Privacy Policy

Data we collect

We only collect what the service needs to work:

• Account details: your username, email address, whether your email is verified, and a securely hashed password (we never store your password itself). If you use Sign in with Apple, we receive a stable Apple account identifier and the email address Apple shares with us, which may be a private relay address, and optionally your name the first time you sign in.
• Your library: the movies, TV shows, games and books you add, with their status, progress (episodes, pages, current task), ratings, notes, favourites, and the dates you added, started and finished them.
• Reviews and community activity: reviews you write (public or private), whether they are marked as containing spoilers, the reviews you like, reports you make about other reviews, and users you block.
• Preferences: your time zone, yearly goal, notification settings, default sort, and whether your profile is public.
• Imports: if you import from Letterboxd, Goodreads or a CSV file, we process the file you upload to create your library items and reviews. We keep a record of the import, including counts and the titles we could not match, so you can review it.
• Push notifications (app only): if you allow notifications, a push token issued by Apple for your device, the app version, language and time zone, and a record of which notifications we have sent so you are not notified twice.
• Sign-in and security data: hashed sign-in tokens that keep you signed in, and the IP address of each request. IP addresses are used briefly to limit repeated or abusive requests and are not stored with your account.

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking tools, and we do not build profiles of you for marketing.

What other people can see

Most of your data is private. These things can be seen by others:

• Public reviews: if you publish a review, its text, your rating for that title, your username and your rank badge are shown on Backlog's public page for that title, in the apps and, if your profile is public, on your profile. Search engines can index public pages. Private reviews are visible only to you.
• Public profile (off by default): if you turn it on, your username, rank, what you are currently watching, playing or reading, your recent finishes, counts and public reviews are shown at usebacklog.app/u/your-username.
• Anonymous statistics: title pages may show combined figures such as how many people track a title, the share who finished it and the average rating. These never identify you, and are only shown once at least five people contribute.

Public content can be cached by search engines for a short time after you delete it or make it private. We cannot control third-party caches, but removal from Backlog is immediate.

How we use your data, and our legal basis

• To provide the service you signed up for: your account, library, sync between devices, stats, imports and reviews. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.
• To send notifications you ask for, such as new episodes and new seasons. Legal basis: your consent, which you give through your device's notification permission and can withdraw at any time in Settings.
• To show your public reviews and, if enabled, your public profile. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you, at your choice.
• To keep Backlog secure and fair: preventing abuse, rate limiting, moderating reported reviews, and investigating problems. Legal basis: our legitimate interests in running a safe service.
• To show anonymous, combined statistics on title pages. Legal basis: our legitimate interests. The figures do not identify anyone.
• To send essential emails such as email verification and password resets. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.

We do not sell, rent or share your personal data for advertising or marketing.

Who we share data with

We use a small number of service providers to run Backlog. They process data on our behalf and only as needed to provide their service:

• Hosting providers: running the website and the app's server, our database and cache.
• An email delivery provider: sending account emails such as verification and password resets.
• Apple: Sign in with Apple, delivering push notifications, and processing optional in-app tips. Apple handles tip payments; we never see your payment details.

To find titles and show information about them, we send search terms and title identifiers (not your personal details) to TMDB, RAWG, Steam, Google Books, Open Library and the New York Times Books API. In the app, posters and covers load directly from these providers' image servers, which means they receive your device's IP address as part of a normal web request. Each provider has its own privacy policy.

We may also disclose data if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of our users.

International transfers

Some of our providers store or process data outside the UK, including in the United States and the European Economic Area. Where that happens, we rely on the safeguards UK law allows, such as UK adequacy regulations and the International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, which our providers offer.

How long we keep data

• Your account, library, reviews and preferences: for as long as you keep your account.
• When you delete an item: it is removed straight away. We keep only its identifier for up to 90 days so your other devices can sync the deletion.
• Sign-in tokens: up to 60 days, or until you sign out.
• Import records: 30 days after the import finishes. The uploaded file is used only to run the import and is not kept.
• Notification records: 90 days.
• Rate-limiting data: a few minutes.
• Backups: our hosting providers keep encrypted backups for a limited period, normally up to 30 days, after which deleted data is gone from them too.

When you delete your account, we delete your account, library, reviews, likes, reports, devices and sign-in tokens straight away. Remaining copies in backups expire on the schedule above.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can:

• Access your data, and get a copy of it. You can export your whole library as CSV or JSON from Settings.
• Correct inaccurate data, most of which you can edit directly.
• Delete your account and data, from Settings in the app or on the web.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Withdraw consent, for example by turning off notifications.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will reply within one month. If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), though we would appreciate the chance to put it right first.

Children

Backlog is not intended for children under 13, and you must be at least 13 to create an account. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

Passwords are hashed with bcrypt, sign-in tokens are stored only as hashes, and all connections use HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data, and we will tell you and the ICO if a breach puts your rights at risk.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant, we will also tell you in the app or by email.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or requests to exercise your rights: [email protected].

By post: CRTYX HOLDINGS LIMITED, 8 Queen Eleanor Avenue, Grantham, NG31 8PT, United Kingdom.

ICO registration number: ZC265317.