Privacy Policy

Website: bybookishbabe.com

Last updated: August 11, 2026

ByBookishBabe (“ByBookishBabe,” “we,” “us,” or “I”) is an independent romance-book website and community operated in the United States. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we use it, where it may be processed, how long we keep it, and the choices available to you.

Questions or privacy requests may be sent to society@bybookishbabe.com.

1. Information we collect

Information you provide

Your name and email address when you join the free Society newsletter, create or use a reader account, save books or notes, contact us, enter a promotion, or request support.
Reading activity and preferences you choose to save, such as bookshelf entries, notes, quiz results, favorites, and profile information.
Order, download, billing-contact, and membership information when you purchase a product or paid membership. Payment-card details are processed by the payment provider and are not stored by ByBookishBabe.
Information you voluntarily include in messages, reviews, forms, or support requests.

Information collected automatically

Technical and usage information such as IP address, browser and device type, referring page, pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP, timestamps, and interaction events.
Cookies and similar identifiers used for security, login sessions, carts, account preferences, analytics, and affiliate attribution.
Subscription, consent, unsubscribe, bounce, suppression, membership, access, and synchronization status received from our service providers.

2. How we use information

We use personal information to:

Provide and secure the website, reader accounts, bookshelves, notes, recommendations, quizzes, profiles, downloads, and other requested features.
Process purchases, provide paid or complimentary Society access, deliver digital products, prevent duplicate fulfillment, and provide transaction and account support.
Record newsletter choices, send requested newsletter communications through Substack, honor unsubscribes and suppressions, and prevent accidental resubscription.
Send necessary transactional messages, such as purchase, download, security, login, or account-service messages. Transactional messages are separate from marketing consent.
Respond to inquiries and protect readers, our services, and our legal rights.
Understand aggregate site use, diagnose errors, improve content and features, and measure affiliate links.
Comply with tax, accounting, payment, legal, and regulatory obligations.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use paid membership as permission to send marketing email.

3. Newsletter and email choices

The Smut & Sentiment Society newsletter is delivered through Substack. When you join through bybookishbabe.com, the site records your request and consent, then directs you to Substack to complete the subscription. A website request is not treated as confirmed until the provider confirms the subscription.

You can unsubscribe using the link in a newsletter or through Substack. We retain a limited unsubscribe, bounce, or suppression record when necessary to honor that choice and prevent future accidental sends. Unsubscribing from marketing does not automatically cancel a paid membership, remove purchased products, or stop legally or operationally necessary transaction messages.

Free, paid, complimentary, cancelled, and expired membership states are tracked separately from newsletter consent.

4. Legal reasons for processing

Depending on the activity and your location, we process information because:

You gave consent, such as choosing to receive newsletter marketing.
Processing is necessary to provide a service or fulfill a contract, such as a purchase, membership, account feature, or requested download.
We have a legitimate interest in operating, securing, troubleshooting, and improving the site, responding to readers, preventing fraud, and maintaining accurate suppression records, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
We must comply with a legal obligation, such as tax, accounting, payment, or valid legal-process requirements.

You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal or information we must keep for another lawful reason.

5. Services that process information

We use service providers only as needed to operate the business. Depending on how you use the site, information may be processed by:

WordPress and WP Engine for the website, hosting, security, and account functionality.
Substack for free, paid, and complimentary newsletter subscriptions, publication delivery, membership status, and newsletter analytics.
Supabase for reader, subscription, membership, and access records.
Railway for secure synchronization between Substack, payment events, Supabase, and WordPress.
Stripe and Easy Digital Downloads for payments, orders, receipts, refunds, and digital delivery. We do not store complete payment-card details.
Shopify where customer or membership information must be connected to Shopify-provided commerce features.
Google Site Kit and Google Analytics for site measurement and performance information.
Our configured email-delivery provider for necessary website-generated transactional messages.
Amazon Associates, Bookshop.org, and other disclosed affiliate partners for referral attribution when you use an affiliate link.

These providers process information under their own terms and privacy notices. We may also disclose information to professional advisers, authorities, or another business where reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect rights and safety, obtain advice, or complete a legitimate business transfer.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Strictly necessary cookies support security, login sessions, carts, downloads, and preferences. The site may also use analytics and affiliate technologies to understand usage and attribute referrals. Google Site Kit and Google Analytics are currently used for site measurement.

You can limit or delete cookies through your browser controls. Blocking necessary cookies may prevent account, bookshelf, checkout, or download features from working correctly. Where applicable law requires prior permission for non-essential cookies, those technologies should be used only after the required choice is provided. Our cookie controls are being reviewed and improved; contact us if you want information about a particular cookie or tracking technology.

7. Affiliate links

Some links are affiliate links. If you follow one, the affiliate partner may receive technical referral information and may set its own cookies. We may receive a commission if you make a qualifying purchase, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships are also described in our Affiliate Disclosure.

8. Retention

We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose described in this Policy, including:

Account and saved-reading information while the account or feature remains active, and for a reasonable period needed for recovery, security, or deletion processing.
Order, payment, refund, and transaction records for the period required by tax, accounting, fraud-prevention, and legal obligations.
Newsletter consent and provider-status records while the subscription is active.
Limited unsubscribe, bounce, and suppression records for as long as needed to honor the reader’s choice and prevent an improper send.
Operational security and error records for a limited period appropriate to investigation, reliability, and legal needs.

Backups may retain information for a limited additional period before scheduled replacement. When information is no longer required, we delete it, anonymize it, or isolate it until deletion is possible.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards, including access controls, HTTPS, restricted credentials, authenticated synchronization, signed or single-use login mechanisms where implemented, backups, and privacy-conscious logging. No internet service is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International processing

ByBookishBabe is operated in the United States, and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries. Those countries may have different privacy laws from your home country. Where required, transfers should rely on an approved legal mechanism or other appropriate safeguards provided by the relevant service provider.

11. Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability, or information about how personal information is used. You may withdraw marketing consent at any time and may have the right to complain to your local privacy or data-protection authority.

California residents may have additional rights regarding access, correction, deletion, and information about sharing or sale. ByBookishBabe does not sell personal information.

To make a request, email society@bybookishbabe.com. We may need to verify your identity before providing, changing, or deleting account information. We aim to respond within the period required by applicable law.

12. Public content and external links

Information you intentionally publish in a public profile, review, comment, or community feature may be visible to others. The site also links to external websites whose privacy practices we do not control. Review the privacy notice of any external service before providing information.

13. Children’s privacy

The site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us so we can review and delete it as appropriate.

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy when our services, providers, or legal obligations change. We will update the date at the top and provide additional notice when required.

15. Contact

For privacy questions or requests:

ByBookishBabe
United States
society@bybookishbabe.com