$OpenBook
Draft — not final. This is a working draft and will be finalized before public launch. It is not legal advice.

OpenBook — Privacy Policy (DRAFT)

This is a working draft for attorney review. It is not legal advice and is not yet in force. Effective date: [TODO: EFFECTIVE DATE]

We deliberately collect almost nothing

OpenBook is built to collect as little personal data as possible. There is no email, no name, no phone number, and no account signup. Your identity is a cryptographic keypair generated and stored in your own browser — we never ask who you are.

That said, OpenBook works by writing posts to a public blockchain, and on-chain data is permanent and public. This policy explains exactly what data exists, where it lives, and what we can and cannot do about it. The most important thing to understand is at the end: anything written to the blockchain cannot be erased by us — or by anyone.

1. What is collected, and where it lives

A. On-chain data — public, permanent, the operator CANNOT erase it

When you post, the following is written to the BSV blockchain as an OP_RETURN record:

  • Post content — the text you submit.
  • Your public key / address — the public identifier of your keypair.
  • Your signature — the cryptographic signature over your post.
  • Timestamp — when the post was made.

Anything you type into a post becomes permanent, public data that the operator cannot remove. It is replicated across the blockchain network and readable by anyone, forever, through public explorers and tools. Do not put personal data, secrets, or anything sensitive into a post.

Boost payments are also blockchain transactions and are likewise public and permanent on-chain.

B. Browser localStorage — stored on your device, never sent to our server

The following is stored only in your browser and is not transmitted to the operator's server:

  • Your keypair (your identity, encrypted with your passphrase if you have set one).
  • Your anonymous name (e.g., anon_XXXX).
  • UI flags / preferences (e.g., display settings, dismissed prompts).

Because this lives on your device, clearing your browser storage or losing your device can permanently destroy your identity. The operator holds no copy and cannot recover it.

C. Server / database

The operator's server and database hold:

  • Posts — a copy of post records, used to render the app feed.
  • Payouts and boost grants — records relating to boosts and the free-boost subsidy.
  • IP addresses, processed transiently for rate-limiting — when you make requests, your IP address is read from a request header and used briefly to enforce rate limits and prevent abuse. It is not used to build a profile of you.

D. Third-party processors

Using the Service causes data to be shared with third parties that help operate it:

  • WhatsOnChain — used to read blockchain data (balances, transactions, UTXOs). [TODO: PROCESSOR LINK — WhatsOnChain privacy policy]
  • ARC / GorillaPool — used to broadcast transactions to the BSV network. [TODO: PROCESSOR LINK — ARC/GorillaPool privacy policy]
  • Anthropic — powers the in-app "Ask AI" chat. Prompts you type into the AI chat are sent to a third-party large-language-model provider. Do not put personal or sensitive information into the AI chat. [TODO: PROCESSOR LINK — Anthropic privacy policy]
  • Hosting provider — [TODO: HOSTING PROVIDER NAME + PRIVACY POLICY LINK] hosts the Service and may process request metadata (including IP addresses) as part of delivering it.

2. Lawful basis for processing

3. Cookies, local storage & tracking

At launch, OpenBook uses browser localStorage to store your identity and preferences on your device (described in Section 1.B). The Service does not use tracking cookies and does not run third-party analytics at launch.

4. Your rights — and the hard on-chain erasure limit

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA/CPRA, including rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of your personal data, and to object or opt out.

What the operator can do:

  • The operator can remove content from the OpenBook app feed and can remove copies from its own database.

What the operator CANNOT do:

  • The operator cannot erase data from the blockchain. On-chain data — including post content, your public key/address, signature, and timestamp — is permanent and outside the operator's control. Independent nodes, explorers, and indexers replicate it. A removal from the app and database does not remove anything from the chain, and the content may remain visible through other tools.

To exercise a right or make a request, contact [TODO: CONTACT EMAIL].

5. International data transfers

Operating the Service may involve transferring data across borders (for example, to the third-party processors listed above and to the global, distributed blockchain network).

6. Children's data

The Service is not directed to children under [TODO: MIN AGE], and the operator does not knowingly collect personal data from them.

7. Retention

  • Database copies (posts, payout/boost records): retained for [TODO: DB RETENTION PERIOD] to operate the app feed and the fairness/payout system. [LAWYER: set retention period and justify it; address transient IP retention specifically.]
  • On-chain data: permanent. It is never deleted because it cannot be deleted — by the operator or anyone else.

8. Changes to this Policy

The operator may update this Policy. Material changes will be reflected by updating the effective date above and, where appropriate, by notice within the Service.

9. Contact

Privacy questions or requests: [TODO: CONTACT EMAIL].

Operator / data controller: [TODO: OPERATOR LEGAL NAME].