Account data. Your email address, a display name, and a username. If you sign in with Google, we also receive the name and profile picture on that Google account, and we store the authorization tokens Google issues so that we can confirm it is you. You may add a biography, a website, a profile picture, and a banner. We never ask for a password, because Shovel does not use them.

Sign in data. When you request a magic link we store the email address and a single use token until it is used or expires. While you are signed in we keep a session record holding the session token, its expiry, and the IP address and browser user agent the session started from.

What you create. Universes, wiki pages and their full revision history, proposals with their reviews and discussions, posts, shovels and drafts, comments, reading lists, likes, stars, votes, bookmarks, follows, join requests and the messages attached to them, and the images you upload.

Images. We store image files as you upload them. We do not strip embedded metadata, so if a photograph carries EXIF data such as GPS coordinates, camera model, or a timestamp, that data stays inside the file, and the file is served publicly. Strip metadata before uploading if you do not want to share it.

Notifications. Your notification preferences, and, if you enable browser push, a record holding the delivery address your browser gives us, the encryption keys that come with it, and the browser user agent. That record identifies a device.

Moderation records. Bans and the reasons recorded for them, decisions on join requests, ownership transfers, and a per universe log of moderation and membership actions, each noting who acted and who was affected.

What you send us. Feedback submitted through the Service, including its category and text. Feedback can be sent anonymously, and when it is we store no link to your account. Also email you send us and our replies.

Technical and usage data. If you accept analytics, the events described below. Separately, our hosting provider keeps standard server logs that include IP addresses, and we record application errors so that we can fix them.

June 24, 2026

June 23, 2026