Legal & Transparency

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 2026

Introduction

Welcome to The BK Bliss. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting any personal information you may provide while using our website. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your information.

The BK Bliss is an academic research prototype developed as part of a PhD project at the University of Sheffield. By using this platform, you agree to the data collection practices described below.

Information We Collect

We collect limited data necessary to provide our recommendation services and conduct our research. This includes:

  • Account Data: Your self-chosen username and age.
  • Reading Activity: Books you rate, shelve, review, and the tropes you interact with.
  • Interaction Logs: Search queries and navigation patterns.
  • Optional Feedback: Chatbot messages or written reviews you choose to submit.

We do not collect sensitive personal information, real names, or special category data.

How We Use Your Information

Your data is used exclusively to enhance your reading experience and support academic research:

  • To generate personalized, emotion-aware book recommendations.
  • To power the BK Bliss AI chatbot and improve its matching accuracy.
  • To analyze patterns of book organization and user interaction for PhD research purposes.

Data Protection & Your Rights

All data is handled securely and in compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the University of Sheffield's data protection policies.

Your Right to Withdraw: Participation is entirely voluntary. You have a withdrawal period of up to 14 days after participation, during which you can request that your identifiable data be removed from the study. After this period, data is anonymized and included in the research dataset.

Usernames are anonymised and replaced with internal identifiers before any analysis. No directly identifiable personal data will be included in academic publications or research datasets.

Cookies & Tracking

This site uses essential cookies to maintain your session and keep you logged in. We may also use basic analytics cookies to understand how the platform is used and to improve site performance. You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or wish to exercise your right to withdraw, please contact us here: