What Personal Information is collected from you?

We collect Personal Information from you that you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise. The categories of information we collect may include

• Contact information–for example, your first and last name, email and phone number.

• Account and profile information–for example, Personal Information you provide to us when signing up for the Service, data from third party websites in links you provide (e.g., Goodreads), and any other additional information you voluntarily provide.

• Feedback or correspondence–for example, information you provide when you contact us with questions, feedback, or otherwise correspond with us online.

• Marketing information–for example, your preferences for receiving communications about our activities, events, and publications, and details about how you engage with our communications.

• Other information–we may collect additional types of information which we will use in accordance with this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

What information is automatically collected?

As is true of many digital properties, we and our third-party partners may automatically collect certain information from or in connection with your computer or mobile device when visiting or interacting with the Service, including but not limited to

• Analytics Data

This includes information about your use of and actions on the Service, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times, and length of access, and metrics on how many emails we send that are actually opened and which attachments or links are opened, clicked or viewed.

• Location Data

As is true of most other websites, Pagebound’s website collects certain information automatically and stores it in log files. The information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, the region or general location where your computer or device is accessing the internet, browser type, operating system and other usage information about the use of the Site.

• Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

This website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission.

This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. You can at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.

How we collect and process your Personal Information

Pagebound collects Personal Information about its website visitors and account holders. We use your Personal Information to deliver the Service to you, including the following:

• Fulfill your requests and provide the Service to you. This includes

  • Establishing and maintaining your profile on the Service;

  • Enabling the security features of the Service, such as by sending you security codes via email or SMS;

  • Responding to requests, suggestions, questions, and comments, and providing other types of user support;

  • Sending you Service messages, such as changes to your account/profile;

  • Providing support and maintenance for the Service.

• Personalize your experience on our Service

  • This includes providing you with content or other products or services you might be interested in and de-emphasize content you’ve already read or viewed.

• Market our service

  • We will send you communications about new features, updates, products, and special offers. We may also use individual and aggregate information about you to inform our marketing and advertising campaigns.

• Communicate with you

  • For example, we may communicate with you about your interactions with the Service. If you create an account, we may enroll you in our email newsletters or other periodic electronic communications and may also send you surveys and promotional communications. We may communicate with you by email, telephone, text message, or other means.

• Monitor, improve, and develop our products and services

  • We may use your information to understand our visitors and customers and to tailor or optimize our Service. For example, we may analyze statistics and trends to make our Service better and to develop the Site or new services or features.

• Prevent fraud

  • We may use your Personal Information and disclose it to law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties as we believe necessary or appropriate to protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity.

• Protect the security and integrity of our business, comply with legal requirements and obligations, or as otherwise permitted by law

  • We may use information to protect Pagebound, our users, and our Service. We may also use information in order to comply with laws, regulations, court orders, or other legal obligations or to assist in an investigation, protect and defend our rights and property, or the rights or safety of third parties, enforce our Terms of Use, Content Policy, this Privacy Policy, or agreements with third parties, detect and prevent fraud or for crime-prevention purposes, or for any other reason permitted by law. We may take part in or be involved with a corporate business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, joint venture, or financing or sale of company assets and may use information in connection with or as an asset in such a corporate business transaction. Personal Information may also be used in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership.

• For any other purposes with your consent, at your direction, or where notice is provided.

When and how we share information with third parties

We do not sell Personal Information to anyone and only share it with third parties who are facilitating the delivery of our Services.

Sharing information with third parties

The personal information Pagebound collects from you is stored in one or more databases hosted by third parties located in the United States. These third parties do not use or have access to your personal information for any purpose other than cloud storage and retrieval. 

We do not otherwise reveal your personal data to non-Pagebound persons or businesses for their independent use unless: (1) you request or authorize it; (2) the information is provided to comply with the law (for example, compelled by law enforcement to comply with a search warrant, subpoena, or court order), enforce an agreement we have with you, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of our employees or others; (3) the information is provided to our agents, vendors or service providers who perform functions on our behalf; (4) to address emergencies or acts of God; or (5) to address disputes, claims, or to persons demonstrating legal authority to act on your behalf. We may also gather aggregated data about our services and website visitors and disclose the results of such aggregated (but not personally identifiable) information to our partners, service providers, advertisers, and/or other third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

The Pagebound website connects with third party services such as Meta, TikTok, and others. If you choose to share information from the Pagebound website through these services, you should review the privacy policy of that service. If you are a member of a third party service, the aforementioned connections may allow that service to connect your visit to our site to your personal data.

Disclosures about storing personal information in the U.S.

Pagebound has its headquarters in the United States. Information we collect about you will be processed in the United States. By using Pagebound’s services, you acknowledge that your personal information will be processed in the United States. The United States has not sought nor received a finding of “adequacy” from the European Union under Article 45 of the GDPR. Pursuant to Article 46 of the GDPR, Pagebound is providing for appropriate safeguards by entering binding, standard data protection clauses, enforceable by data subjects in the EEA and the UK. These clauses have been enhanced based on the guidance of the European Data Protection Board and will be updated when the new draft model clauses are approved.

Depending on the circumstance, Pagebound also collects and transfers to the U.S. personal data with consent; to perform a contract with you; or to fulfill a compelling legitimate interest of Pagebound in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms.

Data Subject rights

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other countries’ privacy laws provide certain rights for data subjects. Data Subject rights under GDPR include the following:

• Right to be informed

• Right of access

• Right to rectification

• Right to erasure

• Right to restrict processing

• Right of data portability

• Right to object

• Rights related to automated decision making including profiling

This Privacy Notice is intended to provide you with information about what personal data Pagebound collects about you and how it is used. 

If you wish to confirm that Pagebound is processing your personal data, or to have access to the personal data Pagebound may have about you, please contact us.

You may also request information about: the purpose of the processing; the categories of personal data concerned; who else outside Pagebound might have received the data from Pagebound; what the source of the information was (if you didn’t provide it directly to us); and how long it will be stored. You have a right to correct (rectify) the record of your personal data maintained by Pagebound if it is inaccurate. You may request that Pagebound erase that data or cease processing it, subject to certain exceptions. You may also request that Pagebound cease using your data for direct marketing purposes. In many countries, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate data protection authority if you have concerns about how Pagebound processes your personal data. When technically feasible, Pagebound will—at your request—provide your personal data to you.

Reasonable access to your personal data will be provided at no cost. If access cannot be provided within a reasonable time frame, Pagebound will provide you with a date when the information will be provided. If for some reason access is denied, Pagebound will provide an explanation as to why access has been denied.

For questions or complaints concerning the processing of your personal data, you can email us at team@pagebound.co. Alternatively, if you are located in the European Union, you can also have recourse to the European Data Protection Supervisor or with your nation’s data protection authority.

Data Security

Pagebound employs a number of organizational, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the Personal Information we collect. We only use it in methods consistent with your relationship with Pagebound and the practices described in this Privacy Statement. Pagebound also enters into data processing agreements and model clauses with its vendors whenever feasible and appropriate. Please note that security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies, and we cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information.

Data retention

Your personal data is stored by Pagebound on its servers, and on the servers of the cloud-based database management services the Pagebound engages, located in the United States. We will usually store the Personal Information we collect about you for no longer than necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, and in accordance with our legitimate business interests and applicable law. However, if necessary, we may retain Personal Information for longer periods of time, until set retention periods and deadlines expire, for instance where we are required to do so in accordance with legal, tax and accounting requirements set by a legislature, regulator or other government authority.

To determine the appropriate duration of the retention of Personal Information, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the Personal Information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of Personal Information and if we can attain our objectives by other means, as well as our legal, regulatory, tax, accounting and other applicable obligations.

Once retention of the Personal Information is no longer necessary for the purposes outlined above, we will either delete or de-identify the Personal Information or, if this is not possible (for example, because Personal Information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store the Personal Information and isolate it from further processing until deletion or deidentification is possible.

Our policies on not collecting Personal Information from children

The Service is not directed to, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from, anyone under the age of 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with information without their consent, he or she should contact us and we will promptly delete such information. 

How to contact us

If you have questions, concerns, complaints, or would like to exercise your rights, please contact us at team@pagebound.co.