1. Scope and contact
This policy explains how InitialS (“we”) processes information through the NNovel / NightNovel apps for iOS and Android and the official NNovel website. Contact initial.s.2013@gmail.com for privacy questions or requests. To the extent that we determine the purposes and means of processing under applicable law, we are the data controller or equivalent responsible party.
Ordinary reading does not require a NNovel account. Optional cloud backup uses your existing Google or Apple account. Not having a NNovel account does not mean that no data is processed: analytics, notification and other integrated services may still process device identifiers and usage information.
This policy provides information. Reading it or continuing to use the app does not replace any separate consent required by law.
2. Information, sources and purposes
- Local reading data: Your bookshelf, chapter and reading position, search history, book metadata and reading / appearance preferences are primarily stored on your device to support reading and customization. Searches and requests for chapters send relevant keywords or content paths to the content source. Some actions also generate the analytics events described below.
- Usage analytics: The app uses Google Analytics for Firebase to record screen views, search terms, selected book names / identifiers / authors / categories, chapter or detail interactions, and adding or removing favorites. The service may also process app-instance identifiers, device / operating-system / app versions, interaction times and approximate region to understand use, maintain and improve the service. Do not enter passwords, government identifiers or other sensitive information in search fields.
- Notifications and service configuration: Firebase Messaging, Installations, Remote Config and In-App Messaging may process push tokens, installation identifiers, platform / version information and related interactions or diagnostics for notification delivery, in-app messages, version checks and feature configuration. Disabling system notifications does not disable all Firebase processing.
- Diagnostics and performance: Depending on the released version and enabled SDKs, Firebase Crashlytics / Performance may process crash stacks, errors, performance measurements, device / system / app versions, installation information and network-request metadata for troubleshooting. Not every version enables every diagnostic service.
- Optional backup: Backups contain saved books and their information, reading history and progress, book metadata, reading settings, an installation identifier and creation time. They do not contain cached chapter text, search history or login credentials and are not a complete copy of all app data.
- Support: Your email address, message, app / device version and any screenshots or files you voluntarily send are used to respond, investigate and handle requests. Do not send account passwords, authorization tokens or unrelated personal information.
- Website and content connections: Hosting, content, image and service providers receive connection information such as IP addresses, request paths, times and browser / device information. The website does not embed advertising or analytics scripts or set marketing cookies. Reading-demo settings remain in the current page's memory. Firebase Hosting infrastructure processing also applies when the website is hosted there.
Ordinary reading does not require contacts, camera, microphone or precise-location data. Approximate location inferred from an IP address is different from a device's precise-location permission.
3. Google Drive and iCloud backup
Backup is optional. Refusing authorization prevents cloud backup / restore, but does not make a NNovel account necessary for the local bookshelf or ordinary reading. Connecting an account alone does not request an immediate upload: a manual backup or the enabled automatic-backup process triggers the corresponding operation.
On Android, Google Sign-In and the Drive drive.appdata permission let the app read and write NNovel's hidden application-data area, without granting general access to your other Drive documents. The app stores your Google account identifier and email to identify the backup account, and uses an authorization token for API requests. It does not ask for your Google password.
On iOS, backup uses the device's iCloud account and NNovel's CloudKit private database, including account / installation information needed to identify backups. Data travels between the device and Google / Apple cloud services; this workflow does not pass through an InitialS-operated backup server or publish backups to other users.
Google API account and backup data is used only for the backup / restore features you request and necessary security processing, not for personalized advertising, sale to data brokers or training general-purpose AI models. We follow the Google API Services User Data Policy, including applicable Limited Use requirements. Enabling backup does not itself turn backup contents into analytics events; subsequent reading, search and bookshelf interactions remain subject to section 2.
4. Advertising, tracking and choices
Some releases may show advertisements through Google AdMob and Meta Audience Network mediation. Advertising availability and providers depend on the installed version and actual service configuration; not all versions enable advertising. When advertisements are served, providers may process advertising identifiers, IP / approximate region, device information, impressions, clicks and diagnostics for delivery, measurement, fraud prevention and personalization where the necessary consent has been obtained.
You can manage app-tracking permission in iOS settings and advertising identifiers through the privacy / advertising settings available on Android. Options vary by operating-system version. Refusing iOS tracking authorization should not block core reading. System tracking permission is not blanket consent to analytics or other processing, and does not replace European advertising-consent requirements.
Non-essential analytics, device storage / access or advertising that legally requires consent must obtain valid consent before the relevant processing and provide a withdrawal route. This policy does not replace that process. If privacy controls are not available in your version, contact support to make a request. We do not represent that every current version has an in-app analytics switch or a unified advertising-preferences panel.
We do not sell personal data for monetary payment. However, disclosures of identifiers for cross-service personalized advertising may count as “sharing” or a “sale” under some laws. This policy therefore does not make a blanket “no sharing” claim for all advertising-enabled releases. See section 9 for applicable rights.
5. Recipients and disclosures
Recipients depend on the feature: Google / Firebase for analytics, notifications, installation identifiers, remote configuration and enabled diagnostics; Google for Android sign-in and Drive backup; Apple for iCloud / CloudKit backup; Google AdMob / Meta when advertising is enabled; and hosting and support-email providers. When the app requests novels or images, source operators receive the necessary request information and may process it under their policies.
See the Google Privacy Policy, Firebase privacy and security information, AdMob data use information, Apple Privacy Policy and Meta Privacy Policy. These links explain provider practices and do not replace our responsibility for integrated services.
