Privacy Policy
How BookSell PK collects, utilizes, safeguards, and respects your personal data in accordance with the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA 2016) and Google API User Data Guidelines.
Effective Date & Last Updated: October 16, 2026
1Introduction & Platform Scope
BookSell PK ("BookSell PK", "we", "us", or "our") operates a specialized peer-to-peer used academic book exchange marketplace accessible via www.booksellpk.com. We connect students, teachers, and book enthusiasts across Pakistan (including Matric, Intermediate, MDCAT, CA/ACCA, and university academia) to buy, sell, or donate second-hand educational literature.
We take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy details the types of personal data we collect, why we collect it, how it is processed and secured, and your rights concerning your personal information under the relevant electronic transactions and data privacy laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
2Information We Collect
We only collect data necessary to provide and secure our marketplace services:
Account Information
When you register or sign in using Google or email, we collect your verified name, email address, profile avatar, and account identifier.
Seller Contact & Location
To connect you with local buyers, you may provide your city (e.g. Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad), academic area/campus, and contact/WhatsApp phone number.
Book Listing Details
Titles, editions, condition ratings, book photographs, syllabus categories, asking prices, and optional delivery notes you choose to post.
Technical & Session Logs
IP addresses, device browser user agents, and security session cookies required to prevent account hijacking, spam bots, and brute force attacks.
3. Google API Services User Data Policy Compliance
BookSell PK allows users to sign in conveniently via Google OAuth 2.0 / Google Identity Services. Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres strictly to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements:
- We request only basic identification scopes: your verified email address, full name, and avatar picture.
- We do not access your Google Drive files, personal emails (Gmail), contacts list, or calendars.
- We never sell, lease, or distribute Google user data to third-party data brokers, marketing agencies, or advertising exchanges.
- We do not use Google user data for training generalized AI models or targeted external ad serving.
- Google tokens are verified cryptographically using Google's authoritative token validation endpoints.
4How We Use Your Information
- Facilitating Marketplace Transactions: Displaying your book listings so students searching for specific textbooks can discover and contact you.
- Authentication & Security: Maintaining your secure login session via encrypted JSON Web Tokens (JWT) stored in HTTP-only cookies.
- Fraud Prevention: Verifying legitimate student listings, detecting scam postings or stolen books, and enforcing rate limits against abusive automated activity.
- Listing Fee Processing: Recording optional JazzCash, EasyPaisa, or payment transaction IDs for featured ad placement reviews.
5Information Sharing & Disclosure
BookSell PK is not in the business of selling personal data. We disclose your information only under the following limited conditions:
- Public Marketplace Display: Your seller name, city, area, book description, and designated WhatsApp/phone number are visible to potential buyers browsing your listings.
- Essential Infrastructure Providers: Highly trusted cloud providers (Vercel for hosting, Supabase/AWS for database management) operating under strict data protection and confidentiality agreements.
- Legal & Regulatory Compliance: If mandated by law enforcement or competent Pakistani judicial authorities pursuant to lawful process under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA).
6Data Storage, Security & Retention
We implement industry-grade technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal information:
- Passphrases are irreversibly hashed using standard bcrypt (12 rounds) before storage.
- Session cookies use strict HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite attributes to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) and CSRF attacks.
- Data is stored in high-availability, encrypted-at-rest PostgreSQL databases hosted in secure cloud availability zones.
- We retain active user data only as long as your account remains in use. Inactive listings marked as sold are archived or purged periodically.
7Your Rights: Access, Correction & Account Deletion
You have complete sovereignty over your information:
- Review & Edit: You can modify your name, phone number, city, and area directly at any time from your User Dashboard.
- Delete Listings: You can mark your book ads as sold or permanently remove them with one click from your dashboard.
- Full Account & Data Deletion: You may request complete erasure of your profile and associated data by emailing privacy@booksell.pk with the subject "Account Erasure Request". Requests are fulfilled within 7 business days.
8Contact & Grievance Officer
If you have questions, inquiries, or privacy concerns regarding this Policy or our data handling practices, please contact our designated privacy team:
BookSell PK Privacy & Data Governance Office
Email: privacy@booksell.pk
General Support: support@booksell.pk
Operating Jurisdiction: Lahore, Islamic Republic of Pakistan