Home Library Companion — Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Home Library Companion (the "App") is published by Creative Sonar, LLC ("we," "us"). This policy explains what information the app and its sync service collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

• Account information. When you sign in with Apple, we receive your name and email address (or Apple's private relay email if you choose to hide it) and an Apple-provided user identifier. We use this to create and secure your account.
• Your library content. The books you add (titles, authors, identifiers, locations, notes, reading status) and any cover photos you take or choose from your photo library are stored on your device and, once you are signed in, synced to our servers so your library is available across your devices and to people you invite to a shared library. Cover images are served over the web through long, unguessable links so your library can display them.
• Lending records. If you use the lending feature, the borrower name you enter (typed or picked from your contacts — we never read or upload your address book; the system picker hands us only the single name you choose), loan dates, and any loan note are stored with the book and synced like the rest of your library content.
• Your wishlist. Books you want but don't own yet: the title, author, any note you add, and who added it. It syncs like your library and is visible to the members of your library, except items you mark Only me, which only you can see.
• Photos and screenshots you ask us to read. When you photograph a shelf, or import screenshots or photos of a book list, the image is sent over HTTPS to our servers and, from there, to an AI service provider that reads the books in it for us (see below). We do not keep the image after it has been read. Cover photos you choose to keep with a book are stored as part of your library content, above.
• Ask queries. When you use the Ask feature, the question you type is sent to our servers to find matching books in your own library. Queries are processed to generate results and are not used to build a profile of you or sold to anyone.
• Feature use. The app tells our servers when you use certain features — for example that you searched your library, opened your wishlist, or opened a weekly book notification — and which account used them, so we can tell which features people come back to. We record that a search happened, never what you searched for. This is used only to improve the app.
• Diagnostic basics. Standard server logs (such as request times and error codes) used to operate and secure the service, and — in aggregate — to understand how the app and our website are used. Accounts appear in these logs only as one-way hashed identifiers. We analyze these logs on our own servers; our website sets no cookies and runs no tracking scripts.

We do not use third-party advertising or analytics SDKs, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

How we use your information

• To provide the core features: cataloging, reading shelf photos and book lists, sync across your devices, shared libraries, your wishlist, and Ask.
• To secure your account and prevent abuse of the service.
• To operate, maintain, and improve the app and its backend.

How information is processed and shared

• Hosting and network providers. Library data and account information are stored on cloud infrastructure we operate, with a content delivery and security network in front of our websites and servers. All traffic uses HTTPS.
• AI service providers. Some features use AI services run by other companies, acting as our processors: reading the shelf photos and list screenshots you send, so we can tell which books are in them; reading the text on book spines and filing your books under topics (these requests carry book details, not account details); matching your Ask questions to your books and writing the results (your question and short excerpts of research about books in your library); and researching public information about the books in subscribers' libraries (that research is about the books, not about you). These providers process this content only to return results to us. Under the terms of our paid use of their services, they may not use it to train their models; they may keep it for a limited period for security and abuse monitoring, as those terms allow, before deleting it.
• Public book databases. To look a book up, the app sends its ISBN or title directly to public book catalog services. These requests carry no account information.
• Apple. Apple handles Sign in with Apple and in-app purchases. The weekly book notification and the iPhone search (Spotlight) entries for your books are created on your device; they are not sent through a push service.
• Email. When we write to you — for example a reply to a support message — the message is sent through an email delivery provider.
• Our other app. If you also use Bookstore Companion on the same device, the two apps share your wishlist and a list of the books you own through storage on that device, so Bookstore Companion can show your list in a store and tell you when you already own a book. Bookstore Companion does not send that information to us or anyone else.
• Shared libraries. If you create or join a shared library, members of that library can see the books, locations, notes, lending records, and cover photos in it. Only share with people you trust.
• Legal. We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and our service.

We do not sell your personal information.

Data retention and deletion

Your data is retained while your account is active. You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Account → Delete account. Deleting your account removes your account and libraries from our servers and erases the local catalog and cover photos from the device. Residual backups are purged on our standard rotation.

Your choices and rights

• Access, correct, or delete your data, including full account deletion, from within the app.
• Choose to hide your email from us via Apple's Hide My Email when signing in.
• Turn the weekly book notification on or off in Settings; it is off unless you turn it on.
• Mark any wishlist item Only me so no one else in your library can see it.
• Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights (such as access, portability, or deletion) under laws like the GDPR or CCPA; contact us to exercise them.

Children

Home Library Companion is not directed to children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your region) and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.

Security

We use HTTPS in transit and access controls on our backend. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy; material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, an in-app notice.

Contact

Questions or requests: [email protected] — Creative Sonar, LLC.