Privacy Policy

Version: 2026-11-05

Effective date: 2026-11-05

*This English translation is provided for your reference. If it differs from the Simplified Chinese version, the Simplified Chinese version prevails.*

Wenzhou Boluotu Cloud Technology Co., Ltd. (温州菠萝兔云科技有限责任公司) ("we" or "us") operates the apps "Yutou Novels" (芋头小说) and "Yutou Writer" (芋头作家助手) and their websites (together, the "Service"), and is the personal information handler of the Service. Our affiliate may, entrusted by us, provide parts of the Service or handle matters related to it; see item (1) of Part 4. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect your personal information, and the rights you have.

Please read this policy carefully, especially the parts in bold. By choosing to agree to this policy, you confirm that you have read it and agree that we process your personal information as described here. This policy describes, feature by feature, the categories of personal information, what they include and what they are used for; the third-party SDKs and partners that receive personal information are listed one by one in "Appendix: Third-party SDKs and partners" at the end of this policy (the "Appendix").

Key points

1. Scope

This policy applies to Yutou Novels and Yutou Writer (including the versions offered through our website and through app stores) and their websites. Not every client has the same features; where this policy says that some processing happens only in some clients, that statement applies. Services provided separately by third parties, such as the app store you use, Alipay, and the speech engine built into your device or browser, are covered by their providers' privacy policies. Through the "Yutou Ad Network" (芋头广告联盟) we also provide ads to other apps that integrate the Yutou Ad Network SDK (see item (14) of Part 2): how the SDK processes the personal information of users in those apps is governed by the Yutou Ad Network SDK Personal Information Rules, and how those apps themselves process personal information is governed by their providers' privacy policies.

2. Personal information we collect and why

We follow the principles of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity and good faith, and process only the personal information needed for the features below; if you do not use a feature, the corresponding information is not generated. We re-encode or process every avatar, cover and illustration of a work, every picture and sticker in comments and moments, and every picture in promotional materials that you upload, removing metadata such as the time and place a photo was taken.

(1) Registration and sign-in

If you do not provide this information you cannot register or sign in, but you can still browse the store and read free works and preview chapters.

(2) Reading and library

When you are signed in, to sync data between your devices and provide the reading service, we keep your reading records on our servers. They currently include: the works in your library, when you added them and the latest chapter you have seen of each; your reading progress in each book (chapter, paragraph and position); your reading and appearance settings (for example theme, accent color and font size); your reading history (up to the 100 most recent books, which you can delete); when you first read each chapter and which works you read on each day; and your reading entitlements, that is, the chapters and works you bought and the source and period of your membership. These records are used to sync, tell you about updates of works, determine which chapters you can read and whether ads are shown, confirm that you have read a work (for example before you rate it), and for the statistics described in item (6).

When you are not signed in, your reading progress, reading history, and reading and appearance settings stay only on your device. If you buy Yutou coins in the iOS app without signing in, the coins and the chapters, works and short drama episodes bought with them are kept in a guest wallet we set up for this device (see "Guest wallet" in item (10)), while your reading progress, reading history, and reading and appearance settings still stay only on your device. The search terms you type in the store first filter the list by title and author on your device; they are sent to us only when you use AI book search (see "AI book search" in this item). Local books you import (for example TXT and EPUB files) and their reading progress stay only on your device or in your browser, are never uploaded to our servers and are not counted in any statistics.

(3) Comments, Book Finder and interaction

If your content, nickname or avatar is reported, the snapshot taken at the time of the report (including the reported avatar image) is kept as a platform governance record. Even after you delete the content, change your nickname, change your avatar or delete your account, it is kept for the period in Part 6 and used only to handle reports, review appeals and deal with disputes. The same applies when your bio or pictures you publish are reported. Our staff review content and handle reports according to their permissions, and the management system shows phone numbers and emails only partly.

If your direct or group message is reported, the snapshot taken at the time of the report includes the reported message and some earlier messages between the reporter and you, and is likewise kept as a platform governance record for the period in Part 6.

We may combine automated technology (including AI technology) with human review to check the content, nicknames, avatars, bios, book group details and works you publish (including the pictures in them), and check in the same way the reported content and the reporter's description when handling reports, to identify information that breaks laws or rules; content that an automated review finds may contain seriously illegal or harmful information may be visible only to you until a human has checked it; where the result of an automated review has a significant effect on you (for example hiding content or restricting your account), you can ask for a human review as described in Part 12; and if your report is closed because an automated review found nothing against the rules, you can report again within a certain period and we will arrange a human review. This paragraph also applies to the direct and group messages you send.

(4) Writing and submissions (Yutou Writer)

This information is used to keep and sync your works, to review (including checking whether a work has already been published online), publish, sign and show them in the store, and to help readers find them (including tags for search and recommendations that we compile from a work's title, synopsis, tags and some of its chapters). Once a work is published, its content, details and pen name are public to all users; under section 6 of the User Agreement, the signing contract and the Promotional Material Rules you agree to when submitting promotional materials, we may promote your works in and outside the Service (including through ads placed on third-party ad platforms), and translate them into other languages (including with AI technology) and show the translations. Only book content and book details are used for translation, not account information such as your phone number or email.

To receive royalty shares, the full-attendance bonus or other payments, you provide your real name, ID document number, a receiving account in your own name (such as a bank card number) and the mobile number reserved with the bank for it, used to verify your identity, pay the money, withhold individual income tax according to law and report to the tax authorities. To confirm that the receiving account is yours, we check through an identity verification service whether this information matches (see item (1) of Part 4), and keep the verification result. If you choose to receive payments with Alipay, you also need to authorize this in Alipay, and Alipay then gives us your Alipay user identifier as the receiving account, with the nickname, avatar and, where you authorize it, the mobile number linked to that account, which help recognize it (of the mobile number we keep only a masked form); when you link the account, we may give Alipay your name and ID document number to check that the account is verified under your own identity, and Alipay tells us only whether they match; when paying, Alipay checks whether the payee's name matches the real-name information of that account. ID document numbers and receiving accounts are sensitive personal information and are necessary to receive these payments; if they are leaked or used unlawfully, your personal and property safety may be harmed. Before you submit them we tell you separately the purpose, why it is necessary and the effect on you (see the Separate Notice on Payee Information on the page where you submit payee information), and obtain your separate consent; signed authors provide them and give separate consent in their signing contract, or provide them in the way above before the first payment. If you do not provide them, the only consequence is that you cannot receive these payments. This information is used only for these purposes and only our staff responsible for signing, settlement and finance can see it; staff at the affiliate we entrust with settlement (see item (1) of Part 4) can see only the part of it needed for settlement (see the Appendix); when paying, your name and receiving account are given to the bank or payment institution that makes the transfer, and we may also entrust our affiliate or a settlement service provider with settlement, payment, issuing or obtaining invoices and tax filing, whose names and contact details will be stated in the separate notice and listed in the Appendix.

(5) Listening

The listening feature plays audio we generate in advance with AI speech synthesis; during playback your device requests the audio from us. We currently collect no personal information specifically for listening; listening to paid chapters and finishing chapters are recorded as described in items (2) and (6), and the voice, speed and other settings stay only on your device. If you choose one of the "Device voices", the chapter text is read aloud by the speech engine built into your device or browser, and voices that need a network connection may be processed by the engine's provider.

(6) Statistics and security

To count work statistics and ad revenue, calculate author benefits, understand how features are used and keep the Service secure, we process the following device and network information, statistical records and logs:

Other than content you paste yourself, our apps do not read your device serial number, IMEI, MAC address, advertising ID, location, contacts or clipboard (except the third-party SDKs described in Part 4). Where another third-party SDK integrated later needs to read any of this information, the Appendix states it.

After you install one of our apps from an app store, the app may read, on your device, the install source information that app store provides (for example, the work you were viewing before you downloaded it), only to open the corresponding content for you on your device; it is not sent to us unless you separately agree to the processing described in item (11).

