Legal

Privacy Policy

The Book Screen is a reading site for children, teenagers and adults learning English. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, who helps us run the site, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it. It is written for parents and readers, so we have kept it as plain as we can.

In effect from 16 October 2026.

1. Who we are

The Book Screen (thebookscreen.com) is run by Tecsolut Ltd, a company registered in Israel (“we”, “us”). We are responsible for the personal information described here (the “controller”). Questions, requests and complaints: SharonPalchik@gmail.com.

When a library or school gives readers access codes, we still decide how the site handles personal information. Any separate written agreement with that library or school also applies to it.

2. What we collect

When you create an account

• Your name and email address, and a password (stored only in scrambled, “hashed” form by our sign-in provider).
• If you sign in with Google: the name, email address and Google account ID that Google shares with us. We do not get your Google password.
• Your age in years. We ask so we know whether a parent or guardian needs to agree.
• For readers under 18: the parent or guardian's email address and, if given, their first name, so we can ask them to agree.
• The parent's decision: whether they agreed or withdrew, the date, how they did it, and the version of the statement they agreed to.

When you read and play

• Which books and chapters you open, and whether a chapter counts as read. To check that, we record active reading time and how far you scrolled.
• Your answers to Story Quest questions (which option you picked), and that you finished an activity. What you type in creative-writing and discussion activities is checked in your browser and never sent to us.
• Points, achievements, streaks, daily challenges, your weekly league and its score, and the characters you earn or choose in the shop.
• If you use a library or school access code: which library gave you access and when.
• Reading settings you choose, such as text size or the language for word look-ups.

When you contact us

Your name, email, organisation (if you give one) and your message, so we can answer.

Automatically

Like every website, the servers that deliver our pages record technical details such as your IP address, browser type and the time of a request. These are used to keep the site running and secure, not to build profiles.

Accounts from our old site

Accounts moved from our previous website may still hold details that site asked for, such as birthday, gender, grade or school. The Book Screen does not use them. You can ask us to delete them at any time.

We do not ask for home addresses, phone numbers or photos, and readers can't post anything other readers see.

3. Why we use it

• To run your account and the reading site: sign-in, saving your place, checking that chapters were really read, scoring answers, points, achievements, leagues and the shop. (For readers in the EU and UK, the legal basis is that this is needed to provide the service you asked for.)
• To ask for and record a parent's permission for readers under 18, and to show linked parents their child's progress. (Consent, and our legal duties toward children.)
• To keep the site safe: preventing cheating, abuse and attacks, and fixing problems. (Our legitimate interest in a safe service.)
• To send emails you need: confirming your email, signing in with a code, password resets, and parent permission requests. We do not send marketing emails.
• To answer messages you send us.
• To understand which stories work, using totals and counts rather than individual profiles.

We do not use anyone's information for advertising, we do not sell or rent it, and we do not make automated decisions about anyone that have legal or similarly serious effects.

4. Children and parents

• Readers tell us their age when they sign up. Anyone under 18 is asked for a parent or guardian's email, and we email that parent to ask them to agree.
• Under 13: until a parent confirms, the child can read stories, but nothing they do is saved: no reading progress, answers, points or league place. We only use the parent's email to ask for permission. If no parent confirms, the account holds only the details given at sign-up.
• 13 to 17: the reader can use the site while we wait for the parent, and appears in leagues only as “Reader” until the parent confirms.
• A linked parent can see the child's books, chapters, points and streak, but not the child's answers.
• A parent can withdraw permission at any time from the family area. If no parent's permission remains, we delete the child's saved answers, and the child goes back to the rules above (a child under 13 can read, but nothing new is saved).
• A parent can also ask us for a copy of their child's information, or delete the child's account from the family area or by emailing SharonPalchik@gmail.com.

For families in the United States, this is how we meet the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): we ask for a parent's permission before we collect personal information from a child under 13 beyond what we need to ask for it, and parents can review, refuse further collection, and have their child's information deleted.

5. Who helps us run the site

We use a small number of service providers. Each may only use the information to provide its service to us.

• Supabase: our database, sign-in and file storage. Your account and reading information are stored on its servers in London, United Kingdom.
• Vercel: hosts the website and delivers its pages from servers around the world.
• Google: only if you choose “Sign in with Google”. When a reader looks up a word, our server also asks Google Translate for that word alone; no account details are sent.
• Resend: delivers messages from our contact form to our team.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect the safety of a child or anyone else, or if the site is transferred to a new owner who keeps this policy (we would tell you first). Libraries and schools that give out access codes do not get readers' reading progress, answers or writing from us.

Some of these providers are outside Israel and outside the European Union. When information leaves the EU, UK or Israel, we rely on the protections the law provides, such as adequacy decisions (the UK has one from the EU and Israel) and the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

The AI characters

The characters who ask Story Quest questions on video are AI characters: their faces and voices are made with AI tools, and every story and question is supervised by our team. The videos are made in advance. The characters do not talk with readers, and no reader's information is sent to the AI tools used to make them.

6. How long we keep it

• Account and reading information: while the account exists.
• When an account is deleted, its profile, progress, answers, points, leagues and shop items are deleted at once. Copies in our provider's backups are overwritten within 30 days.
• A parent's permission link expires after 7 days (the reader can send a new one). If an under-13 account is never confirmed, we may delete it.
• Messages to us: as long as we need to answer them, and no longer than two years.
• Server logs: kept by our hosting providers for a short time (usually days or weeks).

7. Keeping it safe

All connections to the site are encrypted. Passwords are never stored in readable form. Database rules make sure each reader can reach only their own information, and only a few team members can reach the admin tools. No method is perfect. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

8. Your choices and rights

• See and download your information: Account settings, “Download my data”.
• Correct your name or email: Account settings.
• Delete your account and everything in it: Account settings, “Delete my account”.
• Withdraw a parent's permission: the family area.
• Object, restrict, or ask any question: email SharonPalchik@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days.

You can also complain to a data protection authority: in Israel, the Privacy Protection Authority; in the EU, the authority in your country; in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We would be grateful for the chance to sort it out with you first.

9. Cookies and what is saved on your device

We only use what the site needs to work. There are no advertising, analytics or tracking cookies.

• Sign-in cookies (named sb-…-auth-token): keep you signed in.
• Your cookie choice (tbs_cookie_consent): remembers what you chose in the cookie banner.
• Settings saved in your browser (not cookies, and never sent to us): accessibility settings, the word look-up language, whether reward sounds are muted, a library code typed before signing up, and whether you have already seen the intro and some animations.

You can change your cookie choice any time with “Cookie settings” in the footer.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change matters, for example if we start using information in a new way, we will tell account holders (and linked parents) by email or on the site before it takes effect, and ask again for permission where the law requires it.

11. Contact

Tecsolut Ltd, The Book Screen. Email: SharonPalchik@gmail.com. See also our Terms of Use and Accessibility statement.