The Living Library

Privacy Policy

This page explains how The Living Library handles your entries and its optional Google Drive backup. Updated 24 September 2026.

Your library and password

Your notes, courses, books and quotes are encrypted in your browser and stored on that device. Your vault password is used in your browser to unlock and encrypt them. The site does not send your password or readable library entries to the site owner’s server. Each browser has its own copy.

Google Drive backup

If you choose Back up to Google Drive or Restore from Google Drive, Google asks you to select an account and approve access. The site requests the drive.file permission, which lets it create and work with files made by this app. It looks for the file named “The Living Library encrypted backup.json” in the Google account you choose. Backing up creates or updates that file; restoring downloads it to this browser. The file contains your encrypted vault, not readable entries. Your Google access token is used in browser memory for the request and is not saved with your library.

Google stores the backup in your Drive under your account. The site does not share the backup with the site owner or other visitors. Google processes your sign-in and Drive requests under its own policies. Backup is manual and does not automatically sync changes.

Google Sheets export

If you choose “Export all to Google Sheets” from Resurface, the site makes a new spreadsheet in the Google account you select. It sends the readable titles, full ideas or quotes, reflections, sources, tags, categories, favourite status and last update dates to Google Drive for conversion to a Sheet. The export is a snapshot; later changes in your library do not update it. Anyone you share that Sheet with can read its contents. The site owner does not receive the exported entries.

Intention Tracker Google Drive backup

The Intention Tracker at tracker.livedbeforespoken.com can use the same Google authorization to make a separate manual backup in your own Drive. The tracker encrypts its entries in your browser with the backup password you choose before uploading “Lived Before Spoken Intention Tracker encrypted backup.json”. Restoring downloads that file and decrypts it in your browser with the password you enter. The password and readable tracker entries are not sent to the site owner. The tracker requests drive.file access only to create and work with files made through this authorization. A backup does not sync automatically, and a lost backup password cannot be recovered.

Your choices

You can download an encrypted backup, export readable Markdown, reset this browser’s vault, or delete the backup file from your Google Drive. Clearing browser data removes that browser’s vault, but does not delete a Drive backup. Deleting the Drive file does not remove a browser vault. You can revoke this app’s Google access in your Google Account permissions. A forgotten vault password cannot be recovered by the site owner.

Contact

For questions about this policy or the site, email contact.amagicalglow@gmail.com.