Effective November 4, 2026. Applies to the iPhone and Android apps and this server.
Your lists, dates, ratings, comments and links stay on your phone. Only how you use the app is sent to us, as described next, and you can turn that off.
From version 1.1, to make Watch & Read better, the app sends our server how it's used: the screens you open, what you do there (such as adding a movie to a list, rating it, or what you search for in the catalog), and where on the screen you touch, so we can see which parts are hard to use. With it come an ID for the app on your phone (the same for all our apps on it), the phone's model, iOS and app version, language, region and time zone, and, when you're signed in, your account. It doesn't include what you type to find people, nor anything you type in comments or notes, nor your keyboard. It's used only to understand and improve the app, isn't shared with anyone, isn't used for advertising or to track you across other apps or websites, and is deleted after 90 days. Turn it off in Settings → Share How I Use the App; what wasn't sent yet is then deleted from the phone.
A list you make is private: only you see it. Make it public, and your friends see it on your page, and anyone you send its link to can open it on the web, with its name, what you wrote about it, its movies, shows and books, and your name. Make it private again, or delete it, and its link stops working.
From version 2.1, the app may ask once in a while whether you enjoy it and how many stars you'd give it, and Settings → Send Feedback sends us a message. What you answer or write is sent to our server with the app's ID on your phone, the app version and language, and, when you're signed in, your account. It's read only by the person who makes Watch & Read, isn't shared with anyone and isn't used for advertising. If you delete your account, what you sent stays but no longer shows your account.
When you search, explore or open a movie, show or book, your phone asks The Movie Database (TMDB), Wikidata and Wikipedia, and Open Library directly, and loads posters and photos from them. They receive what you searched for and your phone's internet address, as with any website; their own privacy policies apply. Trailers open on YouTube. To show where a movie can be watched, the phone also asks Apple's iTunes search for its prices on the Apple TV store, sending the movie's title and your country.
On the page of a movie in theaters, Theaters Near You uses your phone's location to find the theaters around you and how far they are, only after you tap Find Theaters and allow it. On iPhone, Apple Maps searches around where you are; on Android, the phone asks OpenStreetMap's search (Nominatim) for the theaters in an area around you, given to about a hundred meters. Your location isn't sent to our server, isn't kept, and isn't used for anything else. Turn it off any time in the phone's settings for Watch & Read.
To keep your lists the same on every device you sign in on, our server stores:
Sign-in sessions are stored only as hashes. The server runs on Fly.io in the United States; everything travels encrypted (HTTPS).
Friends are only the people you add with your friend code, and who accept. They see the name on your account and the movies, shows and books you watched or read, with your ratings, your ranking and when you last watched or read each. They also see your want lists, on your page and on a movie's or book's page, unless you turn off Share My Want Lists on the Friends page (accounts made before October 29, 2026 start with it off). They don't see your comments, notes or links, nor anything you added yourself. Movies rated above R (NC-17) are hidden from friends unless you choose to show them, and you can stop sharing with any friend. A movie or book you recommend to a friend, with your note, is kept until they delete it.
You can block anyone: that ends the friendship and stops their requests and recommendations. You can report a person or what they sent; reports are kept for us to review and act on.
When someone asks to be your friend, or accepts your request, we tell you with a notification on your iPhone, if you allow notifications: your iPhone's notification address is kept with your sign-in and removed when you sign out. A request also comes by email to your account's address, unless you turn that off on the Friends page.
Once a day at most, in the evening where you are, friends you share with hear in a notification what you watched or read in the last few days (never your want lists, and nothing they couldn't already see on your page). For that, your iPhone's time zone is kept with its notification address. You can turn this off for each friend, or altogether, on the Friends page.
Only when you ask for recommendations, our server sends Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI, the titles on your lists of that kind (movies or books) with your ratings and the filters you chose, to get suggestions back. Your email, name and other account details are not sent. Anthropic processes this under its commercial terms.
To compare AI models, the app can also ask free models from Google (Gemini), Groq and OpenRouter for movie suggestions. For that, our server sends them the movies on your lists with your ratings, the same as above and nothing else about your account. These free services may keep what they're sent and use it to improve their models.
No ads, no tracking across apps or websites, no third-party analytics, and we don't sell or share your data with anyone beyond what's described here.
In the app, open Settings and choose Delete Account, or use this page. Your account, your library, your friends and recommendations, the pictures you uploaded, and the records of how the app was used while you were signed in are deleted from the server right away. A copy already on one of your devices stays there until you delete the app or its data. Without an account, deleting the app deletes everything.
The app isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data.
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date.
Questions about your data: vilbrooksstudio@gmail.com.