Privacy Policy

PaidBookClub, Inc. ("PaidBookClub," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you use our platform and services. By using PaidBookClub, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and password. You may also provide optional profile information such as your reading preferences, favorite genres, and a profile photo.

Payment and Financial Data

To process payments, we use Stripe Connect. When you onboard with Stripe, you provide banking information, government-issued identification, and tax identification details directly to Stripe. We do not store your full bank account numbers or Social Security number on our servers. We do receive limited information from Stripe, including your Stripe account ID, payout status, and transaction history for record-keeping and customer support.

Usage and Activity Data

We collect information about your activity on the platform, including assignments you claim, reports you submit, your reading history, login timestamps, and interactions with platform features.

Device and Technical Data

We automatically collect certain technical information when you access our platform, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, referring URLs, and pages visited. This data is collected through cookies and similar technologies.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Create and manage your account on PaidBookClub.
• Match you with book assignments based on your reading preferences.
• Process payments and manage your earnings through Stripe Connect.
• Communicate with you about your assignments, account, and platform updates.
• Improve our platform, including analyzing usage patterns to enhance the user experience.
• Prevent fraud, enforce our Terms of Service, and protect the security of our platform.
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

3. Data Sharing

We share your information in the following circumstances:

With Authors (Limited)

When you submit a book report, the author receives your report content. Authors do not receive your email address, payment details, or other personal account information. Authors may see your first name and last initial, along with your general reading profile, to provide context for your feedback.

With Service Providers

We share data with third-party service providers who help us operate our platform, including Stripe (payment processing), cloud hosting providers, email delivery services, and analytics tools. These providers are contractually obligated to use your data only for the purposes we specify.

For Legal Compliance

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental regulation, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate and improve our platform. For detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our Cookie Policy.

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL), encryption of sensitive data at rest, regular security audits, and access controls limiting employee access to personal data. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our services. We may retain certain information after account closure for legitimate business purposes, including compliance with legal obligations, resolution of disputes, and enforcement of our agreements. Payment records are retained for a minimum of seven (7) years for tax and regulatory compliance.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Restriction: Request that we limit the processing of your data under certain circumstances.
• Data Portability: Request a machine-readable copy of your data to transfer to another service.
• Objection: Object to processing of your data for direct marketing or based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@paidbookclub.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

8. GDPR Compliance (EEA and UK Users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR apply to our processing of your personal data. Our legal bases for processing include:

• Contract Performance: Processing necessary to provide you with our services, including account management and payment processing.
• Legitimate Interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as fraud prevention, platform improvement, and security, provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights.
• Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your data for specific purposes, such as marketing communications.
• Legal Obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your data has been processed unlawfully.

9. International Data Transfers

Your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. When we transfer data outside the EEA or UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

10. Children's Privacy

PaidBookClub is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, by sending you a notification via email or through the platform. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: