Terms and privacy

The library is for adults (18 or older). Someone younger can borrow with a parent or guardian involved, who makes the request and looks after the book with them.

When you ask to borrow a book we collect your name, phone number, email address, Instagram handle, delivery address and pincode. If you offer to donate books we collect your name, phone number, email address, Instagram handle, address and pincode, plus the number of books you would like to give. We also keep a history of your requests: which book, and when it was requested, lent and returned.

To recognise you when you come back, we also store a keyed fingerprint of your phone number and of your email address. A fingerprint cannot be turned back into the number or address without our secret key.

To arrange and track lending and donations, and to note interest from people outside the lending area: to contact you, to deliver and collect the book, and to remember who has which book. We collect your Instagram handle so the owner can coordinate delivery or pickup with you. If you ask for a book from outside the lending area, the request is stored as an interest list and no book is lent.

Your name, phone number, email address and delivery address are encrypted in storage, and the site shows them only to the library owner. The book you requested, the request dates and your pincode are stored without encryption. The hosting and database providers can see the encrypted data and technical information such as when requests were made, but not the readable details. We do not sell your details or share them for advertising.

The owner can keep short private notes about a request (for example a handover time). These private notes are not encrypted, so the owner does not write contact details in them.

The library owner can see your details. You can see your own request history by signing in on the profile page, and when you are signed in the borrowing form is prefilled with the address from your last request, which only you see. The hosting and database providers can see the encrypted data and technical information, as described above.

• Vercel hosts the website.
• MongoDB Atlas stores the data (personal details encrypted, as above).
• Resend sends email notifications to the library owner only. We do not email you through the site.

Book covers are loaded by your browser straight from Open Library, Archive.org and Google Books image servers. Like any website, those servers can see your network address (IP address) when your browser asks for a cover.

After you send a request or sign in, a signed cookie keeps you signed in on that device for one year, so you can see your requests. Signing out removes it. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.

We keep your details while you have a request or a book out, and for 12 months after your last loan ends, so any question about a book can be sorted out. After that, or sooner if you ask, the owner erases them. Erasing removes your name, phone number, email address and addresses; the record that a book was lent on certain dates stays, without your details. The owner reviews this by hand. The owner keeps a few private backups, which can still hold your details for a while; they are deleted as they age out.

Interest-list (waitlist) entries and donation offers are not erased automatically. They are kept until the owner deletes them, which the owner does when you ask.

Ask the library owner at safar.e.siyahi@gmail.com. Once any book you have is back, the owner erases your details. You can also ask what we hold about you, or ask us to correct it.

Questions? Reach the library owner by email at safar.e.siyahi@gmail.com.

• A book is lent for 15 days.
• You can ask for one 7-day extension, and the owner decides.
• One book at a time. You can borrow another once the last one is returned.
• We lend within Bangalore only, for now.
• Please look after the book and return it on time.

If a book is late, lost or damaged, the owner will contact you to talk it through. There are no automated fines or charges.

The library owner may decline a request, or stop taking requests from someone, at any time.

Please contact the library owner first at safar.e.siyahi@gmail.com; most things can be sorted out quickly. If a concern about your personal data is not resolved, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India.