Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 20, 2026

Monolog ("we", "our", "the app") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your information.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address (or authentication data from Google/Apple sign-in)
• Username (chosen by you)
• Date of birth (for age verification and content restriction)
• Profile picture (optional, stored as encoded image data)

1.2 Tracking and Activity Data

When you use Monolog, we store:

• Media you track (movies, TV shows, anime, books, games, comics)
• Your tracking status for each item (watched, plan to watch, in progress, dropped)
• Ratings and reviews you submit
• Custom lists you create
• Your activity history (what you watch, rate, and add)

1.3 Social Data

• Users you follow and users who follow you
• Your profile visibility preference (public or private)

1.4 Automatically Collected Data

• Basic analytics events (screens viewed, features used, searches performed)
• Crash reports and error logs (for improving app stability)
• App performance metrics
• Device locale/region (for content localization, not GPS location)

1.5 Data We Do NOT Collect

• GPS or precise location data
• Contacts or address book
• Phone number
• Payment or financial information
• Browsing history outside the app

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your data to:

• Provide and maintain the Monolog service
• Display your tracked media, reviews, and lists
• Enable social features (following, activity feeds, profile sharing)
• Enforce age restrictions on adult content
• Improve app performance and fix bugs (via analytics and crash reports)
• Personalize content recommendations based on your region

We do NOT use your data for advertising, ad targeting, selling to third parties, or profiling for purposes unrelated to app functionality.

3. Third-Party Services

3.1 Firebase (Google)

• Authentication: securely manages sign-in
• Firestore: stores your user data, reviews, and tracking information
• Analytics: collects anonymous usage statistics
• Crashlytics: collects crash reports for debugging
• Performance Monitoring: measures app performance

Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy

3.2 Media Data Providers

We retrieve media information (not your personal data) from:

• TMDB (The Movie Database) — movie, TV, and anime data
• Open Library — book data
• RAWG — video game data
• Comic Vine — comic book data
• Watchmode — streaming availability data

These services receive API requests from the app but do not receive your personal information.

3.3 Authentication Providers

If you sign in with Google or Apple, those providers handle authentication. We receive only your email address and display name. We do not receive your Google or Apple password.

4. Data Storage and Security

• Your data is stored in Google Firebase servers (Firestore)
• Local cache data is stored on your device using encrypted storage
• All network communications use HTTPS encryption
• Profile pictures are stored as encoded data within your Firestore document
• We implement reasonable security measures but cannot guarantee absolute security

5. Data Retention

• Your data is retained as long as your account is active
• Upon account deletion request, data is retained for a 30-day grace period, then permanently deleted
• Review edit history is retained for transparency while the review exists
• Anonymous analytics data may be retained after account deletion
• Crash reports are retained for debugging purposes

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your data (via the app's export feature)
• Correct your data (edit your profile, reviews, and tracking status)
• Delete your data (via account deletion in settings)
• Control your profile visibility (public or private)
• Control adult content display (if 18 or older)

For users in the European Union (GDPR):

• You have the right to data portability (use the export feature)
• You have the right to restrict processing (set profile to private)
• You have the right to be forgotten (delete your account)
• Legal basis for processing: consent (account creation) and legitimate interest (service operation)

For users in California (CCPA):

• We do not sell your personal information
• You have the right to know what data we collect (described above)
• You have the right to delete your data (via account deletion)

7. Children's Privacy

Monolog requires users to be at least 13 years old. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If we discover that a user is under 13, we will promptly delete their account and data.

Users between 13 and 17 have adult content features disabled and cannot override this restriction.

8. Cookies and Tracking

The Monolog mobile app does not use cookies. Firebase Analytics collects anonymous device identifiers for usage statistics. You can reset your device advertising identifier through your device settings.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the "Last Updated" date. Continued use of Monolog after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify affected users within 72 hours through the app or via email.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, contact us at support@monolog.us.