Kukatu – Terms of Use, Privacy & Cookie Policy

Kukatu is a mobile app owned and operated by Kukatu Ltd, registered in the United Kingdom. These Terms govern your use of the app, its features and its community. By using Kukatu, you agree to them.

If you do not agree, please do not use the app.

1. About Kukatu

Kukatu helps you track the books you read, join or run a book club, vote on what your club reads next, plan club meetings, chat with your club, and read books that Kukatu makes available in the app.

Kukatu does not make AI-generated recommendations, sell merchandise, carry affiliate links, or take payments. If any of that changes, these Terms will be updated before the feature is released.

2. Eligibility and age

You must be 13 years or older to use Kukatu. Users under 13 are not permitted to create an account. If you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to review these Terms with you.

We ask for your birth year to confirm this. We do not ask for your full date of birth. Some accounts created before this change still hold a date of birth; it appears in your data export and is removed when you delete your account.

By registering, you confirm that you meet the minimum age and agree to comply with these Terms.

3. Community guidelines

To keep Kukatu a safe and welcoming space:
• Be respectful and kind
• No harassment, threats, hate speech, or spam
• Keep content relevant to books, reading, wellness, or productivity
• Use appropriate language
• Respect copyright, trademarks, and intellectual property

4. Your account

• Provide accurate information when you create an account
• You are responsible for keeping your login details secure
• Do not impersonate others or create false identities
• Report suspicious activity to support@kukatu.co.uk

5. Your content and moderation

You may post messages, updates and book discussions, and you are responsible for what you post.

• Your reviews and notes remain yours. You grant Kukatu permission to display them in the app where you chose to post them
• Do not post illegal, offensive, or infringing material
• Kukatu Ltd may monitor, remove, or moderate content
• In serious cases, content may be reported to law enforcement
• We may suspend or close accounts that break these Terms

6. Messaging

• Messaging is provided through club chats, for club members aged 13 and over
• One-to-one direct messaging is no longer offered
• Kukatu does not offer voice calls, video calls, or voice messages
• Direct messages and voice messages created before those features were withdrawn are kept with your account and removed when you delete it, as described in section 9
• Planner and meeting tools are provided as they are, for your convenience. Kukatu Ltd is not responsible for missed events

7. Reading and downloads

Kukatu makes a catalogue of books available to read in the app, and some titles can be downloaded so you can read them offline.

• A download is licensed to you for reading inside Kukatu. It is not sold to you, and it is not yours to redistribute
• Where you have reached in a book, your bookmarks, your highlights and the notes you write on them are yours. They sync to your account so they follow you between devices, and they are included in your data export
• Downloaded book and audio files are kept out of your device backup because they can simply be downloaded again. Your saved places, bookmarks, highlights and notes are backed up
• If we withdraw a title, we stop sending further copies of it. A copy already downloaded to a device cannot be recalled, and we say so plainly rather than imply otherwise

8. Device permissions

Kukatu asks for these permissions:

• Camera, to scan book barcodes
• Photos, to set a profile or club picture
• Notifications, for club messages and event reminders

Kukatu does not use your microphone or your location. Every permission is optional, though some features need one to work.

9. Privacy and data protection

Kukatu Ltd is the data controller for the personal data described here. We collect only what the app needs to work.

What we collect:
• Your email address and login details
• Your birth year, to confirm the 13+ minimum
• If you sign in with Google or Apple, the account identifier, email address, name and profile image that provider gives us
• Your profile settings and preferences
• What you do in the app, such as the books you record, the clubs you join, the messages you send and the ISBNs you scan
• What you choose to write, such as reviews, notes and highlights
• Crash and error reports

Why we collect it:
• To operate the app and keep your account working across devices
• To confirm the 13+ minimum and apply age-appropriate safeguards
• To find and fix faults
• To protect users and to comply with legal duties

How long we keep it:
• Your account data, and the messages you post in club chats, for as long as your account is open
• Direct messages and voice messages from before those features were withdrawn are kept with your account
• When you delete your account we remove your data straight away, and in any case within 30 days, apart from anything we are required to keep by law
• Messages you posted in a club chat may stay visible to that club after you leave or delete your account, so the conversation other members took part in remains readable

Who else receives it:
• Supabase, which provides the database, sign-in and file storage behind the app, and processes data on our instructions
• Google Firebase, which delivers push notifications and collects crash reports and app performance measurements on our instructions
• Open Library and Google Books, which receive what you search for when you look up a title
• Wiktionary and dictionaryapi.dev, which receive a word you select while reading if you ask for its definition
• Google Fonts, which the app contacts to download the typefaces it displays

The last three groups are independent services rather than providers acting on our instructions, and they receive only what is listed above. We do not sell your personal data and we do not use it for advertising.

How we protect it:
• Data is encrypted in transit and access is limited to the staff and providers who need it

Your rights:
Under UK GDPR you may access, correct or delete your data, ask for a copy of it, withdraw consent, object to processing, and complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. You can export your data and delete your account from within the app at any time.

To exercise your rights, contact info@kukatu.co.uk.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

Kukatu is a mobile app and does not use advertising cookies or advertising trackers.

• The app stores your sign-in session on your device so you stay signed in
• The app stores your preferences and your downloaded books on your device
• Crash reports, error reports and app performance measurements are sent to help us find and fix faults
• The kukatu.co.uk website does not use analytics or advertising cookies

11. Accessibility

Kukatu aims to be usable by everyone. If you meet an accessibility problem, such as with a screen reader or with navigation, contact info@kukatu.co.uk and we will do our best to help or to improve it.

12. Copyright and takedown requests

Kukatu publishes a small catalogue of books it believes to be in the public domain, and members add their own covers, shelves and notes.

If you hold rights in a work and believe Kukatu is making it available without permission, write to info@kukatu.co.uk with:
• The work concerned, and where in Kukatu it appears
• What right you hold in it, and evidence of it
• Your name and contact details

Notices are read by a named person and acknowledged within 5 working days. Where a notice is well founded we withdraw the title so no further copies are sent. Copies already downloaded to a device cannot be recalled, and we will say so plainly rather than imply otherwise.

If you believe a title was withdrawn in error, reply to the acknowledgement and we will review it.

13. Closing your account

You may delete your account at any time from the app settings. Doing so removes your profile, your books and shelves, your reading data, your reader notes and highlights, the profile pictures you uploaded, your direct message history, and your sign-in.

Messages you posted in a club chat may stay visible to that club, so that the conversation other members took part in remains readable.

We may suspend or close accounts that break these Terms, abuse community features, endanger other users, or breach the law or someone else's rights.

Some records may be kept for longer where the law requires it.

14. Availability and liability

• Kukatu Ltd is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential damages
• The app is provided as it is, with no guarantee of availability or of any particular feature
• We are not responsible for third-party services the app relies on
• Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud
• Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer

15. Using Kukatu outside the UK

You are responsible for complying with your local laws. You may not use Kukatu where its services are restricted or prohibited.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and any dispute will be decided by the courts of England and Wales.

Kukatu does not require you to take a dispute to arbitration. If you live elsewhere in the UK, you may bring proceedings in your local courts, and nothing here removes a right to bring a claim where you live that your local law gives you.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will tell you about significant changes by in-app message or email before they take effect. Continuing to use Kukatu after that confirms your acceptance.