1. Data Controller
- Controller
- Alessio Occulto
- Address
- Via F. Cherubini, 1, 20025 Legnano (MI), Italy
- support@bookverse.tech
The Controller determines the purposes and means of the processing described in this Privacy Policy. Requests concerning personal data and the exercise of privacy rights are submitted to the contact details above.
2. Scope of this Policy and relationship with Nook Account
This Privacy Policy applies to BookVerse and to the processing of personal data carried out in connection with the BookVerse application, website and related backend services.
BookVerse uses Nook Account, the centralized identity and authentication system operated by the same Controller for the Nooksoft ecosystem. BookVerse authentication is performed through Nook Account. Nook Account is not a separate third-party provider.
Core identity, authentication and security information is managed centrally at Nook Account level, while BookVerse-specific content such as reading data, reviews, booklists and BookVerse submissions is processed as BookVerse product data.
3. Definitions
Terms used in this Policy have the meaning assigned to them by Art. 4 GDPR. In particular:
- Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.
- Data subject: the natural person to whom personal data relates.
- Processing: any operation performed on personal data.
- Data Controller: the person who determines the purposes and means of processing.
- Data Processor: a third party processing personal data on behalf of the Controller.
- Pseudonymisation: processing that makes data no longer attributable to a specific person without additional information kept separately.
4. What is BookVerse
BookVerse is a digital platform for discovering books, managing reading activity and interacting with a reading community.
BookVerse provides the following user-facing functions:
- create and use a Nook Account;
- manage a personal library and reading states;
- create and manage booklists, including wishlists and custom lists;
- publish reviews and ratings;
- follow users and receive interactions such as likes;
- manage supported book-loan features;
- submit proposals relating to books, libraries and events;
- use Bion, the BookVerse AI reading assistant;
- view libraries and events through map-related features.
5. Minimum age and children's data
BookVerse is available only to users who are at least 16 years old. The 16-year threshold is a BookVerse eligibility requirement.
Article 8 GDPR and national implementing laws regulate when a minor may independently consent to processing in relation to information-society services. These statutory thresholds may differ between Member States. The BookVerse contractual minimum age of 16 applies regardless of whether local law permits consent at a lower age.
When the Controller verifies that an account belongs to a person below the BookVerse minimum age, the account is restricted or deactivated and the related data is handled in accordance with applicable law and the deletion rules described below.
6. Categories of data processed
6.1 Nook Account and profile data
First name, last name, nickname, email address, date of birth, country and other profile information supplied by the user. Passwords are not stored in clear text and are processed using secure password hashing.
6.2 Authentication and security data
Authentication tokens and session-related identifiers, login timestamps, product used for the login, device or user-agent information, IP address, approximate location derived from the IP address, session status and other information used to protect the account.
6.3 Product access and moderation data
BookVerse processes product-specific restrictions, including suspensions and bans, together with the affected product, restriction type, reason, start date, suspension expiry date where applicable, and administrative audit information associated with the action.
6.4 Reading and library data
Books owned or saved, reading states, reading history, ratings, reviews, achievements, booklists, wishlists, list items and supported information concerning loans between users.
6.5 Social and public content
Nickname, reviews, ratings, followers, following, likes, public activity, achievements and other information intentionally published or made visible through BookVerse features.
6.6 Catalogue proposals and moderation history
BookVerse retains book, library and event proposals together with submission status, creation date, review date, reviewer reference and moderation notes necessary to evaluate and document the request.
6.7 Communications
Email address, message subject and content, attachments included in an administrative or support communication, delivery metadata and, where enabled by the email provider, delivery/open/click/bounce events.
6.8 Analytics data
Product identifier, session start/end information, session duration and pseudonymized usage information used to produce BookVerse statistics such as DAU, WAU, MAU, DAU/MAU, average session duration and aggregate content activity.
7. Authentication, login history and product restrictions
When a user signs in, BookVerse/Nook Account records the product from which the login is performed, the date and time, the IP address, device information and an approximate geographic location derived from the IP address.
This information is used to:
- protect the Nook Account against unauthorized access;
- show or investigate recent account-access activity;
- send security notifications concerning new logins;
- detect abuse, credential attacks and anomalous access patterns;
- enforce product-specific suspensions and bans.
