Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 13, 2025

Introduction

Shelf Sage ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website www.shelfsage.ai. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our AI-powered book recommendation service.

Information We Collect

Account Information

If you sign in with Google OAuth, we receive your name, email address, and profile image from Google. We store this information to identify your account and associate your chat sessions with you.

Chat Data

We store the messages you send during chat sessions, the AI-generated responses, and the book recommendations produced. This data is associated with your session and, if signed in, with your account.

Automatically Collected Data

We use PostHog for analytics to understand how users interact with Shelf Sage. This may include page views, button clicks, session duration, browser type, and device information. Analytics data is collected only with your consent via our cookie banner.

How We Use Your Information

  • To provide personalized book recommendations via Google Gemini AI
  • To enrich book data (covers, ratings, page counts) via the Google Books API
  • To save your chat history and recommendations so you can return to them
  • To generate Amazon affiliate links for recommended books
  • To improve our service through aggregated, anonymized analytics

Third-Party Services

  • Google OAuth — for authentication. Subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google Gemini AI — to generate recommendations. Your chat messages are sent to Google's API for processing.
  • Google Books API — to fetch book metadata (covers, ratings).
  • PostHog — for privacy-friendly analytics, with consent.
  • Amazon Associates — we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through affiliate links. No personal data is shared with Amazon by us.
  • Neon (PostgreSQL) — for database hosting. Your data is stored securely on Neon's infrastructure.
  • Vercel — for hosting. Subject to Vercel's Privacy Policy.

Cookies

We use essential cookies for authentication (session tokens). Analytics cookies from PostHog are only set after you give consent via our cookie banner. You can withdraw consent at any time by clearing your cookies.

Data Retention

Chat sessions and recommendations are retained as long as your account exists. You can delete individual sessions at any time through the Shelf Sage interface, which permanently removes all associated messages, recommendations, and feedback. Anonymous sessions (created without signing in) may be deleted by anyone with the session link.

Your Rights

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting us. You can also delete your chat sessions directly through the Shelf Sage interface.

Children's Privacy

Shelf Sage is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at admin@shelfsage.ai.