Effective Date: August 22, 2026
Midnight Chapters is owned by Lodestar Books & Designs, LLC.
Information We Collect
To provide your account, we may collect:
- Email address
- Login credentials
- Basic technical information needed to operate the service
Your Reading Data
Your reading journal belongs to you.
- We do not sell your personal information.
- We do not read or share your private journal entries except when necessary, as required by law, or when suspicious or potentially illegal activity has been reported.
Security
We use reasonable security measures to help protect your information. However, no online service can guarantee absolute security.
Cookies
Midnight Chapters may use cookies or similar technologies to improve functionality and remember your preferences.
Third-Party Services
Some services (such as authentication, hosting, analytics, or payment processing) may be provided by trusted third-party providers.
Changes
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. Continued use of Midnight Chapters means you accept any updated policy.
Where Your Library Lives
Your reading library, progress, notes, shelves, achievements, goals, and journal entries are stored securely on our servers, not only on your phone or computer. That means your books belong to your account, not to a single device.
- Clearing your browser cache, history, or site data will sign you out, but it will not erase your library. Sign back in and every book, note, and reading milestone will be right where you left it.
- Switching devices is simple. Whether you open Midnight Chapters on your phone, tablet, laptop, or browser, signing in to your account brings your entire reading world with you.
Export & Delete Your Data
Sign in and open Settings. You can:
- Export everything as a JSON file at any time.
- Delete your account, which permanently removes your books, activity, shelves, achievements, notes, uploaded covers, and profile.
The Midnight Book Society
The Midnight Book Society connects reading experiences — not accounts. When you join a Society Read, you share only three things with that Society's members: the display name you choose, how far you've read in that one book, and any reactions you deliberately write. Everything else in your Midnight Chapters account stays private. Nothing is shared until you turn it on. You choose what to share and what to receive, separately, and you can change your mind at any time.
What The Midnight Book Society Is
The Midnight Book Society is an optional feature that lets you read a single specific book alongside other Midnight Chapters readers. Participation is voluntary. If you never create or join a Society Read, this section does not apply to you and none of your information is shared with anyone.
Joining Is Always by Invitation
Society Reads are private and unlisted. There is no public directory, no search function for Societies or readers, and no way to discover a Society without being given its unique Society Code by the person hosting it. Entering a valid code does not automatically add you — you will always see what you are joining and be asked to confirm before any membership is created.
What You Share (Only If You Choose To)
When you join a Society Read, all sharing is off by default. You control four independent settings:
- Share my reading progress — off unless you turn it on
- Share my reactions and Whispers — off unless you turn it on
- See other members' reading progress — off unless you turn it on
- See other members' reactions and Whispers — off unless you turn it on
If you enable sharing, the only information other members of that Society can see is:
- Your Society display name — a name you choose when joining. It is shown only to members of that specific Society Read. It is not your account name, email address, or any account identifier.
- Your reading progress for that one book, shown as a percentage — how far along you are in the book. We do not share page numbers, reading session times, how long you read, or when you last opened the book. Other members see only how far you've read, never when or how quickly.
- Reactions and Whispers you deliberately write and submit — short, book-specific comments you choose to post. Nothing is captured or posted automatically.
What Is Never Shared
Joining a Society Read never gives any other member, including the Society Host, access to: your library; your TBR list; your reading history for any other book; your notes, quotes, or highlights; your ratings, including spice and heartbreak ratings; your achievements or Insights; your gallery content; your account preferences; your email address; your username, user ID, Reader's Key, or authentication information; your reading session times, reading speed, or when you last read; or any book other than the one that Society is reading.
Society membership does not create a friends list, followers, profiles, direct messaging, or any connection between accounts. You may join multiple Society Reads with entirely different people without any of those people becoming connected to one another, or gaining any visibility into your other Societies.
Hosts Have No Special Access
Creating a Society Read makes you its Host, which allows you to manage that Society — invite members, remove members, and archive it when finished. Being a Host does not grant access to any other reader's account, library, or private information. A Host sees exactly what every other member sees.
Because creating a Society is an act of inviting others to read with you, a Host's reading-progress sharing is enabled by default. Hosts are told this clearly and may turn it off at any time, with the same effect as any other member.
How We Protect This Information
Society data is stored separately from your private account data. The Society feature can only access a small, purpose-built set of information — your display name, your reading progress for that one book, and any reactions you submit — and has no technical pathway to your library, notes, or other private records.
Access is verified on our servers for every request. Membership in one Society never grants access to another. We do not rely on hidden screens or interface restrictions to protect your information.
Reported Whispers & Moderation Records
When a Whisper is reported, we retain the reported content, the Society it belongs to, the reason selected, and the identities of both the reporting reader and the author, so that we can review the report and keep a moderation record. Reports are confidential and the reported reader is never shown who filed the report. Where content involves credible threats, sexual content involving minors, stalking, doxxing, or other unlawful conduct, we may preserve and disclose these records — including associated account information — to law enforcement or other authorities as required or permitted by law.
Turning Sharing Off
You may change any sharing setting at any time. Turning off a sharing setting deletes the corresponding shared information from that Society rather than merely hiding it. Other members will simply see that you are reading along privately.
Leaving a Society
You may leave any Society Read at any time. When you leave:
- Your shared progress is deleted immediately
- Your Whispers and reactions are deleted immediately
- Your membership ends and you no longer appear to other members
A Host may remove a member from a Society, which deletes that member's shared information in the same way. A Host may archive a completed Society but cannot delete a Society that others participated in, because other readers' shared information is not the Host's to erase. Any member may still leave an archived Society and remove her own information.
Notifications
If you opt in to Society notifications, we may send you alerts such as "a member updated their progress" or "a new Whisper is available." Notification content never includes the text of another reader's Whisper or any spoiler content. Notification settings are individual — no other member can turn your notifications on or off.
Shareable Society Cards
If your Society completes a book, members may voluntarily create a downloadable card summarizing the Society's results, which may include Society display names and voluntarily submitted content. Your private Society Code is never included on any shareable or public card. Participation in creating or sharing these cards is optional.
Content You Post
Whispers and reactions are written by other readers, not by Midnight Chapters. We do not pre-screen this content. If another member posts something that concerns you, you may hide it, report it, or leave the Society at any time. Society Hosts may remove any Whisper within their own Society.
Your Rights
You may at any time: change what you share, stop sharing entirely, leave any Society, or delete your Midnight Chapters account. Deleting your account removes your Society memberships and all information you shared within them.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email info@lodestarbooksanddesigns.com. Signed-in readers can also use the Help & FAQ page inside the app.