My Library · Android
My Library is a bookshelf, not an advertising business. This page explains exactly what the app stores, where it goes, and how to get rid of it.
You can use My Library without an account. In that case everything — your books, ratings, reviews and settings — stays on your phone, and nothing about your library is sent anywhere.
If you choose to sign in with Google to back up your library, your book list is stored in a private document that only your account can read. There are no ads, no analytics, and no trackers in this app.
By default, My Library keeps everything locally using your device's standard app storage. That includes the books on your shelves and their titles, authors, cover images, your ratings, your reviews, your reading progress and shelf placement — along with your app settings, such as theme, language, shelf style and the decorations you place on the shelf.
This data is not readable by other apps, is included in your device's own backup if you have that enabled, and is removed when you uninstall My Library.
Signing in is optional and exists for one purpose: keeping your library backed up and in sync across your devices. My Library uses Google Sign-In through Firebase Authentication. When you sign in, Google shares your email address, display name, profile picture URL and a unique account identifier with the app.
Your library is then written to a single document in Google Cloud Firestore at the path libraries/{your account id}. It holds your book list and a record of books you have deleted, so that a deletion on one device does not reappear from another. It does not hold your name, your email, or anything you have not put on your shelves.
Security rules on that database allow only the signed-in owner of a document to read or write it. Signing out stops synchronisation and leaves the local copy on your device untouched.
| Data | Why | Where it lives | Kept until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your book list — titles, authors, covers, ratings, reviews, progress | It is the app | Your device; also Firestore if you sign in | You delete it, or uninstall |
| App settings — theme, language, shelf style, decorations | Remembers how you like the shelf | Your device only | You uninstall |
| Email address | Identifies your backup account | Firebase Authentication | You delete the account |
| Display name and profile picture URL | Shown to you on the Settings screen | Firebase Authentication | You delete the account |
| Account identifier | Names your library document | Firebase Authentication and Firestore | You delete the account |
| Book searches and scanned ISBNs | Looks up book details and covers | Sent to Google Books and Open Library; not stored by the app | Not retained by the app |
| Camera frames | Reads a barcode | Your device's memory, briefly | Discarded as scanning ends |
My Library asks for camera access only so you can add a book by pointing the phone at the barcode on its back cover. The barcode is decoded on your device by Google's ML Kit. No photograph or video frame is saved, uploaded, or transmitted — only the resulting ISBN number is used, to look the book up.
The permission is optional. If you decline it, every other part of the app keeps working, and you can add books by searching for them instead.
My Library talks to a small number of outside services. Each one is listed here with what it receives.
Receives your search terms or a scanned ISBN, and returns book details and cover images. Requests are not tied to your identity. See Google's privacy policy.
Used as a fallback when Google Books has no match, and receives the same search terms. See the Internet Archive privacy policy.
Operated by Google. Holds your sign-in details and your backed-up library, on servers that may be located outside your country. Used only if you sign in.
The app's typeface is fetched from Google's font servers the first time it is needed, which exposes your device's IP address to Google in the same way that visiting any website does.
When you tap the link to look up a book for sale, your browser opens an Amazon search page. My Library sends nothing to Amazon itself — from that point on you are on Amazon's site, under their privacy policy. These links carry no affiliate tracking.
Because My Library is offered from Italy, the General Data Protection Regulation applies. You have the right to access the personal data held about you, correct it, have it erased, receive a copy in a portable form, and object to its processing. Exercising any of these costs nothing.
Uninstalling My Library removes the local library and all settings. You can also clear the app's storage from your device's Settings without uninstalling.
Email the address below from the account you signed in with, asking for deletion. Your library document and your authentication record will both be permanently deleted, normally within 30 days, and no backup of them is kept afterwards.
The app's Settings screen can copy your entire library to the clipboard in a plain, readable format, which serves as an export at any time without having to ask anyone.
All network traffic between the app and every service listed above uses HTTPS. Your backed-up library is protected by Firestore security rules that grant access only to its signed-in owner, and it is encrypted at rest by Google Cloud.
No system is perfect, and My Library is a small app rather than a bank. Please do not put anything in a book review that you would be harmed by losing or disclosing.
My Library is a general-audience app and is not directed at children under 13. It does not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has signed in and created a backup, contact the address below and it will be deleted.
If the app starts handling data differently, this page is updated and the effective date at the top changes with it. Material changes — anything that widens what is collected or who receives it — are also announced in the app's Play Store release notes. This page is the current version at all times.
Questions about this policy, requests to see or delete your data, or anything else privacy-related:
The developer of My Library is the data controller for the purposes of the GDPR. If you believe your data has been mishandled, you also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority — in Italy, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali.