Privacy notice

Kobbie is operated by Tom Coumans, based in the Netherlands, who is the data controller for the personal data described here. Questions and privacy requests go through Kobbie support.

• Your e-book files. Kobbie never uploads book content.
• The Kobo database itself. Kobbie copies it locally and reads it read-only.
• Annotations, highlights and bookmarks. Kobbie does not read or send them.
• The raw Kobo record identifier. Kobbie sends a one-way hash of it so books can be matched without exposing your file paths.

When you choose to save a scan to your library, Kobbie uploads a fixed metadata payload per book: title, author, series name and position where the device has them, reading progress, reading time and session counts, language, publisher, publication date, file format and the hashed record identifier. Kobbie uses these to recognise books, order series and work out what you have already finished.

Scanning your Kobo requires a Kobbie account. Your scan is read in your browser and saved straight to your own library, so a result always belongs to a known account instead of a temporary link. There is no accountless scan flow.

With an account, Kobbie keeps your saved library: the book metadata above, your manual corrections, your cover choices and any covers you upload, your followed series, your wishlist, your reading statistics and your email preferences. Signing in with Google gives Kobbie your email address and name only.

In Account → Your data you can download a current JSON copy of the personal data Kobbie stores for you. It includes your saved library metadata, reading totals, cover choices, wishlist, release alerts and email preferences. It does not include e-book files, passwords, payment details, internal database identifiers or the text of annotations.

The export is generated when you request it and downloaded directly by your browser. If you cannot sign in, contact Kobbie support and we will help with an access request after verifying your identity.

Account, security and support messages are always sent, because they are part of running the service. Product updates and book release alerts are optional and off unless you turn them on, either in your account settings or by following a series. Every optional email carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately for that address.

To provide the service and honour our agreement with you: your account, your saved library, recognition, corrections, covers, stats and paid features. On legitimate interests: keeping the service secure, preventing fraud and abuse, and improving how recognition works. On consent: optional product emails and release alerts, and anonymous shelf trends, each of which you can switch off. On legal obligation: keeping records we are required to keep, such as those tied to a purchase.

Kobbie looks up book facts at Open Library, ISBNdb, Wikidata and Hardcover, and uses an AI model to help match messy titles to known series. Those lookups send the book details being resolved, not your identity or your account. Hosting, database, authentication and email delivery run on Kobbie’s cloud provider.

Kobbie Plus purchases are sold through Paddle, our reseller and Merchant of Record. Paddle receives the data it needs to take payment, manage your subscription, handle tax and issue invoices, and it processes card details directly, not through Kobbie. We may also share data with professional advisers such as accountants or lawyers, and with authorities where the law requires it.

Kobbie does not sell your data, does not run advertising, and does not share your library with other users. Anonymous shelf trends are only included when you switch that on in your account.

Some of these providers are outside the EEA. Where that happens, transfers rely on an adequacy decision or on standard contractual clauses.

Kobbie uses cookies and local browser storage that are needed to run the site: keeping you signed in, remembering a connected Kobo, and holding scan progress. Paddle sets its own cookies during checkout. Kobbie sets no advertising cookies. You can clear this storage in your browser at any time, which will sign you out.

Account data is kept while your account exists, and removed or anonymised when you delete it. Cover backups are kept for at least 48 hours so a write can be undone. Records tied to a purchase are kept as long as tax and accounting law requires.

Data is encrypted in transit, access to production systems is restricted, and rows in the database are scoped to your account so other users cannot read your library.

In your account settings you can delete your library on its own, or delete your whole account. Deleting the account removes your profile, library, scans, corrections, uploaded covers, support threads, subscriptions and email preferences, and signs you out. It cannot be undone.

Facts about books themselves, such as which volume is second in a series, stay in Kobbie’s shared catalogue. They are not personal to you and contain no link to your account.

You can ask for access to your data, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, or object to processing based on legitimate interests, and you can withdraw consent at any time. We answer within one month. If you are in the EEA or UK and you are not happy with the outcome, you can complain to your data protection authority; in the Netherlands that is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

Questions about your data, or a request to see or remove something, go through Kobbie support.