Privacy, without the fine-print fog

The information Shelf handles depends on the features you use:

Account information

Your name, email address, profile image, and the account identifier supplied by our authentication provider when you create an account or sign in.

Content you choose to save

For a capture: the screenshot or interface area you select, its source URL and page title, text found in the selected area, detected colors, capture title, section type, collection selection, and capture time. When you choose Save website: the current URL, site name, homepage description and social preview image when available, and favicon. When you choose Save page: a screenshot of the top viewport, that page’s URL, confirmed name and page type, description, social preview image, favicon, and site name when available.

Library content

Collection names, descriptions, custom section types, organization choices, and any sharing settings or links you create.

Authentication and local extension data

Short-lived authentication tokens, a temporary capture draft and image preview, and your last selected capture mode. Shelf does not receive your password.

Connected AI tools

When you connect an AI tool such as Claude, Cursor, or VS Code to Shelf: the tool's name and version, the permissions you approved, when it connected and was last used, and a log of its requests (which Shelf tool it used, when, how long it took, and whether it succeeded). The log does not include what the AI tool asked for or what Shelf sent back.

Technical information

Our service providers may process standard request and security logs, such as IP address, browser or device type, request time, and error information, to operate and protect the service.

The browser extension can operate on websites you visit so that it can present the capture tool. It does not continuously read, transmit, or build a history of those pages. Website content is processed when you open Shelf and explicitly take a photo or choose Save website or Save page. Saving a website or page does not give Shelf ongoing access to that site or your browsing history.

We use information to:

• Create and secure your Shelf account.
• Capture, upload, organize, display, search, and share the references you choose to save.
• Analyze saved captures, pages, and websites to suggest automatic taxonomy tags.
• Check captures you make public for harmful or prohibited content.
• Remember limited extension preferences and maintain a capture while you review it.
• Answer requests from AI tools you connect, and apply plan limits to them.
• Provide support, troubleshoot errors, prevent abuse, and keep Shelf reliable.
• Comply with law and enforce our rights when necessary.

We do not use captured website content, browsing information, or account data for personalized advertising, credit decisions, or unrelated profiling.

We share information only where needed to provide Shelf, follow your instructions, or meet legal and security obligations:

Clerk

Provides sign-in, session management, and account identity services.

Convex

Provides application database, backend functions, and synchronization infrastructure for your Shelf library.

Cloudflare Images

Receives and stores capture images and page screenshots you choose to save.

Anthropic

Processes saved capture and page images, website preview images when available, and related saved metadata to suggest taxonomy tags.

OpenAI

Checks captures you make public, including their image, page title, and text, for harmful or prohibited content.

Hosting and infrastructure providers

Process limited technical information needed to deliver, monitor, and secure the website and extension services.

People you choose

A capture or collection can be viewed by others when you intentionally create or share a public link. Your library is otherwise private by default: other people can’t browse or search it. Each image is served from its own long, unguessable link, so anyone you give an image’s direct link to can open it until you delete it. Public captures can also be found and read through AI tools that other Shelf users connect.

AI tools you connect

When you connect an AI tool to Shelf, Shelf sends that tool the library content it requests on your behalf: titles, websites, tags, colors, links, and collection names, and on Pro, capture images. The tool's provider handles that content under its own terms and privacy policy, not this one. Shelf does not itself send your library to any AI model provider through this connection.

We may also disclose information if reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect users or Shelf, investigate abuse, or complete a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate safeguards.

The extension stores pending capture data and authentication material in Chrome's session storage and cache while you review a capture. Pending capture data is removed after you save or discard it; session information also expires with the browser session. Your last capture mode is stored locally until you clear the extension's data or uninstall it.

Saved account and library information is retained while your account is active and until it is deleted or no longer needed to provide Shelf. Deleting a capture or page also deletes its image from Cloudflare Images. Some information may remain for a limited time in backups, security logs, or where retention is required by law. To request account or data deletion, contact us at the address below.

Shelf keeps the log of requests from connected AI tools for 30 days. Disconnecting an AI tool in Settings stops it reading your library, but it does not remove content the tool has already received, such as results in a past conversation. To delete that, use the AI tool's own controls.

You choose whether to start a capture or save the current website, what area to save, how to name and organize it, and whether to share it. You can discard a pending capture without uploading it, sign out, manage sharing settings where available, connect or disconnect AI tools in Settings, clear local extension data, or uninstall the extension.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or receive a copy of your personal information, or to object to certain processing. Email hello@shelf.design to make a request. We may need to verify your identity before completing it.

Shelf uses HTTPS for data in transit and relies on access controls and service providers designed to protect stored data. Authentication tokens are kept temporary in the extension, and captured images upload through one-time upload URLs. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Shelf is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided information to Shelf, please contact us so we can investigate and delete it where required.

Shelf and its service providers may process information in countries other than the one where you live. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for these transfers.

We may update this policy as Shelf changes. We will revise the date at the top of this page and provide additional notice when required. If our extension's data practices materially change, we will disclose the change before collecting or using data in the new way.

Shelf's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs, including Chrome extension APIs, adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use that information only to provide or improve Shelf's user-facing capture and library features, and as otherwise permitted by that policy.

Questions, privacy requests, and deletion requests can be sent to: