Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 6, 2026
OnlyLit LLC · 174 W 4th St, Suite 115, New York, NY 10014 · admin@onlylit.com
OnlyLit LLC (“OnlyLit,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) operates the OnlyLit platform and is committed to protecting your privacy. We never sell your data to anyone for any purposes. This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights with respect to that information. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information in the following categories:
Account Information
When you register, we collect your name, email address, and password hash. Account creation and authentication are handled by Clerk, Inc. (“Clerk”). We store a reference to your Clerk user ID in our database. We do not have access to your password in plain text.
Age Verification Data
We collect your date of birth and retain a record of your age-verification confirmation. This is required by our age-gating obligations and is not used for any other purpose.
Reading Activity
We collect data about your interactions with content on the platform, including bookmarks, reading progress, post completions, likes, and comments. This data is used to personalize your reading experience and power features such as “Continue Reading.”
Subscription and Payment Information
Subscription payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. OnlyLit does not store your payment card number, CVV, or full bank account details. We do receive and store your Stripe customer ID, subscription status, and billing history for the purpose of managing your account and resolving disputes.
Communications
If you use the platform's messaging features, we store the content of those messages to enable delivery. We may also store support correspondence you send us.
Usage and Technical Data
We automatically collect certain technical information when you use the Service, including your IP address, browser type, device type, and pages viewed. This information is used for security monitoring, abuse prevention, and service improvement. We do not build advertising profiles from this data.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Create, maintain, and secure your account;
- Provide and improve the Service, including personalizing your reading experience;
- Process payments, manage subscriptions, and facilitate Creator payouts;
- Send transactional notifications (subscription confirmations, receipts, security alerts);
- Send activity notifications you can control (such as new posts, messages, and comments), which you may turn off in your account settings;
- Respond to support requests and resolve disputes;
- Enforce our Terms of Service and Content Policy; and
- Comply with applicable legal obligations.
We do not use your personal information to serve third-party advertising.
3. Third-Party Service Providers
We share certain data with service providers who help us operate the platform. These providers are contractually prohibited from using your data for their own purposes. Current providers include:
- Clerk, Inc. — user authentication and account management;
- Stripe, Inc. — payment processing and Creator payouts;
- Cloudflare, Inc. — content delivery network and storage;
- Vercel, Inc. — application hosting and infrastructure; and
- Pusher Ltd. — real-time messaging and notifications.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party.
4. Data Retention
We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we erase your personal data and remove your sign-in, except for limited records we are permitted or required to keep, including: financial and transaction records for tax, accounting, and audit purposes (for Creators, this includes the tax identification details required for tax reporting); safety, moderation, and age-verification records to meet our legal obligations and prevent abuse; and anything we must retain by law or legal process. These records are minimized and, where feasible, dissociated from your profile.
Aggregated and de-identified analytics data that cannot reasonably be linked to you may be retained indefinitely.
5. Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you;
- Correct inaccurate data through your account settings;
- Delete your account and associated data by visiting account settings or emailing us;
- Port your content data in a machine-readable format upon request; and
- Object to processing in cases where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis.
To exercise these rights, visit your account settings or contact us at admin@onlylit.com. We will respond to verifiable requests within 30 days.
If you are a resident of California, the European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom, you may have additional rights under applicable law, including the CCPA, GDPR, or UK GDPR. Please contact us to exercise those rights.
6. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies solely for authentication session management and security purposes. We do not use cookies for behavioral advertising, third-party tracking, or analytics profiling.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
All cookies set by OnlyLit are strictly necessary to operate the Service. These cookies do not require your consent under applicable law because they cannot be disabled without breaking core functionality.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| __session, __client_uat | Clerk | Authentication session — keeps you signed in. |
| __clerk_db_jwt | Clerk | Short-lived JWT used to synchronize auth state across tabs. |
| sso_attempts | OnlyLit | Security counter (5-minute TTL) that detects and breaks stuck OAuth redirect loops. |
| pusher.session | Pusher | Maintains your real-time WebSocket connection for messaging and notifications. |
No Tracking or Advertising Cookies
We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other third-party tracking or advertising cookies. We do not build advertising profiles from your activity on the Service.
You may disable cookies in your browser settings, but doing so will prevent you from remaining signed in to the Service.
7. Children's Privacy
OnlyLit is strictly intended for users who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect, use, or retain personal information from anyone under 18. If we discover that we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, we will delete that information and terminate the associated account immediately.
If you believe a minor has created an account on OnlyLit, please contact us at admin@onlylit.com so we can take immediate action.
8. Security
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include encrypted data transmission (TLS), hashed password storage (managed by Clerk), and access controls limiting who within our organization can access personal data.
No security system is impenetrable. In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by applicable law.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the revised policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.
10. Governing Law
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of New York, consistent with our Terms of Service.
11. Contact Us
For privacy-related questions or requests, please contact our privacy team:
OnlyLit LLC — Privacy
174 W 4th St, Suite 115
New York, NY 10014