Last updated October 3, 2026
Earshelf does not collect your data. There is no analytics, no advertising, no behavioral tracking and no third-party software development kit in the app. Nobody working on Earshelf can see what you enter.
Everything you enter is stored on your iPhone or iPad. With iCloud sync on, which it is unless you turn it off in Settings, a copy is kept in your private iCloud database, where only your Apple Account can read it. The widgets and the Apple Watch app show a small summary of what you're listening to and what is due back, copied from the app on your own devices.
When you search, Earshelf sends the words you typed to Apple's iTunes Search API, and when you scan a barcode it sends the book's ISBN to Open Library. Those requests carry nothing from your library, and covers are downloaded from Apple and Open Library in the same way.
The books you add and their editions, narrators and series, the listening you log, your ratings, reviews and notes, the prices and availability you record, your shelves and tags, and the loans, holds, library cards, credits and subscriptions you track. For a library card Earshelf keeps its name and expiry date, never the card number or PIN. The camera is used only while you scan a barcode, and no image is kept. Screenshots you import are read on the device and are not kept either.
Purchases are handled by Apple. Earshelf never sees your payment details. The app uses verified purchase records to check subscription access.
Settings in Earshelf has a "Delete all data" control that removes every book, listen, rating, note, card and subscription from this device and from your iCloud copy. Deleting the app also removes its local data.
The controller of any personal data described here is Joao Vitor Humenhuk Achutti, a sole trader, 38 Allenby Street, Tel Aviv-Jaffa 6332512, Israel. You can ask what is held, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, or complain, by writing to earshelf@humenhuk.com. You can also complain to the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority or to the data protection authority where you live.