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Privacy Policy

Effective 19 September 2026 · Applies to the Khulla Digital Library app on every platform, including Google Play, and to this website.

1. Who we are

Khulla Digital Library ("Khulla", "the app") is open-source library management software released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. It is developed by Sangam Adhikari and the Khulla Digital Library contributors ("we", "us"). The source code is public at github.com/sawongam/khulla-digital-library, so anyone can check what this policy says against what the app does.

2. What the app stores, and where

Khulla is a local-first app. Everything you enter is saved in a database on the device running it, and nowhere else. That includes:

  • Catalogue records: titles, copies, authors, publishers, shelf locations and similar details.
  • Member records: whatever the library chooses to record, such as name, member ID or barcode, member type, gender, date of birth, blood group, phone, email, address, occupation, institution, ID verification, guardian and emergency contact, notes, and membership dates.
  • Circulation and fines: loans, returns, renewals, reservations, and fines or payments.
  • Staff accounts: the name, email address, role and optional barcode of each person who operates the app. Passwords and account recovery codes are stored only as one-way hashes, never in plain text. The email address is a sign-in name; Khulla does not send email.
  • Settings: the library's name, logo, currency, theme, lending rules and other preferences.

On Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS this database is a file in the app's private storage. On the web it is kept in your browser's storage for this site.

3. What we collect

Nothing. The app does not send any of the data above to us or to anyone else. Specifically, Khulla does not:

  • require you to create an account with us;
  • run a server or sync your data to the cloud;
  • include analytics, crash reporting or telemetry;
  • show ads or include advertising SDKs;
  • collect device identifiers, location, contacts or usage data;
  • sell, rent or share personal data with anyone.

Khulla works fully offline. Because nothing reaches us, we cannot see, recover or delete your library's records.

4. The library's role

The library, school or organisation that installs Khulla decides what information to record about its members and staff and why. Under data protection law it is the controller of that data, and it is responsible for:

  • having a lawful reason to record each piece of information;
  • telling its members what it records and how it uses it;
  • getting a parent's or guardian's consent where the law requires it;
  • answering members' requests to see, correct or delete their records;
  • protecting the device, its backups and any printed reports.

If you are a library member with a question about your record, please contact your library directly. We have no access to it.

5. Device access

Khulla only uses device features when you ask it to, and only for the task in front of you:

  • Files and photos: when you pick a library logo or choose a backup to restore, the system file picker opens and Khulla reads only the file you select.
  • Saving and sharing: when you export a backup, a report or a CSV, Khulla writes that file where you choose, or on a phone hands it to the system share sheet so you can pick where it goes.
  • Printing: when you print a report or a slip, the document goes to the printing service your device provides.

Khulla does not ask for access to your location, camera, microphone, contacts or calendar.

6. Backups, exports and printing

A backup file contains the whole catalogue, including member and staff records. Exports and printed reports may contain personal information too. Once a file leaves the app it is under your control: if you save it to a USB drive, email it or upload it to a cloud service, that service's own terms and privacy policy apply. Keep backups somewhere only authorised people can reach.

8. The web demo

The web version at app.khulladigitallibrary.com runs entirely in your browser. Anything you type into it is stored in that browser on that device and never sent to us. Clearing your browser's site data deletes it. The page itself is served by GitHub Pages, which, like any web host, receives your IP address and browser details when it delivers the files. See GitHub's privacy statement.

9. This website

This site uses no cookies, analytics or trackers, and its fonts are served from the site itself. A few things are worth knowing:

  • To show the latest version and download sizes, your browser asks GitHub's public API for the newest release. GitHub sees that request as it would any visit.
  • The "Ask for help" form does not send anything to us. It opens a pre-filled issue on GitHub in a new tab. If you submit it there, it is posted publicly under your GitHub account, so leave out anything private.
  • If you contact us by WhatsApp or email, we receive what you send, along with your phone number or email address, and use it only to reply. WhatsApp is run by Meta under its own privacy policy. Please don't send your members' personal details.
  • The site's host may keep standard server logs, such as IP address, time and page requested, for security and reliability.

10. App stores

If you install Khulla from Google Play or another store, that store handles the download, and may collect information about you and your device under its own privacy policy. We receive only the aggregated, anonymous statistics that stores give to every developer, such as install counts and crash totals, and nothing that identifies you or your library's records.

11. Security

Because your data never leaves your device, its safety depends mostly on that device. Staff sign in with their own accounts, passwords are stored as hashes, and each staff role limits what that person can see and change. We recommend you also lock the computer or phone with a password, keep the operating system updated, and store backups securely. No software is perfectly secure; if you find a security problem, please report it privately using the contact below rather than in a public issue.

12. Keeping and deleting data

Records stay on the device until someone deletes them in the app, or until the app is uninstalled. On Android and iOS, uninstalling Khulla removes its database. On desktop, the database file stays in the app's data folder after uninstall so that a reinstall does not lose a library's records; delete that folder to remove it. On the web, clearing site data removes it. Copies you exported or backed up are not affected and must be deleted separately.

13. Children

Khulla is a tool for library staff and is not directed at children. A school or library may record information about children who are members. That information stays on the library's device, and the library is responsible for handling it lawfully, including obtaining consent from a parent or guardian where required. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.

14. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or move your personal data, or to object to how it is used. Since we hold no personal data from the app, please make these requests to the library that keeps your record. If you have written to us directly, for example by email, you can ask us to see or delete that correspondence.

15. Changes to this policy

If a future version of Khulla changes how data is handled, for instance by adding optional sync, we will update this page before that version is released and change the date at the top. The history of this page is public in the project's repository.

16. Contact

Questions about this policy, or a security report: