Between Covers ("we," "us," or "our") is a mobile application developed by Modern Vision Design LLC to provide a personalized reading experience supported by Iris, our AI-powered digital companion.

This Privacy Policy applies to users in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and any other regions where Between Covers is made available. It explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use the Between Covers app and any related features, services, or communications.

By accessing or using Between Covers, you agree to this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use, which together form the full agreement governing your use of the Services. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, you should not access or use Between Covers.

Information We Collect

We collect information to provide core app functionality, personalize your reading experience, support AI-powered interactions, maintain safety, and comply with applicable laws.

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account details (name, email address, date of birth, etc.)
• Onboarding preferences (reading location, genre selections, spice level, comfort boundaries, snacks/drinks, etc.)
• Profile image or avatar (if enabled)
• Messages sent to Iris or customer support
• Lounge posts, replies, and reactions in community discussion threads
• Live Event chat messages sent in real-time during moderated events
• Reports you submit about other members' behavior in community features
• Optional survey responses or feedback forms
• Any content submitted to personalize your experience

We may also collect other information you choose to provide as part of evolving features. We do not collect more information than necessary to provide and improve the Services.

1.2 AI & App Interaction Data

• Your inputs, selections, or prompts
• Features used and buttons tapped
• Session duration and frequency of use
• Pages/screens visited
• App performance and system diagnostics
• General patterns that help improve personalization
• Live Event attendance, participation, and chat activity
• Reports you submit or receive, and the outcomes of moderation review (warnings, restrictions, removals)

We do not use personal data to create behavioral advertising profiles, and we do not sell user data to third parties.

1.3 Automatically Collected & Technical Data

• Device type and operating system
• App version and settings
• IP address (only if required for security or compliance)
• Device identifier or installation ID
• Crash logs, diagnostics, or performance data
• Time of access and general device configuration

1.4 Communication Data

If you contact us directly, such as through email, in-app feedback, or support requests, we may collect your name and contact information, message content and attachments, and any other details you choose to provide. This information is used solely to respond to inquiries and will not be used for unrelated purposes without your consent.

1.5 Device Permissions & Optional Features

You will always be able to grant or revoke these permissions through your device settings.

1.6 Children's Data

Between Covers is intended for adults age 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 where applicable), and we do not permit minors to use the app.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to operate the app, personalize the reading experience, support AI interactions, improve the Services, ensure safety, and comply with legal requirements. We do not sell your personal data.

2.1 Provide Core App Functionality

• Create and manage your account
• Save onboarding selections and preferences
• Personalize the app interface and user experience
• Sync your data across eligible devices
• Manage subscription access (if applicable)
• Enable features you choose to use

2.2 Personalization & AI Interaction

• Tailor responses from Iris
• Adjust app visuals and themes
• Suggest reading-related content
• Improve future AI interactions
• Support mood-based or time-based greetings

AI responses may be fictional or stylized and should not be relied upon for professional advice. Iris does not retain personal memory beyond what is necessary to operate the app.

2.3 App Improvement & Analytics

• Monitor performance and troubleshoot issues
• Analyze feature usage and improve navigation
• Test new features or layouts with small groups of users
• Enhance security and prevent misuse

2.4 Safety, Legal & Compliance

• Detect or investigate misuse of the app
• Enforce our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines
• Respond to valid legal requests or safety concerns
• Protect the rights, property, and safety of users and the platform
• Operate automated and human review of community spaces (the Lounge, Live Events) to detect and respond to violations of the Community Guidelines

2.5 Communication & Support

If you contact us directly, we may use your information to respond to inquiries, issue updates about your account, or send important notices related to policy changes or app functionality.

2.6 New Features & User Options

If we introduce new features that request additional information or permissions, we will only use that information as needed to operate or improve those features. You will always have the ability to review or disable permissions through your device settings.

Legal Basis for Processing

Where required by applicable law (including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, and similar privacy frameworks), we process your personal information on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract — to provide the Services you have requested, including account creation, subscription management, and core app functionality.
• Your consent — for optional features such as personalization preferences, AI interactions with Iris, or other features where you have explicitly opted in.
• Our legitimate interests — including improving the Services, analyzing usage patterns, ensuring the security and integrity of the platform, preventing fraud, and developing new features, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
• Compliance with legal obligations — where we are required to process your information to comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, or governmental requests.

How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal data. We only share information when it is necessary to operate the app, provide subscription services, comply with the law, or protect the safety and integrity of the platform.

3.1 Service Providers & App Infrastructure

We may share information with service providers that help operate the app — such as cloud hosting, authentication tools, analytics, or error monitoring. These providers only receive the information necessary to perform their services and are required to use it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

3.2 Subscription & Payment Processing Platforms

When you purchase a subscription, billing and payment details are handled by the platform where you downloaded the app (such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore). We do not process payments directly and do not receive full payment information.

3.3 Legal Compliance & Safety

We may access, preserve, or share limited information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to comply with applicable laws, enforce our Terms of Use, address fraud or security concerns, or protect the rights and safety of users or the platform. We do not voluntarily provide user data to law enforcement unless required by law.

3.4 Information from Authentication Providers

If you choose to log in using a third-party sign-in method — such as Apple, Google, or Amazon — we may receive limited information from that provider, such as your name, email address, and confirmation that your account was successfully authenticated. You may revoke access at any time through your device or platform settings.

3.5 Assignment of Rights

If Modern Vision Design LLC undergoes a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of assets, we may transfer the information we collect to the successor entity in accordance with this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use, and applicable law. If required, we will provide notice within the app before any material transfer takes effect.

3.6 No Sale of Personal Data

We do not sell personal information and do not share it with third parties for advertising or commercial purposes.

3.7 Sub-Processors

We use the following categories of third-party service providers (sub-processors) to operate the Services. Each sub-processor receives only the information necessary to perform its specific function and is contractually required to handle data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

• Cloud infrastructure and AI services: Amazon Web Services (AWS), including database storage, serverless compute, authentication, AI processing for Iris and community moderation, Live Event video and chat infrastructure, push notification delivery, and transactional email delivery.
• Subscription billing platforms: Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore (in-app purchase processing).
• Email and communications: Zoho Mail (email account hosting for support and administrative addresses).
• Book metadata and reference data: ISBNdb (book information and metadata used to populate the reading library).

This list reflects our current sub-processors as of the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We may add, change, or remove sub-processors over time as the Services evolve. Material changes will be communicated through the in-app notice channel described in Section 7. If you wish to receive notice of sub-processor changes by email, you may opt in by contacting privacy@betweencovers.app.

Data Storage, Protection & Retention

4.1 Data Storage Locations

Between Covers stores information using secure, industry-standard cloud service providers. These providers may process or store data in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate, in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

4.2 Data Security

We implement technical and administrative safeguards designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures may include encryption, access controls, monitoring, and secure transmission protocols. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

4.3 Data Retention

We retain your information only for as long as necessary to provide the Services, fulfill legitimate business purposes, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.

Moderation records — including reports, warnings, and enforcement decisions — are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to maintain the integrity of community spaces, support pattern detection across events, and provide an audit trail for any enforcement action. Records relating to permanent restrictions or removals may be retained for the lifetime of the affected account so that the underlying decision can be reviewed if an appeal is submitted. When an account is deleted, associated moderation records are deleted or de-identified in accordance with the retention timelines in Section 4.5, unless retention is required by law or necessary to protect the safety of other members.

4.4 Account Deactivation

You may deactivate your account at any time through your account settings. Your profile, preferences, and saved content are retained but your account becomes inactive and is no longer accessible to other users. You may reactivate at any time by signing back in.

4.5 Account Deletion

You may request deletion of your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at privacy@betweencovers.app. We retain account data for 90 days following a confirmed deletion request to allow for account recovery, fraud prevention, and legal compliance. After the 90-day period, your data is permanently deleted or anonymized and cannot be restored.

4.6 Reactivation

If your account is within the deletion retention period, you may restore it by signing in or contacting us at privacy@betweencovers.app. Reactivation is not possible once data has been permanently deleted.

4.7 Beta, Testing, and Diagnostic Data

During testing phases, we may temporarily store diagnostic information, crash logs, or usage data to evaluate performance. This information is used only for development purposes and is deleted or de-identified when no longer needed.

4.8 Revoking Permissions

If you revoke access to certain device permissions, some features may not operate correctly. We will stop collecting the associated information once permission is revoked, though previously collected data may be retained as described in this section.

4.9 Legal Retention Requirements

Some information may be retained as required by law, to protect the safety and integrity of the app, to prevent fraud or abuse, or to enforce our Terms of Use. Such retention is limited to what is necessary and permitted under applicable law.

4.10 International Data Transfers

Between Covers is operated from the United States, and our service providers may store or process your information in the United States or other jurisdictions where they operate. Where we transfer personal data from the United Kingdom, European Economic Area, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, or other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries, we rely on appropriate safeguards required by applicable law, which may include the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum issued by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, and equivalent mechanisms required under PIPEDA, the Australian Privacy Principles, and other applicable privacy frameworks.

By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree to the transfer, processing, and storage of your information in jurisdictions that may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

4.11 Breach Notification

In the event of a personal data breach affecting your information that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the applicable regulatory authorities without undue delay and in accordance with applicable law.

Where required under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Australia's Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, U.S. state breach notification laws, or other applicable frameworks, we will provide notification within the timeframes specified by those laws (including within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach where required under UK or EU GDPR).

Your Choices & Rights

Your rights and choices may vary depending on your location and applicable law. Most updates or changes can be managed directly within your profile settings inside the app or by asking Iris for help.

5.1 Access and Update Your Information

You can view and update many of your account details directly through your Profile Settings in the app or by asking Iris to guide you. If you need to update information that cannot be changed in the app, contact us at privacy@betweencovers.app.

