ChaptergatherPrivacy Policy
Last updated: October 18, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data Chaptergather collects, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have. It applies to all users of the platform, regardless of where they are located.
1. Who We Are
Data controller
Chaptergather is operated by Delattre Technology. We act as the data controller for all personal data processed through the platform. For any data-related enquiries, please contact us via the Contact Us page.
2. What We Collect
Account data
When you register, we collect your email address, display name, and — if you sign in with Google — your Google profile identifier. You may optionally add a profile picture, a handle, a bio and links to other sites to your public profile. We also keep when you last signed in, the badges you have earned and your settings.
Content data
We store what you create and post: project titles, chapter text, cover images, notes and attached files (including a manuscript you import, with the date you confirmed you may upload it), and your comments, reviews, likes, feature requests and votes. Draft content is private to you, and chapters under private review are only visible to you and the reviewers you invite. Published content is public.
Usage data
We collect basic usage data to operate the service, including the pages you visit, chapters you open, and actions you take (such as publishing or liking a chapter), linked to your account when you are signed in. This data is used to operate and improve the platform and is not sold to third parties.
Reading progress
We keep where you stopped in each chapter, how far through it you got, and when you finished it, so you can pick up where you left off on any device and see which chapters you have read. Progress made in a browser while signed out is added to your account the next time you sign in there. When you are signed in, each time you open, read through or finish a chapter is also recorded against your account. Only you see this; authors see totals only (see section 4).
Messages and reports
When you contact us, we keep your messages, our replies and any internal notes our team adds to the conversation and, if you are not signed in, the name and email address you give us so we can answer. When you report content, we keep what you reported, any reason you give and the moderator's decision. Our team is alerted to each new message and report so they can act on it.
Device and technical data
We collect standard technical information such as your browser type, device type, operating system, and IP address. This is used for security, fraud prevention, and service reliability.
Notifications
We store the notifications we send you, and when you read them, as part of your account. They are always available in the app, whether or not you turn on browser notifications.
Browser notifications
Browser notifications are optional alerts that repeat the notifications in the app. They are off until you turn them on in Settings, separately in each browser. When you turn them on in a browser, we store an identifier Firebase issues for it and the description it sends (its name, operating system and often the device model). We also record when notifications started there, when you last opened the site there with notifications on, when it last received one, and when they stopped. We keep these so notifications reach the right browser, and so our support team can see which browsers receive them. The browser itself keeps a list of the accounts that turned notifications on there, so they come back on when you sign back in.
Payment data
When the coin payment system launches, payment transactions will be processed by a third-party payment provider. Chaptergather does not store full card numbers or bank account details.
Legal consent records
At registration we record the version of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy you accepted, the timestamp of acceptance, and your age and parental consent confirmation. This record is retained to demonstrate compliance with applicable law.
3. Legal Bases for Processing
Contractual necessity
We process account data, content data, reading progress, the notifications we send you, the messages you send us, and legal consent records because they are necessary to provide the service you signed up for.
Legitimate interest
We process usage data and technical data on the basis of our legitimate interest in operating a secure and reliable platform, preventing abuse, handling the reports you send us, improving the service, showing authors how their published work is being read, and keeping a record of the browsers that received your browser notifications, including after they stop. We have assessed that this interest is not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Legal obligation
We may process or retain data where required to comply with applicable law, including responding to lawful requests from courts or regulatory authorities.
Consent
Where we rely on consent — for example for non-essential cookies, analytics or browser notifications — we will request it explicitly and separately. You can withdraw consent at any time from the Settings page without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
4. How We Use Your Data
To provide the service
Your data is used to operate your account, store your writing, display your public profile, and enable the reading experience for other users.
To communicate with you
We may send you transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset, material changes to these policies, inactivity warnings). We will not send marketing emails without your explicit consent. We show you notifications in the app, and if you turn browser notifications on in a browser, we also alert you there.
To show authors how their work is read
Authors see how many times each chapter of their published books was opened and how many readers finished it, with its likes and comments. These are totals only: an author cannot see who read what, or when any individual read it.
To keep the platform safe
We use technical and usage data to detect and prevent abuse, fraud, and illegal activity.
