Privacy policy
Last updated July 17, 2026. [TODO: legal review pending; plain-language draft.]
Longbox Ledger is a private comic collection tracker made by Smith Web Apps, LLC. The short version: your collection is nobody's business but yours. We collect what the service needs to work, we do not sell or share your data, there are no ads and no third-party trackers, and you can take everything out or delete it all at any time. The rest of this page is the specifics.
What we collect
Account basics: a username, your email address, and a securely hashed password (we never store the password itself). We record when the account was created and when it last signed in.
What you enter: your books, copies, grades, purchase details, storage locations, value estimates, wishlist, notes, and the photos you upload. This data exists so the service can show it back to you; it is private to your account, and no other user can see any of it. There are no public profiles, no sharing features, and no social anything.
Payment details: none. When paid plans are live, payments are handled by Stripe. Your card details go directly to Stripe and never touch our servers; the only thing we send Stripe about you is an anonymous account id, and the only thing we keep is the subscription status Stripe reports back.
Your photos
Photos you upload are re-encoded on our server before storage, which permanently strips camera metadata such as GPS location, device model, and timestamps. Photos are stored in our database and served only to your logged-in account; there are no public photo URLs.
Photo scanning uses an AI service
The optional photo scanner sends your photo, and nothing else, to Claude, an AI service operated by Anthropic, to read the cover or slab label. Metadata is stripped before the photo leaves our servers. Anthropic's commercial terms state that Anthropic may not train its models on API customer content, which covers these photos (verified against their published terms on July 17, 2026).
Scan photos are temporary by default: if you add the book, the photo attaches to your copy like any upload; if you do not, it is deleted from our servers within 48 hours, and a scan you dismiss is deleted right away. An automatic cleanup enforces this schedule for every account.
After a photo is matched to the catalog, the same AI service may suggest extra details (creators, key issue notes) recalled from its general knowledge of comics rather than from your photo. Suggestions are labeled in the app, nothing is saved unless you apply it, and your edits always win.
Barcode scanning stays on your device
The barcode scanner runs entirely in your browser. The camera video never leaves your device; only the decoded barcode digits are sent to our server to look up the issue.
We send transactional email only: account confirmations, sign-in codes if you turn on two-factor, password resets, receipts, and one reminder before your trial ends. No newsletters, no marketing, no nagging. [TODO: name the production email delivery provider here once settled.]
Cookies and logs
We use cookies only to keep you signed in and to protect forms against forgery. There are no advertising or analytics cookies and no third-party trackers, which is why there is no cookie banner. Our servers keep standard technical logs (request paths, errors) for about two weeks to keep the service healthy; they are not used to profile you.
Where your data lives
The service runs on Amazon Web Services in the United States, with your data stored in our database there and covered by routine encrypted backups. [TODO: confirm the AWS region and backup retention wording with the founder.]
Third parties, the complete list
Anthropic (reads photos you choose to scan), Stripe (payments, when paid plans are live), Amazon Web Services (hosting), and our email delivery provider [TODO: name]. Nobody else receives your data, and none of it is ever sold.
Your data is yours to take or destroy
Every account, including one whose trial or subscription has lapsed, can export everything it ever entered (books, copies, values, wishlist, locations, and photos) as ordinary files, free, at any time. Deleting your account permanently erases your account and everything in it from our systems, including photos and scan history. That deletion is real, not a deactivation.
Children
Longbox Ledger is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. [TODO: legal review for COPPA/age wording.]
Changes and contact
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will say so plainly [TODO: decide the notice mechanism, likely email plus an in-app notice]. Questions about any of this: contact support.