Plotlume Privacy Policy
Effective date: September 17, 2026
Who we are
Plotlume is an iPhone reading app operated by Yutong Guo (郭雨桐), an individual developer. Yutong Guo is responsible for the personal information processed to provide Plotlume and acts as our privacy contact. Email 18804061237@163.com with any privacy question or request.
Plotlume is currently offered in the United States and Canada.
Information we collect and how we use it
- Account and sign-in information: your email address, an account identifier, the identifier your chosen sign-in provider gives us, and records of sign-in attempts. We use these to create and protect your account, send and check verification codes, and manage the sign-in methods you link. Apple and Google handle their sign-in services under their own privacy policies.
- Reading information: saved stories, reading positions and finished status. As a guest, these stay on your device. When you sign in, they are sent to our service so they can sync across your devices. You choose whether to merge guest records into your account.
- Purchase information: Apple transaction identifiers, the product purchased, subscription status and dates, and which Plotlume account the purchase is linked to. We use these to confirm access, restore purchases and handle renewals, refunds and disputes. Apple processes payments. We never receive your payment card number.
- Support information: messages you send us and any information you choose to include, such as details in a membership recovery request. We use these to answer you and verify requests.
- Security and technical information: session records, and a random identifier created when you install the app, which helps us limit repeated sign-in requests. It is not an advertising identifier. Our web server records IP addresses, requested pages, response codes, times and app or browser details so we can keep the service secure and fix problems.
You can browse the library and read previews without an account. You need an account to sync your library and to link a membership to it.
We use personal information only to provide, secure and support Plotlume, and to meet legal obligations. We do not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or use your reading activity for advertising. Plotlume contains no advertising, no third-party analytics and no cross-app tracking. Because we do not track you across other sites or apps, we do not respond differently to browser "Do Not Track" signals.
Who we share information with
We share information only with service providers that help us run Plotlume, and only as needed for the purposes above:
- Alibaba Cloud hosts our servers, database and backups.
- NetEase Mail (163.com) sends sign-in verification emails and receives support email.
- Apple processes App Store purchases and Sign in with Apple.
- Google processes Google sign-in if you choose it.
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or when it is necessary to protect our rights, our users or the security of the service.
Where information is processed
Our servers and database backups are located in the United States (Virginia). Plotlume is operated from China, where the operator administers the service and may keep a copy of recent backups on a password-protected computer. Sign-in emails and support email are handled by NetEase Mail in China. Your information may therefore be stored and accessed in countries other than your own, where it may be available to local authorities under local law. We protect it with access controls, encryption in transit, and encryption of sensitive fields such as email addresses and verification details.
How long we keep information
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account and synced reading records | While your account exists. When you delete your account, we sign you out immediately and delete this information, normally within 24 hours. |
| Verification codes and sign-in attempts | Codes expire after 10 minutes. Sign-in attempt records and abuse-prevention counters are deleted about 48 hours after they expire. |
| Sessions | Until you sign out or the session expires, and at the latest when your account is deleted. |
| Purchase records | As long as needed to confirm subscriptions and handle refunds, disputes, tax and accounting, and no longer than 7 years after the last transaction. When you delete your account, these records are disconnected from your account and cannot be used to rebuild it. |
| Support and recovery requests | Until the request is resolved. Evidence you submit is deleted if you delete your account, and otherwise no later than 1 year after the request is closed. Support email is kept for up to 2 years. |
| Server logs | Up to 30 days. |
| Backups | Daily database backups are kept for up to 30 days and then deleted. If we ever restore a backup, we reapply account deletions made after the backup was taken before the service reopens. |
Deleting your account
Open Account → Delete account in the app and complete the identity check. If you linked Sign in with Apple, we also ask Apple to revoke Plotlume's access. Deleting your account does not cancel your Apple subscription. Manage renewal in your Apple subscription settings.
Your rights and choices
You can ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, to give you a copy of it, to correct it, or to delete it. You can delete your account at any time in the app. For other requests, email 18804061237@163.com. We may ask for information to confirm that the request relates to your account, and we will respond within 30 days. If you disagree with our response, reply to that email and we will review it again. If you are in Canada, you can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Age requirement
Plotlume is intended only for adults aged 18 and over. It is not directed to children. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 18, we will delete it. If you believe a minor has given us information, contact us.
Security
We use HTTPS for all connections, store session secrets on your device in the iOS Keychain, keep only hashed versions of session tokens and verification codes on our servers, and limit access to production systems. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and update the effective date. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect.
Contact
Yutong Guo (Plotlume) · 18804061237@163.com