A suspension is temporary and includes an expiry date. A ban is not assigned an automatic expiry date and remains effective until removed by an authorized administrator. Restrictions are enforced independently for one or more Nooksoft products according to the moderation record.
Legal basis: legitimate interests of the Controller in protecting users, accounts and infrastructure (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), and performance of the service contract where the processing is necessary for authentication and account access (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).
8. IP address, logs and technical data
The Controller processes technical information necessary to operate, secure and troubleshoot BookVerse, including IP addresses, timestamps, request information, server/application logs, device or user-agent data, authentication events and error information.
These data are processed for infrastructure security, abuse prevention, authentication, anomaly detection, diagnostics, incident response and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Client-side logs are designed not to include passwords, password hashes, access tokens, refresh tokens or other authentication secrets.
9. Location and geolocation
9.1 Location/country supplied or recorded at registration
Country and location information supplied or collected during registration is associated with the Nook Account for account configuration, service localization, age-policy administration and abuse prevention. BookVerse does not use this registration information for continuous location tracking.
9.2 Precise device location for map features
BookVerse requests precise device location through the operating-system permission mechanism when the user activates map functions that locate nearby libraries, events or other geographic content.
Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). The user can deny or revoke device-location permission at any time. BookVerse does not intentionally retain the precise location used for an individual map request as a permanent account-location history.
9.3 Approximate location derived from IP address for map features
BookVerse uses IP based location when the user activates map functions that locate nearby libraries, events or other geographic content. This information is an IP-based estimate, not GPS location, and its geographic accuracy is not guaranteed.
The lookup is performed through IPWhois.io / ipwho.is. The login IP address is transmitted to that service for the lookup. BookVerse does not intentionally retain the IP based location used for an individual map request as a permanent account-location history.
9.4 Approximate location derived from IP address at login
For account security, BookVerse derives an approximate city, region and country from the login IP address. This information is an IP-based estimate, not GPS location, and its geographic accuracy is not guaranteed.
The lookup is performed through IPWhois.io / ipwho.is. The login IP address is transmitted to that service for the lookup. The resulting approximate location is stored in Nook Account login history and is included in login-security communications.
Legal basis: legitimate interests in account security and fraud/abuse prevention (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
10. Email and service communications
BookVerse sends transactional and service-related email, including account verification, password reset, security/login notifications, account or moderation notices, important service updates and responses to support requests.
Email delivery is performed through Brevo using its SMTP infrastructure. Data transmitted for delivery includes the recipient email address, sender information, subject, message body, attachments where present, and technical delivery metadata.
Authorized administrators use the Nooksoft administrative Email Studio solely for service, security, moderation, support and other legitimate administrative communications. BookVerse does not send marketing or promotional email.
Administrative messages sent through Email Studio use nooksoft.dev@gmail.com as the reply address. If a user replies to that address, the content of the reply is processed through Google's Gmail service according to the applicable Google terms and privacy information.
11. Notifications
BookVerse currently uses local notifications generated by the application on the user's device for supported reminders and updates. These notifications can be disabled through device settings.
BookVerse does not use a backend third-party push-notification service.
12. Analytics and statistics
BookVerse processes usage information to monitor reliability, understand use of the product and improve its features. Metrics include DAU, WAU, MAU, DAU/MAU, new users, session counts, average session duration, reviews, ratings, library activity, booklist activity and other aggregate product metrics.
| Data type | Description | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Pseudonymized usage data | For example sessions associated with an internal user identifier and the product identifier BOOKVERSE | Operational/product analytics |
| Aggregate statistics | For example daily active users or aggregate booklist totals that no longer identify a user | Long-term product reporting |
BookVerse does not use these analytics to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects about individual users.
13. User-generated content and catalogue submissions
Reviews, ratings, booklists, public profile activity and comparable User Content are visible to other BookVerse users according to the visibility rules of the relevant feature.
Book, library and event proposals are reviewed by authorized administrators. BookVerse maintains the history of accepted and rejected proposals to support catalogue integrity, prevent duplicate work, investigate abuse and document moderation decisions.
14. Moderation and administrative access
Authorized Nooksoft administrators access personal data only where reasonably necessary to operate BookVerse, provide support, moderate content, review catalogue proposals, enforce the Terms, protect users and systems, handle privacy requests or comply with legal obligations.
Administrative access is role-based. Sensitive administrative actions are recorded in an audit log, including the acting administrator, affected account, type of action, timestamp and limited metadata required for accountability and security.
Moderation actions include content review, temporary product suspension and product ban. Significant moderation decisions are subject to human administrative review and are not based solely on automated decision-making.
15. Artificial intelligence - Bion
BookVerse provides an artificial-intelligence feature called Bion. Bion currently uses a Gemma 4 26B a4b IT language model provided by Google and accessed by the BookVerse backend through the Google Gemini Developer API (Generative Language API). Responses are generated through Google's streaming content-generation API.
15.1 Data sent to Bion
When a user interacts with Bion, BookVerse sends to Google's AI service only the information used to generate the requested response. This may include:
- the user's BookVerse nickname;
- the text of the prompt submitted by the user;
- the user's BookVerse preferences, but only where the user has expressly opted in to sharing those preferences with Bion. By default, this option is disabled.
BookVerse preferences are not transmitted to Bion where the user has not enabled the relevant option. If the user subsequently disables that option, the preferences will no longer be included in future requests to Bion.
The nickname is transmitted to allow Bion to address and interact with the user in a personalised manner. The user's prompt is transmitted because it is necessary to generate the requested response. Where enabled by the user, BookVerse preferences are transmitted in order to personalise responses, including book-related suggestions and recommendations.
15.2 Conversation storage by BookVerse
BookVerse does not maintain Bion conversations as a permanent chat history. Conversation content is processed by the BookVerse backend for the time reasonably necessary to send the request to the AI service, receive and deliver the generated response, and perform the technical and security operations necessary to provide Bion.
BookVerse does not use Bion prompts or generated responses to train its own artificial-intelligence models and does not use Bion conversations to create advertising or behavioural advertising profiles.
15.3 Processing by Google
The data described above is transmitted to Google as the external provider of the language model used by Bion. Google processes the request and generates the response returned to BookVerse.
The processing carried out by Google is governed by the terms, privacy documentation and data-processing conditions applicable to the Gemini Developer API and to the geographic region and account through which the service is accessed.
Under Google's currently applicable data-processing terms for services subject to its Paid Services data rules, Google states that prompts, associated instructions and generated responses are not used to improve Google's products. Google may nevertheless temporarily log prompts and responses where necessary to detect and prevent misuse, protect the safety and security of its services, and comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations.
Data processed by Google for these purposes may be temporarily stored or cached in countries in which Google or its service providers maintain facilities, subject to the safeguards and data-processing arrangements applicable to the service.
Google's terms and data-handling practices may change over time. BookVerse may accordingly update this section where changes to the AI provider, model, API configuration or applicable data-processing conditions materially affect the processing described here.
15.4 Optional sharing of BookVerse preferences
Sharing BookVerse preferences with Bion is optional. Users may use Bion without enabling the sharing of their preferences.
Where the user opts in, relevant preferences may be included in requests sent to Bion in order to provide more personalised responses and book recommendations. Disabling this option affects subsequent requests and does not prevent continued access to Bion.
15.5 Data minimisation
Users should provide Bion only with information reasonably necessary for their request. Bion is intended primarily for book discovery, recommendations, reading-related assistance and other functions connected with BookVerse.
15.6 AI-generated content
Responses generated by Bion are produced automatically and may contain errors, inaccuracies, incomplete information or unsuitable recommendations. Information should be independently verified where accuracy is important.
Bion must not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal, medical, financial or other regulated advice.
16. Purposes and legal bases of processing
| Purpose | Examples | Legal basis (Art. 6 GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Nook Account management | Registration, authentication, profile/session management and the 14-day self-service deletion/cancellation workflow | Performance of contract (b); compliance with data-protection obligations where applicable (c) |
| BookVerse functionality | Library, booklists, reviews, social functions, loans, catalogue and search | Performance of contract (b) |
| Security and login protection | IP/logs, login history, approximate IP location, security emails, abuse prevention | Legitimate interests (f), and contract where necessary (b) |
| Moderation and product safety | Submission review, audit trail, suspensions, bans, abuse investigation | Legitimate interests (f), contract/enforcement of service rules (b) |
| Service communications | Verification, password reset, login alerts, account notices, support | Contract (b), legitimate interests (f), legal obligation where applicable (c) |
| Product analytics | DAU/WAU/MAU, session duration, aggregate feature usage | Legitimate interests in service improvement and reliability (f) |
| Precise map location | Nearby libraries/events | Consent (a) |
| Legal compliance | Responding to binding authority requests | Legal obligation (c) |
Where processing relies on legitimate interests, the Controller must balance those interests against the rights and freedoms of the data subject and apply data-minimisation and access-control measures.
17. Automated decision-making
BookVerse does not intend to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect a user within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.
Recommendations and analytics are informational. Product suspensions, bans and significant moderation actions are subject to authorized human administrative review.
18. Retention periods
Personal data is retained only for the periods stated in this Policy. Application-level retention is enforced through scheduled backend cleanup processes; infrastructure and provider logs follow the configured retention controls applicable to those systems.
| Data category | Retention policy |
|---|---|
| Nook Account core data | For the lifetime of the account. If self-service deletion is requested, the account enters a 14-day grace period and is permanently erased after that period unless the request is cancelled by a new credential login, subject to the legal exceptions described below. |
| BookVerse library, reading data and booklists | Until deletion by the user where supported or account deletion |
| Reviews, ratings and public BookVerse content | Until deleted where supported or account deletion, subject to limited legal/moderation retention where necessary |
| Catalogue submissions and review history | For the period necessary to document catalogue decisions, prevent abuse/duplication and handle disputes; periodically reviewed for minimisation |
| Login history, IP and approximate login location | Maximum 12 months during normal operation. The retention cleanup applies even while the account remains active. When self-service account deletion becomes final after the 14-day grace period, login history is removed as part of the erasure flow. Exceptionally, a limited record may be preserved longer where necessary for an active security incident or legal claim. |
| General technical/security logs | Target maximum 12 months, unless longer retention is justified by an incident or legal requirement |
| Product restriction records | For the duration of the restriction; related audit information is retained after expiry/removal for accountability |
| Administrative audit logs | Maximum 24 months during normal operation, including for active accounts, unless a specific record must be preserved longer for an ongoing security incident, dispute or legal obligation. |
| Pseudonymized session analytics | Maximum 24 months during normal operation, including for active accounts, then deleted or irreversibly aggregated. |
| Aggregate anonymous statistics | Retained without a fixed limit where they no longer constitute personal data |
| Brevo transactional email logs/previews | According to the limited retention period configured by the Controller in Brevo; BookVerse's policy is to avoid indefinite retention |
| Bion conversation text | Not retained as permanent conversation history |
| Precise map location | Not retained as a permanent account-location history |
19. Account deletion and 14-day grace period
The user may initiate self-service deletion of the Nook Account through the functionality made available in BookVerse. Because BookVerse uses Nook Account as the shared identity layer, permanent deletion of the Nook Account also terminates access through that identity to Nooksoft products that depend on the same account.
19.1 Scheduling the deletion
When the user confirms self-service account deletion, the account is not erased immediately. BookVerse/Nook Account marks the account as pending deletion, records the request date and sets a deletion deadline 14 days later. Existing authentication sessions and refresh tokens are revoked so that cancellation requires a new login with valid credentials.
During this 14-day grace period, the account data remains stored so that the user can reverse the request. The pending-deletion state is used only to administer this cancellation period and the eventual erasure.
19.2 Cancelling the deletion
A successful new login with the user's email and password from a Nooksoft product before the deletion deadline automatically cancels the pending deletion request. The pending-deletion flag and related deletion dates are then cleared and the account continues normally.
A background session or refresh-token operation does not cancel a deletion request. If the 14-day deadline has already expired, a later login cannot reactivate the account even if the scheduled physical cleanup has not yet run.
19.3 Permanent deletion after 14 days
Once the grace period expires, the account becomes no longer recoverable through login and is queued for irreversible deletion by the automated account-deletion process. BookVerse/Nook Account then deletes or anonymizes personal data that is no longer necessary, including Nook Account profile/authentication data and BookVerse product data covered by the erasure flow.
Administrative audit records remain until the end of their independent, time-limited retention period where necessary for accountability, security, dispute handling or legal obligations. Anonymous aggregate statistics that can no longer be linked to the user continue to be retained.
