Privacy

Last updated October 15, 2026

Fic Scout lets you rate books, share your ratings and find what to read next. This page explains what we collect, why, and what you can do about it. The short version: we collect what we need to run the site and understand how it's used, and we don't sell your information.

What we collect

• Your account: your email address, username and password (stored securely, never in plain text). We use your email to send sign-in codes and important account messages.
• Your ratings and lists: the books you rate, your scores, reviews, “didn't finish” notes and your Want to read list.
• Rating as a guest: if you rate before creating an account, we keep your ratings in an anonymous account tied to your browser. Guest ratings are just for you: they don't count toward books' scores until you create an account, which also keeps them across devices.
• How the site is used: pages visited, the site that sent you to us, and actions like opening the rating form, sharing a card or clicking through to Amazon. These are tied to a random ID stored in your browser, and to your account if you're signed in.

What's public

Your profile page (ficscout.com/your-username), your ratings, reviews, Want to read list and share cards can be seen by anyone. Members' ratings also count toward each book's average. Your email address is never shown. Your reading-taste summary is visible only to you.

Cookies and browser storage

• Sign-in cookies keep you signed in (including guest sessions).
• Browser storage remembers a random visitor ID, where you first came from, and small preferences like closing the launch banner.
• Google Analytics sets its own cookies to measure visits. You can block them with your browser settings or Google's opt-out add-on.

Amazon links

Fic Scout is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com. When you click a “View on Amazon” link, Amazon may collect information directly from you and place or read cookies in your browser, under Amazon's privacy notice. Other third parties, including Amazon, may serve content and collect information on their own sites. We may earn a commission if you buy something.

Who we share information with

We use trusted service providers to run Fic Scout: hosting, our database and sign-in, email delivery, and analytics (Google Analytics). They handle information only to provide their service to us. Amazon provides book covers and editions, and handles anything that happens after you click through to it.

We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't show ads. We may share information if the law requires it, or with a new owner if Fic Scout is ever sold or merged, who would be bound by this policy.

Your choices

• Change your email, username or password in Settings.
• Edit or remove any rating, review or Want to read book.
• Delete your account and everything in it from Settings, at any time.
• To get a copy of your data, or for help deleting your account, email jake@ficscout.com. We'll handle it within 30 days.

Children

Fic Scout isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

If we change how we handle your information, we'll update this page and the date at the top.

Questions

Email jake@ficscout.com or see the contact page.