Your privacy, explained

This privacy information describes AfroBooks at afrobs.com, including browsing, reading, publishing, purchases and book promotions. It applies to visitors, readers and authors. Contact AfroBooks at esseytesfa@gmail.com for privacy questions or requests.

Stripe and other service providers also describe their handling of information in their own policies. Our Terms of use describe the service agreement.

• Account and profile: name, email, account identifier, sign-in provider, username, avatar and information you choose to provide, such as a biography, genre preference or author links. We record the versions of the terms and privacy notice you accepted or acknowledged, with the date.
• Reading and activity: library and purchase records, borrowing, saved books, reading progress, follows, reviews and reader preferences. Some preferences and recent positions are stored on your device.
• Author information: manuscripts, covers, descriptions, publishing settings, verification submissions, tax-form type and status, earnings records and Stripe account references and readiness.
• Transactions: orders, subscriptions, discounts, amounts, currency, payment references, refunds, disputes, royalty transfers and bank-payout status received from Stripe. Full card numbers and bank account details are collected by Stripe, not stored in the AfroBooks application database.
• Support and technical records: messages or reports you send, security and error records, request details and device or connection information processed by our hosting and authentication providers.

We use information to create and secure accounts, provide access to books, save progress, personalize catalog suggestions, fulfill purchases, administer subscriptions, pay authors, review publications and promotions, respond to requests and investigate abuse or payment problems.

We also reconcile payments, prevent duplicate transactions, maintain the service and meet applicable obligations. Where a legal basis is required, it may be providing the service you request, a legal obligation, a legitimate interest such as security or service operation, or consent when required. You can contact us about a particular use or withdraw consent for a consent-based use. Acknowledging this notice does not authorize unrelated marketing.

Published book titles, covers, descriptions, previews, author names and public author profiles are visible to readers. Reviews can show your name, avatar, rating and review text. Choose carefully what you include; public content may be indexed by search engines or copied by others.

Your library and reading progress are not displayed as a public profile. Authors and authorized administrators can access sales, earnings or account information needed for their role. Authors see promotion totals rather than a list of readers who viewed or clicked a placement.

Information is processed by services that provide specific parts of AfroBooks:

• Google Firebase: authentication, application records and file storage. Google sign-in supplies profile information to create or access your account. See Google’s privacy policy.
• Stripe: checkout, subscriptions, fraud and dispute handling, connected-account verification, author transfers and bank payouts. Stripe sends us the references, eligibility and transaction status needed to operate these features. See Stripe’s privacy policy.
• Vercel: website hosting, request handling and operational logs. See Vercel’s privacy policy.
• Resend: service email delivery where enabled, including receipts and subscription messages. This can include your email, name and transaction details shown in the message. See Resend’s privacy policy.

We may also disclose information when legally required, to address fraud or security issues, or to establish or defend legal claims. Providers may process information in the United States or other countries. Protections and rights can differ by location; contact us about a specific processing or transfer question.

Authentication cookies and browser storage support sign-in, account navigation, reading appearance and saved reading positions. Browser storage may also retain temporary cart or interface state. These features can stop working if storage is blocked.

You can clear cookies and site data through your browser. This can sign you out and remove unsynced reading positions or local preferences; it does not delete records already saved to your account. On a shared device, sign out when finished and clear site data if needed.

Discover can show placements labeled as sponsored author promotions. This feature does not use a third-party advertising network or cross-site advertising cookies.

For signed-in readers, we record whether a campaign was viewed or clicked using a hashed combination of campaign, date and account identifier. Each account is counted at most once per day for each event type. Authors’ own visits are excluded; anonymous visitors are not included. The markers are pseudonymous, not a claim of complete anonymity.

Authors receive aggregate counts. Event markers remain with campaign records to support deduplication and review; they are not automatically erased each day. Promotion financial records are kept separately from reading progress.

We keep records while needed to provide the service, support payments, resolve disputes, prevent abuse or meet applicable recordkeeping requirements. The period depends on the record and purpose; backups and provider logs may have separate retention periods.

Settings include an account-deletion request. Deletion removes your account and associated library, reading-progress and profile records; for authors, it removes their books. Order, payment, payout, campaign, agreement and dispute records may remain for reconciliation, legal obligations and security. Deletion removes access to purchased books and cannot be undone.

Deleting AfroBooks does not automatically close your Stripe account or delete information Stripe must retain. Clearing browser data is a separate step. Contact us about access, correction or deletion, including information remaining after account closure.

You can edit available profile fields, change reading appearance, manage your subscription and request account deletion through settings. Contact esseytesfa@gmail.com to ask about the personal information we hold or request access, correction or deletion.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights, including a copy of your information, portability, restriction, objection, withdrawal of consent or a complaint to your local data-protection authority. We consider requests under applicable rules and may need to verify your identity. Some financial, legal or security records may be exempt from deletion.

Send the request from your account email when possible. Do not include passwords, full payment details or identity documents in an initial email.

We use authenticated access and role-based permissions to limit access to private records, and rely on providers for secure hosting and payment processing. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Keep credentials private and report suspected misuse promptly.

AfroBooks is not intended for children under 13 or a higher applicable minimum age. If you believe a child below that age has provided personal information, contact us to investigate and address it. The service does not provide a dedicated children’s account or parental-consent flow.

We update this page when our practices or service change and show the revision date at the top. We request a new acknowledgment when the version changes, and provide additional notice or seek consent where required. Contact us if an explanation is unclear or you need help exercising a privacy choice.