We require providers processing data on our behalf to provide appropriate protection under applicable contracts, purpose restrictions and law. Where a provider independently determines processing for its account, security or advertising purposes, its own policy and legal obligations also apply. We may disclose necessary information when legally required, to address security / fraud incidents, protect lawful rights or act on your instructions. Any business transfer must preserve applicable protections and provide legally required notice or prior consent.
6. Retention and deletion
- Device data: Generally remains until you remove it using available controls, clear app data or uninstall. Operating-system backups, device migration or a later cloud restore may bring data back. Deleting local data does not also erase previously uploaded analytics events or cloud backups.
- Cloud backups: After a successful upload, the app attempts to retain the latest three backups for that installation identifier. Failed cleanup, other devices and identifiers created after reinstalling can leave additional versions. This is not a three-version limit across all devices. Disabling automatic backup, revoking access or uninstalling does not automatically delete existing backups.
- Support and rights requests: Kept as needed to respond, investigate and fulfill the request, with limited additional retention for applicable legal obligations or a specific dispute. Data is deleted or de-identified when no longer needed for those purposes.
- Analytics, diagnostics, notifications and service logs: Retention depends on service purposes, project settings, provider retention / expiry mechanisms and legal obligations, rather than indefinite retention merely because information might be useful. We delete or de-identify unnecessary data within our control. There is no single retention period shared by all services; contact us for the period or criteria relevant to your information.
The app currently has no one-click control to delete all cloud backups. First disable automatic backup, then use the account or storage-management options Google / Apple make available for NNovel data. If you cannot find an option, contact us for platform-specific assistance. Revoking access and deleting data are different actions. We cannot sign in to your private cloud account on your behalf. Requests about records independently controlled by a provider may need to be directed to that provider.
7. Legal bases, international transfers and security
Where permitted by applicable law, core reading and requested backup / support processing rely on necessity to provide the requested service; non-essential tracking, personalized advertising and analytics requiring consent rely on valid consent; necessary security may rely on legitimate interests balanced against your rights; and legal requirements rely on legal obligations. Listing a purpose in this policy does not make all processing necessary for a contract.
Because the service is available globally, Google, Apple, Meta, hosting and email providers may process information outside your country, including in the United States and their other operating regions. Transfers subject to EU / UK or other restrictions must have an applicable lawful mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or appropriate standard contractual clauses and supplementary safeguards. Contact us about applicable arrangements. Using the app is not blanket consent to international transfers.
We use access restrictions, platform security and transmission protections proportionate to risk. Cloud backups use Google / Apple service connections. This policy does not claim end-to-end encryption for backups or guarantee absolute security. We will handle legally required breach notifications and remediation under applicable rules.
8. Requests and feature controls
Email initial.s.2013@gmail.com with the subject “NNovel Privacy Request,” identifying your platform and the information you wish to access, correct, receive a copy of, delete, restrict, object to or withdraw consent for. Supply only information necessary to identify the request, never passwords. We may perform proportionate identity or authorization checks and will respond within applicable legal deadlines. If an extension or refusal is necessary, we will explain the reason and available remedies.
You do not need a NNovel account to exercise your rights. Some SDK records are identified only by device or installation identifiers and may require assistance to locate. We cannot disclose someone else's data or information associated with an unverified request. Truly anonymized data, legally required records and data independently controlled by another provider may be treated differently.
You can disable automatic backup, revoke Google authorization and manage system notifications and tracking permissions. Refusing permission may prevent the corresponding feature from working, without removing statutory rights. Withdrawal does not affect lawful processing before withdrawal. There is currently no unified in-app switch that disables all analytics and SDKs.
9. Regional rights
Taiwan: Where the Personal Data Protection Act applies, you may request access / review, copies, correction / supplementation, cessation of collection / processing / use, and deletion. The responsible party, purposes, categories, retention, regions, recipients, methods and effects of withholding data are described in the relevant sections above.
European Economic Area and United Kingdom: Where GDPR / UK GDPR applies, you may exercise rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection and consent withdrawal, and complain to a competent data-protection authority, including in your place of residence, without waiving other remedies. You may object to legitimate-interest processing based on your particular situation; objections concerning direct marketing are handled as required by law. NNovel does not use reading data for solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on you.
US states, including California: Where the relevant state law applies to us and the processing, you may have rights to know / access, delete, correct, obtain portable data, opt out of sale or sharing / targeted advertising, and limit certain sensitive-data uses or profiling. Sections 2, 4, 5 and 6 describe categories, sources, purposes, recipients and retention principles. Contact support with an “Opt out of sale / sharing / targeted advertising” request. An authorized agent may act where requirements are met; you may appeal decisions where applicable, and will not face unlawful discrimination for exercising rights.
Whether cross-service advertising constitutes sharing must be assessed for the actual release. An email channel does not replace legally required universal opt-out signals or immediate controls. This website does not use cross-site advertising or marketing tracking, but we do not represent that the app synchronizes browser GPC signals across all devices or advertising SDKs. Mandatory rights in other jurisdictions remain unaffected.
10. Children and minors
NNovel is a general-audience service, not directed to children under 13, who should not use it. Users aged 13 or older who have not reached their local age of majority or independent consent must obtain parental or guardian consent where legally necessary. Store content ratings are not the same as the age for privacy consent. Contact us if you believe children's information has been improperly processed. We will investigate and restrict processing or delete data as legally required. This statement does not mean that age verification is implemented in the app.
11. Updates and languages
We may update this policy as features, practices or legal requirements change, publishing the new version and effective date. Material changes will receive appropriate notice; where renewed consent is required, it must be obtained before the relevant new processing begins. Traditional Chinese and English versions are intended to convey the same meaning. Contact us about discrepancies; no language arrangement limits your mandatory statutory rights.