5.2 Delete Your Account

You may delete your account at any time through Profile Settings or by asking Iris. Personal data will be deleted or de-identified within 30 days unless retention is required by law. If you cannot access your account, email privacy@betweencovers.app.

5.3 Manage Permissions

You may allow or revoke device permissions — such as camera, microphone, and notifications — at any time through your device settings.

5.4 Opt-Out of Non-Essential Communications

Optional notifications may be turned on or off through your device's notification settings or inside your Profile Settings. Essential service notifications may not be disabled.

5.5 Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Between Covers does not currently use cookies or similar trackers within the mobile app. If that changes, users will be notified and given appropriate controls.

5.6 Limitations

Some requests may be restricted when necessary to comply with law, protect the safety and integrity of the app, prevent fraud, or fulfill subscription requirements. We will inform you if any limitations apply.

5.7 How to Submit a Request

Most requests can be handled inside the app or through Iris. If you still need assistance, contact us at privacy@betweencovers.app. We may verify your identity before processing certain requests.

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

This section provides additional information for California residents under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

5A.1 Categories of Personal Information We Collect

In the past 12 months, we may have collected the following categories of personal information:

• Identifiers — name, email address, account ID
• Commercial information — subscription status, transaction history
• Internet or other electronic network activity — app usage, interactions with Iris, device identifiers
• Geolocation data — general region (not precise location)
• Inferences — reading preferences and personalization profiles derived from your activity

5A.2 Purposes for Collection

We collect personal information to operate the app, provide personalized reading experiences, support customer service, prevent fraud, maintain safety and security, and comply with legal obligations. See Section 2 for full details.

5A.3 Categories of Third Parties

We share limited information with service providers (cloud infrastructure, analytics, authentication), payment platforms (Apple, Google, Amazon), and legal/regulatory authorities when required. See Section 3 for full details.

5A.4 Sale or Sharing of Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5A.5 Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services and as described in Section 4 (Data Storage, Protection & Retention).

5A.6 Your California Rights

As a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
• Access a copy of your personal information
• Delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions
• Correct inaccurate personal information
• Limit use of sensitive personal information
• Non-discrimination — we will not deny you services or charge different prices for exercising your rights

5A.7 How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any California privacy right, contact us at privacy@betweencovers.app with the subject line "California Privacy Rights Request" and indicate which right you wish to exercise. We may need to verify your identity using information associated with your account before fulfilling the request. We will respond within the timeframes required by the CCPA/CPRA.

5A.8 California "Shine the Light" Disclosure (§1798.83)

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents who have an established business relationship with us to request, once per calendar year, information about personal information we may have shared with third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes during the immediately preceding calendar year.

Between Covers does not share personal information with third parties for direct marketing purposes, and therefore has no information to disclose under §1798.83. If our practices change, we will update this disclosure. To submit a "Shine the Light" request, California residents may contact us at privacy@betweencovers.app with the subject line "Shine the Light Request."

International Privacy Rights (UK, EU, Canada, Australia, and Other Jurisdictions)

If you are located in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, or another jurisdiction with similar privacy laws, you have additional rights regarding your personal information, in addition to the rights described in Section 5. These may include:

• Right of Access — to obtain confirmation that we process your personal data and to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification — to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to Erasure — to request deletion of your personal data, subject to applicable legal exceptions.
• Right to Restriction of Processing — to request that we limit our processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability — to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.
• Right to Object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent — to withdraw consent for processing based on consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Right to De-listing or Removal from Indexing — to request that publicly visible or community-visible content you have submitted (such as Lounge posts or content referenced in member-facing search or discovery) be removed from in-app search, discovery, recommendation, or indexing features, even where the underlying content is retained for legal, safety, or audit purposes. Removal from indexing does not require deletion of the underlying record and is treated separately from a request for erasure.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint — to file a complaint with your local data protection authority, including the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), or the equivalent supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.

Children's Data

Between Covers is intended for adults age 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect, use, or store personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we learn that a user under 18 has created an account, we will take steps to delete the account and remove the information from our systems.

While Between Covers operates as an 18+ platform across all regions in which it is available, we acknowledge that different jurisdictions define "minor" or "child" differently for privacy purposes:

• The U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to children under 13.
• The UK GDPR sets the digital age of consent at 13.
• The EU GDPR sets a default digital age of consent at 16, with individual member states permitted to lower it to as low as 13.
• The Australian Privacy Principles do not set a fixed minor threshold and instead consider capacity on a case-by-case basis.

Because Between Covers does not knowingly collect data from anyone under the age of 18 — a threshold higher than any of the statutory minimums above — we treat all of these regimes as satisfied by our age-eligibility enforcement under Section 3.1 of our Terms of Use.

If you believe that a minor may have accessed the Services, please contact us at privacy@betweencovers.app so we can take appropriate action.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, Services, or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will notify you by posting an update within the app. If required by law, we will obtain your consent before implementing material changes.

The updated version will include a "Last Updated" date at the top. Your continued use of Between Covers after the policy is updated means you accept the revised Privacy Policy.