Privacy

Effective April 13, 2026. Last updated April 13, 2026.

Booklister is a free tool for making printable library booklists. It's a side project run by one person, and it collects as little about you as I could get away with while still making the tool work. This page explains what happens with your data.

The short version

If you're using the public tool at booklister.org, nothing about your work leaves your browser. There are no accounts, no sign-in, and no server that stores your booklists. Your drafts live in your browser's local storage and go away when you clear site data.

If you're using a branded library instance at a subdomain like sonoma.booklister.org, you sign in with an email and password, and that sign-in information is stored in Firebase (a Google service). Your actual booklist work still stays in your browser.

What stays on your device

Booklister autosaves your work in progress (the books you've added, your styling choices, the current state of the tool) to your browser's IndexedDB storage. This never leaves your computer. It's there so you don't lose work if you reload the page.

You can clear it by clicking the Reset button in the tool, by using the delete buttons on individual uploads, or by clearing site data for booklister.org in your browser settings.

The tool can also save your work as a .booklist file via the Save button. That file is downloaded to your computer; I never see it.

What gets sent to external services when you use the tool

A few actions in the tool reach out to external services on your behalf. These only happen when you do something specific:

• Searching for books. Typing in the search box sends your query to the Open Library API, which returns book metadata and cover images. Open Library is an Internet Archive project, and their privacy policy governs how they handle search queries.
• Generating a book description with the Magic button. Clicking the wand icon on a book sends the title and author to a small web service I operate, which uses a language model to draft a short reader's advisory summary. The service doesn't log or retain your queries.
• Loading the tool itself. Booklister loads fonts, icons, and a few JavaScript libraries from public content delivery networks (Google Fonts, cdnjs, gstatic). These services will see your IP address and browser as part of delivering those files. Booklister doesn't use them for analytics or tracking.

What branded library instances store on Firebase

If you're signing into a branded library instance (like sonoma.booklister.org), here's what ends up in Firebase:

• Your account. An email address (as the login identifier) and your password. Firebase Authentication handles the password, which means I never see it in plain text; it's hashed before it's stored.
• Your membership. A small record linking your account to the library you have access to, plus whether you're a staff member or a library admin.
• The library's configuration. The library's display name and the path to its logo image. This is per-library, not per-user.

I don't store anything else about you in Firebase. No booklist content, no search history, no usage analytics, no telemetry. The booklist work you do on a branded instance still stays in your browser, same as the public tool.

Who has access to this data

Administrative access to the Booklister Firebase project is tightly restricted, currently to me alone as the project's operator. I use that access to create new library instances, to onboard new library staff, and to help diagnose problems when something goes wrong. I don't browse or export user data for any other purpose. If that ever changes, for example if I add a second administrator, I'll update this page to reflect it.

Library admins at each library (typically one staff member per library) can see the list of user IDs and email addresses for other staff at their library, because they manage the roster. They can't see any other library's data and they can't see your booklist content.

Google, as the operator of Firebase, has access to the underlying data the same way any cloud provider does. Their own privacy and security practices apply.

Cookies and tracking

Booklister doesn't set tracking cookies, doesn't use analytics, and doesn't build a profile of your activity. Firebase Authentication sets a session cookie and stores a token in your browser's local storage so you stay signed in across page reloads on branded instances. That's the only client-side state related to you as a user. No Google Analytics, no Facebook pixel, no third-party tracking of any kind.

Booklister does not embed analytics scripts, advertising pixels, or other tracking technologies that would allow third parties to collect personally identifiable information about your activity across websites or online services over time.

Do Not Track

Your browser may send a Do Not Track (DNT) signal when you visit websites. Booklister doesn't do anything special in response to that signal because there's no tracking to disable. Booklister doesn't set tracking cookies, doesn't use analytics, and doesn't build a profile of your activity regardless of whether DNT is set.

What you can do

• Stop using the tool. Nothing happens to your local draft. It stays on your device until you clear it.
• Review what's on file. If you have a branded-instance account and want to know exactly what Booklister has stored about you, email me via the Contact page and I'll tell you.
• Correct information. If the email or other information associated with your account is wrong, email me from the Contact page and I'll fix it manually.
• Export your work. Use the Save button in the tool to download a .booklist file of your current session.
• Delete your account. If you have a branded-instance account and want it removed, email me from the Contact page. I'll delete your Firebase Auth account and any memberships linked to it. This is a manual process; there's no self-service account deletion button in the tool yet.
• Ask me anything. If something here is unclear, email me from the Contact page.

Changes to this page

If I ever need to add another data-collection feature (analytics, error reporting, anything like that), I'll update this page and revise the "Effective" and "Last updated" dates at the top. Material changes get a visible note on this page for at least one month after the update.

Applicable law

Booklister is operated by a private individual in the United States. It's a small project, not an institutional service. If you're accessing it from a jurisdiction with specific data protection requirements (EU, California, and others) and you have concerns about how that applies here, email me from the Contact page and I'll do my best to address them.