Last updated: April 16, 2026
LytReview ("we", "us") operates lytreview.com. This policy explains what we collect, why, and your rights.
What we collect
- Account data — username, email, password (hashed), profile info you provide.
- Content — reviews, ratings, lists, comments you submit.
- Technical data — IP address, browser, device, pages visited, referrer. Used for security and to keep the site running.
- Analytics — only with your consent, via Google Analytics (anonymized IP).
- Advertising — when enabled, only with your consent, via Google AdSense or similar partners.
Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR / Swiss FADP)
We process essential data under legitimate interest (keeping the site secure and functional) and contract (delivering the service you signed up for). Analytics and advertising require your explicit consent, which you can grant, refuse, or withdraw at any time using the "Cookie settings" link in the footer.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (EEA, UK, Switzerland, California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and other states with privacy laws), you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate data
- Delete your account and associated data
- Export your data in a portable format
- Opt out of analytics, advertising, and any "sale" or "sharing" of personal information
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
To exercise any right, email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days.
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
We do not sell personal information for money. Under California (CCPA/CPRA) and similar state laws, certain ad-related data sharing may be considered a "sale" or "share". You can opt out using the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link, which is also in the site footer. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals.
Email Communications
We send two kinds of email, and we treat them differently.
Transactional emails (always sent)
These cover account verification, password resets, security alerts, and confirmations when you delete your account. We send them on the basis of contract necessity and legitimate interest — they are required to operate your account safely. You cannot opt out of transactional emails while your account is active; closing your account is the only way to stop them.
Activity and notification emails (opt-in)
If you opt in at registration — using a separate checkbox from the one that accepts the Terms — we may also send you notifications such as replies to your reviews, helpful votes, achievements, level-ups, streak milestones, book-club activity, comments on your reading lists, and an optional weekly digest. These are sent on the basis of your explicit consent. You can toggle each type individually from your profile, or unsubscribe from all of them using the one-click link in the footer of any such email.
What we record when you give consent
For our legal audit trail, when you consent we store the date and time, a one-way hashed form of your IP address (never the raw IP), and the version numbers of the Terms and Privacy Policy that were in force at that moment. This lets us demonstrate valid consent if ever asked, without holding onto identifying network data.
Retention
Records of individual emails we send you are stored in our email_log for 90 days, then automatically purged by a nightly cleanup job. Your consent records are kept for the life of your account so that we have proof of consent for as long as we are relying on it.
Your rights
- Unsubscribe from any notification email using the one-click link in its footer.
- Adjust preferences for each type of notification from your profile.
- Withdraw all marketing and notification consent at any time; this does not affect transactional emails.
- Request an export or deletion of your account data — including all email records we hold — by emailing [email protected].
What we will not do
We do not sell, rent, or share email lists, and we do not send third-party marketing through our system. Every email you receive from us is about your own account or activity on LytReview.
Cookies and tracking
We use Google Consent Mode v2. Until you consent, no analytics or advertising cookies are set. See our Cookie Policy for details.
Data retention
Account data is kept until you delete your account. Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months. Logs are retained for up to 90 days for security purposes.
Third parties
- Google Analytics / Google AdSense — only with consent. See Google's privacy policy.
- GoDaddy — our hosting provider.
- Open Library — book metadata lookups (no personal data sent).
Children
LytReview is not directed at children under 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect data from them.
International transfers
Our servers are in the United States. If you access the site from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, your data is transferred to the U.S. under appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable).
Changes
We will post any updates here and update the "Last updated" date above.
Contact
Email: [email protected]