Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

• Controller: Novelmaps
• Website: https://novelmaps.com
• Contact email: support@novelmaps.com

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your privacy rights, contact us at support@novelmaps.com.

2. What our service does

Novelmaps is a book discovery and availability service. Users can search for books by title, author, or story snippet, browse books and supported platforms, and view information such as book titles, authors, genres, descriptions, cover images, and links to third-party platform pages where a book may be available.

Users may also submit book-related information to help us improve the catalog, including book titles, author names, genres, platform links, ad screenshots, extracted ad text, notes, cover images, and related metadata.

Novelmaps is a discovery and indexing service only. We do not publish or sell the books listed on the website, and third-party names, logos, trademarks, and platform content remain the property of their respective owners.

3. Personal data we collect

Depending on how you use the site, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

A. Information you provide directly

Contact form information:

• Your name, if you provide it
• Your email address
• The content of your message
• Any other information you choose to include

Book submission information:

• Book title
• Author name
• Platform name and platform links
• Genres and notes
• Ad URLs, where provided
• Cover images, where provided
• Uploaded screenshots or files
• Text extracted from uploaded screenshots
• Any other information you include in a submission

Please do not include unnecessary sensitive personal data in submissions or messages.

B. Information collected automatically

When you use the site, we or our service providers may automatically collect certain technical and usage information, such as:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device type
• Operating system
• Approximate location derived from IP address
• Referring pages
• Pages viewed
• Search queries submitted through the site
• Date/time of visits
• Basic event and usage data
• Cookie or similar technology data, where used

C. Information from third parties or public sources

We may receive or verify information from:

• Publicly available book and platform information
• Links submitted by users
• Public ad references or platform pages identified by users
• Analytics, hosting, and infrastructure providers

4. How we use personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• To operate, maintain, and improve Novelmaps
• To let users search the catalog and discover books across platforms
• To review, process, organize, and publish user-submitted book information
• To extract text from uploaded screenshots and use it to help identify books
• To respond to messages sent through our contact form
• To understand website traffic and usage trends
• To secure the site, prevent abuse, and troubleshoot technical issues
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms
• To establish, exercise, or defend legal claims

5. Our legal bases for processing

If GDPR, UK GDPR, or similar laws apply, we generally rely on the following legal bases:

• Legitimate interests: to operate and improve Novelmaps, maintain the catalog, review submissions, prevent abuse, secure the site, and understand how the service is used
• Consent: for analytics cookies and similar technologies where consent is required by law
• To take steps at your request: when you contact us or submit information for review
• Legal obligation: where processing is required to comply with applicable law
• Legal claims: where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims

6. Cookies and analytics

We may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website and understand how it is used.

Essential technologies

Some cookies or similar technologies may be necessary for the website to function properly, including security, network management, or basic performance.

Analytics

We use analytics tools, including Google Analytics, to understand traffic and site usage. These tools may collect information such as IP address, device/browser information, approximate location, pages viewed, and interactions with the site.

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before using non-essential cookies or analytics technologies. You can also manage your preferences through our cookie settings tool, where available.

Third-party analytics and infrastructure

We currently use providers such as:

• Vercel for website hosting and infrastructure
• Supabase for database hosting and storage of catalog and submission data
• Google Analytics for usage analytics
• GoDaddy for domain or related infrastructure services

These providers may process technical data on our behalf.

7. User submissions and public content

Novelmaps is built around user-submitted book discovery information. As a result, some submission content may be reviewed, organized, and published on the website, including:

• Book titles
• Author names
• Genres
• Platform links
• Descriptions or notes edited for catalog purposes
• Cover images or related book metadata

Do not include personal information in a submission unless it is necessary and you are comfortable with us using it for review purposes.

We do not intend to publish personal contact details submitted through the contact form or unnecessary personal information included in a submission.

8. Who we share data with

We may share personal data:

• With hosting, analytics, infrastructure, security, and technical service providers that help us run the site
• With professional advisers where necessary, such as legal, accounting, or compliance advisers
• With authorities or regulators where required by law
• In connection with a business transfer, merger, financing, acquisition, or sale of assets
• To protect our rights, users, platform integrity, or legal interests

Affiliate links

Some links on Novelmaps are affiliate links to third-party reading platforms such as GoodNovel, Dreame, and Webnovel. If you click one of these links and make a purchase or sign up, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This does not affect which books or platforms we list, and it does not affect the price you pay.

When you click any external link to a third-party platform or website, that third party processes your data under their own privacy policy. We do not control those third-party services.

9. International data transfers

Because we use service providers and infrastructure that may operate internationally, your personal data may be processed in countries outside your country of residence, including outside the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom.

Where required by applicable law, we take steps intended to ensure an adequate level of protection for transferred personal data, such as relying on contractual safeguards or other lawful transfer mechanisms made available by our service providers.

10. How long we keep data

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to operate the service, maintain the catalog, respond to inquiries, resolve disputes, and comply with legal obligations.

In general:

• Contact form messages are kept for up to 12 months, unless we need them longer to resolve an issue or comply with law
• Book submissions and related catalog data may be kept for as long as relevant to operating and improving the Novelmaps catalog
• Analytics data is kept according to our analytics settings and provider retention controls
• Technical logs are retained for a limited period needed for security, debugging, and system administration

We may delete, aggregate, or anonymize data when it is no longer needed.

11. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Request access to personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Request restriction of processing
• Object to certain processing
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• Request data portability, where applicable
• Lodge a complaint with a relevant data protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@novelmaps.com. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

12. California and similar U.S. privacy disclosures

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under California privacy law, subject to applicable thresholds and exemptions, including rights to know, delete, correct, and limit certain uses of personal information.

We do not currently state that we “sell” personal information for money. We also do not knowingly share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising except as may result from third-party analytics or advertising-related technologies you consent to, if any are enabled on the site.

California residents may contact us at support@novelmaps.com to exercise applicable rights.

13. Children's privacy

Novelmaps is not directed to children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16 in violation of applicable law. Users under 18 should use the site only with the involvement of a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has provided personal data to us, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to review and delete it where required.

14. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures intended to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated version on this page and revise the “Last updated” date above. Your continued use of the site after changes become effective means the updated Privacy Policy will apply to your use of the site.

16. Contact us

If you have questions or requests about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, contact: