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Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 5, 2026

BetaShelf is operated by BetaShelf LLC (“BetaShelf,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), which is the controller responsible for your personal data under this policy.

1. What We Collect

When you use BetaShelf, we collect:

  • Account information: email address and display name when you sign up
  • Manuscript content: the text you upload for analysis and beta reading
  • Feedback data: comments, ratings, and responses from beta readers
  • Usage data: which features you use, page views, and general analytics (via Vercel Analytics)
  • Payment information: processed securely by our third-party payment provider; we never see or store your full card number
  • Reading link access: when a private reading link is opened, we record which link it was, the name the link was issued to, the time, the country, the browser, and the IP address. This is how an author can find out who has had access to their unpublished manuscript.
  • Safety checks: we automatically screen messages, comments, and feedback for contact details, payment requests, and other signs of misuse, and authorized staff may review items that are flagged or reported. When you sign up, sign in, or apply, we record the network you connect from, and may check with a network lookup service whether it belongs to a VPN or hosting provider. We use this only to keep BetaShelf safe.

2. How We Store Your Data

Your data is stored using Supabase (built on PostgreSQL) for structured data and authentication, and AWS infrastructure for file storage. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest.

We use industry-standard security practices to protect your manuscripts and personal information. Access to production databases is restricted and logged.

3. How Your Manuscript Is Processed

BetaShelf never uses your manuscripts to train AI, and we never sell them.

The writing tools (Prose Style, Show vs Tell, Readability, etc.) run entirely in your browser. Your manuscript text never leaves your device.

We only send manuscript text to the service providers that run BetaShelf: hosting and storage (Supabase, Vercel, and AWS); read-aloud narration (DeepInfra), which receives the text being read and does not store it or train on it. Emails telling you about new feedback (sent through Resend) say who left it and what they wrote, never your book’s text. We may also use AI assistants to help us support you and run BetaShelf; they do not use your content to train AI.

4. We Never Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information or manuscript content to third parties. Period. Your data is used solely to provide and improve the BetaShelf service.

We may share anonymized, aggregated usage statistics (e.g., "X manuscripts were analyzed this month") but never in a way that identifies you or your work.

5. Cookies & Tracking

BetaShelf uses a minimal set of cookies:

  • Authentication cookies: essential for keeping you signed in (required)
  • Analytics: Vercel Analytics for understanding usage patterns (privacy-friendly, no personal tracking)

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party trackers. We do not participate in ad networks or retargeting.

6. Data Retention & Deletion

Your manuscripts and account data are retained as long as your account is active. When you upload a manuscript, we turn it into chapters and do not keep the file you uploaded. If you delete a manuscript, it is removed from BetaShelf right away.

If you delete your account, your account data is removed from BetaShelf right away: your manuscripts and chapters, share links, reader and author profile, listings, and your subscription.

Our database is backed up once a day, and each backup expires automatically after 7 days. So for up to 7 days after you delete something, a copy can still exist in a backup. Backups are used only to recover BetaShelf from a failure, never to look at or bring back something you chose to delete.

Two things are deliberately kept, because they belong to someone else as well as to you. Feedback and comments you left on another author’s book stay with that author, under the name you gave, so their feedback does not disappear when you leave. Records of reading links being opened are kept for 12 months, including the name the link was issued to and the IP address it was opened from, so that misuse of an author’s unpublished manuscript can be investigated. Your account link is removed.

Reading link access records are deleted automatically after 12 months.

Anonymized, aggregated data (which cannot identify you) may be retained for service improvement.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Export your manuscripts at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us through our contact page.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or a notice on the platform. Your continued use of BetaShelf after changes constitutes acceptance.

Privacy questions? Reach out at our contact page.