To comply with the law
We may process or disclose data to comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms of Service, or respond to lawful requests from authorities.
5. Data Sharing
We do not sell your data
Chaptergather does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.
Service providers
We share data with a limited number of trusted service providers who help us operate the platform — including Firebase (authentication, storage and browser notifications), Supabase (database hosting), Google Analytics (site usage, only if you accept analytics cookies), and payment processors when the coin system launches. These providers are contractually bound to process data only on our behalf and in accordance with applicable law.
Third-party favicons
The links an author adds to their profile are shown with the linked site's icon, which your browser loads from DuckDuckGo's favicon service (icons.duckduckgo.com). When you view a profile, that service receives your IP address, the request headers your browser normally sends, and the domain of each linked site — never the page you are viewing.
Public content
Content you publish is visible to all visitors. Your display name and handle are shown alongside your published work. Your email address is never publicly displayed.
Legal disclosures
We may disclose your data if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request, such as a court order or a request from a data protection authority.
6. Data Retention
Active accounts
We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active and as long as necessary to provide the service.
Account deletion
When you delete your account, its data is permanently deleted 30 days later. That covers your profile, links, badges and settings; every book you are the only author of, published or not; your comments, reviews, likes and votes; your reading progress, activity record, reports and notifications; and the record of the browsers that received browser notifications — everything except the list of accounts a browser keeps itself (see below). Your support conversations, your feature requests, the chapter-read counts authors see, and the notifications other people received about something you did are kept, detached from your account. Your uploaded profile picture file is not yet removed. Legal consent records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Deleted books
A book you delete disappears from the platform at once, but the book and its files stay stored until your account is deleted.
Browser notifications
The record of a browser that received browser notifications is kept after they stop there, until your account is deleted. The list of accounts a browser remembers stays in that browser until notifications are turned off there or you clear the site's data.
Messages from visitors
If you contact us without an account, your messages and the name and email address you gave are kept as a record of the conversation. You can ask us to delete them at any time (see section 7).
Inactive accounts
Accounts that have been inactive for an extended period may be closed after advance notice. Data associated with closed inactive accounts is deleted in accordance with our data minimisation obligations.
7. Your Rights
Access and portability
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and, where technically feasible, to receive it in a portable format.
Rectification
You can update most of your personal data directly from the Profile and Settings pages. If you need help correcting data you cannot edit yourself, contact us.
Erasure
You have the right to request deletion of your personal data. You can delete your account directly from your Profile page. Certain data may be retained where we have a legal obligation to do so.
Restriction and objection
You have the right to ask us to restrict processing of your data or to object to processing based on legitimate interest. We will honour such requests unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.
Withdrawing consent
Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time from the Settings page. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Right to complain
If you believe we are not handling your data in accordance with applicable law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority — for example the CNIL in France, the ICO in the UK, or the relevant supervisory authority in your country of residence.
8. Cookies
Essential cookies
We use cookies that are strictly necessary to operate the platform — for example to maintain your session. These do not require your consent.
Non-essential cookies
We use Google Analytics cookies to understand how the site is used, only with your consent. A consent banner is shown on first visit and you can change your preferences at any time from Settings.
Storage on your device
So the app works offline, your browser keeps a copy of your writing, your reading progress, your profile and anything you did offline that has not reached us yet; this copy is erased when you sign out. It also keeps the books and chapters you open, so they can be read offline, a few preferences — your theme, your reading and writing widths, your Discover filters, the news you dismissed, your cookie choice, and when you last declined to turn notifications on — and a note that someone has signed in on this browser. These stay after you sign out, until you clear the site's data.
9. International Data Transfers
Transfers outside the EEA
Some of our service providers (including Firebase, Supabase and Google Analytics) may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where this occurs, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place — such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission — to protect your data to the same standard as within the EEA.
10. Changes to This Policy
Updates
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. We will notify registered users of significant changes by email or by a prominent notice on the platform before they take effect.
11. Contact
For any questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your rights, please contact us. For questions about our Terms of Service, see the Terms of Service page.
Spotted an error or something that doesn't look right? Let us know — we read every message and will fix it.