Privacy notice
Last updated: 29 September 2026
Who we are
World in Books (worldinbooks.co.uk) is run by Joseph Charles Williams, a sole trader based in the UK. We’re responsible for the personal information described here. For anything about your data, email hello@worldinbooks.co.uk.
What we collect
- Your email address, if you create an account, so you can sign in.
- Your reading log and to-read list: the books you add, their countries, dates and any notes you write.
- Your email preference: whether you’ve asked to receive book suggestions, and when you said yes.
- A daily count of how many times you’ve used the Claude-powered features, so we can apply a fair-use limit.
If you use the site without an account, your reading log and to-read list stay in your own browser and we never receive them.
Why we use it
- To run your account and save your books so you can use them on any device. The lawful basis is providing the service you’ve asked for (contract).
- To send occasional book suggestions, only if you’ve opted in. The lawful basis is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in your account or with the unsubscribe link in any email.
- To keep the service working fairly, for example limiting how often the suggestion features can be used. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running the service reliably and affordably.
Who helps us run the service
We use a small number of trusted providers, who only use your information to provide their service to us:
- Supabase stores accounts, reading logs and to-read lists on servers in London.
- Netlify hosts the website.
- Resend sends sign-in emails, so it receives your email address.
- Anthropic (the makers of Claude) powers book suggestions, country suggestions and reading book covers. It receives only what’s needed for each request, such as a country name, a book’s title and author, or a photo you choose to upload. We don’t send your email address or name. Under Anthropic’s commercial terms, this data isn’t used to train its models.
- Open Library and Google Books receive ISBNs and search words when you scan or search for a book. No personal information is sent with them.
- Apple iCloud Mail hosts our hello@ inbox, so it holds any emails you send us.
Some of these providers are based in, or use servers in, the United States. Where your information leaves the UK, it’s protected by the safeguards UK law requires, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contract terms.
We never sell your data or share it for advertising.
Links to shops
Some links to books may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. When you follow one, the shop and its affiliate network (such as Awin) may use cookies to record that you came from us. Their own privacy notices apply once you’re on their site.
Cookies and storage
We only use your browser’s storage for things the site needs to work: keeping you signed in, your reading log and to-read list if you don’t have an account, and your light or dark display choice. We don’t use advertising or tracking cookies on this site.
How long we keep it
We keep your account and books until you ask us to delete them. Email us and we’ll delete everything within 30 days. Daily usage counts are kept only as long as they’re useful for running the service. If you’ve opted in to emails, we keep a record of when you gave consent for as long as we might need to show it.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, download or delete your data, to restrict or object to how we use it, or to withdraw consent at any time. Email us to do any of these; we’ll reply within one month. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, please tell us first, and you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes
If we change how we use your data, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. For significant changes, we’ll let account holders know by email.