20. Recipients, processors and technical service providers
The Controller does not sell BookVerse users' personal data. Data is accessible, where necessary, to the Controller, strictly authorized administrators, public authorities where legally required, and the technical providers necessary to operate the service.
| Provider | Purpose | Data potentially processed |
|---|---|---|
| Contabo GmbH | Server/VPS and infrastructure hosting — production server located in Frankfurt, Germany | Data stored in or transiting the BookVerse/Nook Account backend, databases and server logs to the extent technically necessary |
| Brevo | SMTP delivery of transactional, security, support and authorized administrative email | Email address, sender/recipient metadata, subject, message body, attachments and email-delivery/event information |
| IPWhois.io / ipwho.is | Approximate IP geolocation for map features and login-security information, where enabled | Login IP address; the service returns approximate geographic/network information |
| Google / Gmail | Mailbox used for replies to certain Nooksoft administrative communications | Only communications a user chooses to send/reply to the Gmail address and related email metadata |
Where a provider acts as a processor, the Controller governs that processing under Art. 28 GDPR and the applicable processor terms. Processing carried out by a provider for its own purposes remains subject to that provider's applicable privacy and contractual framework.
21. Transfers outside the EEA
Core BookVerse and Nook Account application hosting is located in the European Economic Area. The production server supplied by Contabo is located in Frankfurt, Germany. Certain ancillary providers operate networks or subprocessors across multiple jurisdictions.
Brevo processes BookVerse transactional email through its SMTP infrastructure and hosts its service databases in the European Union. IP geolocation, Google/Gmail and Google/AI infrastructure operate across multiple jurisdictions.
Users can request information about the safeguards applicable to a specific transfer by contacting the Controller.
22. Technical and organizational security measures
The BookVerse backend is developed using Ktor and uses MariaDB for application data. Production infrastructure is hosted on a Contabo server located in Frankfurt, Germany.
BookVerse uses access controls, role-based administrative authorization, password hashing, session and token controls, server-side permission checks, audit logging for sensitive administrative actions, encrypted HTTPS transport, security monitoring and backup/recovery controls.
No security measure guarantees absolute protection. Users are responsible for protecting their credentials and must promptly report suspected unauthorized access.
23. Personal data breaches
The Controller applies the notification obligations established by Arts. 33 and 34 GDPR. A breach presenting a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons is notified to the competent Supervisory Authority without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours of awareness, unless the statutory exception applies. A breach presenting a high risk is also communicated to the affected data subjects without undue delay where Art. 34 GDPR requires it.
24. Data subject rights
Subject to the conditions and limits of the GDPR, users hold and exercise the following rights:
| Right | Reference | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Art. 15 | Obtain confirmation and a copy of personal data processed |
| Rectification | Art. 16 | Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data |
| Erasure | Art. 17 | Request deletion where the statutory conditions are met |
| Restriction | Art. 18 | Request restriction of processing in specified circumstances |
| Portability | Art. 20 | Receive eligible data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format |
| Objection | Art. 21 | Object to processing based on legitimate interests, subject to applicable exceptions |
| Withdraw consent | Art. 7(3) | Withdraw consent at any time for processing based on consent |
| Complaint | Art. 77 | Lodge a complaint with a competent Supervisory Authority |
Nooksoft administrative tooling supports the export of a user's account data for valid access/portability requests. Identity verification is required where necessary to protect the data subject before a privacy request is fulfilled.
Requests are submitted to support@bookverse.tech. The Controller responds without undue delay and within the period established by Art. 12 GDPR, including the statutory extension where the conditions for that extension are met.
25. Complaints to a Supervisory Authority
Users have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection authority, in particular in the Member State of habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement.
For a Controller established in Italy, the Italian supervisory authority is the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali. This right is without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy.
26. Changes to this Policy
The Controller revises this Policy whenever legal, technical or functional changes alter the processing described herein. The version displayed on this page, identified by its version number and effective date, is the applicable public version. Material changes are communicated through the Service or the account email where applicable law requires notice.
27. Contact
- Name
- Alessio Occulto
- Address
- Via F. Cherubini, 1 — 20025 Legnano (MI), Italy
- support@bookverse.tech