(7) Personal recommendations

"Recommended for you" and "Readers of this book also read" in Yutou Novels are produced by our recommendation algorithm.

We do not use the recommendation algorithm to induce addiction, or to treat you unreasonably differently.

(8) System permissions

We use system permissions only where a feature needs them. We currently use:

We currently do not ask for location, contacts, microphone, calendar or Bluetooth permissions, and apart from the permission to track described above, we do not ask to track your activity in other companies' apps and websites. If a feature later needs a new permission (for example the notification permission), we will first state the permission and its purpose in this item, and ask for it only when you use that feature; you can refuse it, or turn it off in the system settings at any time, without affecting other features. Where information obtained through a new permission is a kind of personal information not described in this policy, Part 11 applies.

(9) When your consent is not required

Under the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, we may process your personal information without your consent where it is:

(10) Purchases and payment

When you buy Yutou membership or Yutou coins, or use Yutou coins to buy chapters and works, unlock short drama episodes or other services, we process transaction and payment information:

This information is used to grant and check entitlements, determine which chapters you can read and whether ads are shown, send you notices such as order results and membership expiry, handle refunds and disputes, and meet accounting, tax and other legal obligations; it is necessary to conclude and perform the purchase contract (see item (9)). If you do not provide it, you cannot buy, but you can still use the free features.

(11) Ad measurement

We promote the Service on third-party ad platforms (for example to recruit authors, recommend works or promote our apps). To measure and improve the results of this promotion (including the app installs and usage the ads bring) and check what it costs, after you give separate consent, we process the following information and give the conversion events, with the ad click identifiers they belong to, to the ad platform that placed the ad:

We do not give ad platforms your phone number, email, nickname, account number or what you read; the ad platforms process this information under their own privacy policies and may use it to improve their ad services. If you have not agreed, or have turned it off, we do not keep ad click identifiers or give the information above to ad platforms; not agreeing does not affect your use of the rest of the Service. If you have not agreed, the ad measurement SDK does not collect or send any information on your device. You can turn ad measurement off at any time at the bottom of the website pages or in the app settings; we then stop processing and providing it and the SDK stops collecting and sending. Turning it off does not affect processing already carried out on the basis of your consent; for how the information sent and provided before is kept and deleted, see Part 6. We do not carry out ad measurement for users under fourteen. The names, locations and contact details of the recipients and of the ad measurement SDK's provider are listed on the consent page; see the Appendix.

(12) Short dramas

Some works in Yutou Novels have short dramas (including comic dramas and live-action short dramas) that we produce or are licensed to offer, provided as series of episodes. During playback your device asks us for the episode and fetches the video from the object storage we use (see item (1) of Part 4).

If you do not sign in, you can still watch episode 1 of each short drama.

(13) Placing ads

When you turn on ad placement on the ad placement page of the Yutou Novels website and place ads through us as an advertiser (the "Yutou Ad Network", 芋头广告联盟), we process the following:

This information is used to check and register advertisers' real identities, addresses and valid contact details and keep advertising files that are checked regularly, as the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising and other rules require; to review ad creatives; for billing, settlement, refunds of balances and invoices; to handle reports and disputes; and to meet legal obligations. Payments for top-ups are handled as described in item (10). Your entity's name is shown in "About this ad" of your ads to people who see them; when they or the authorities lawfully ask, we provide your name, address and valid contact details (see item (3) of Part 4). Our staff review and see this information as their roles allow; the admin console partly hides phone numbers and email addresses, and viewing full contact details or the business licence is logged. We do not give advertisers readers' personal information; advertisers only see the aggregate data described under "House ads" in item (6). Before you turn it on, the page clearly explains this processing, and you must read and accept the Yutou Ad Network Advertiser Service Agreement to turn it on; if you do not turn it on, none of this information arises. See Part 6 for how long it is kept and Part 9 for account deletion.

(14) Publishers

When you turn on publisher access on the publisher page of our website and integrate the Yutou Ad Network into your own apps to show its ads in them and receive a share of the revenue (as a "publisher"), we process the following:

This information is used to review publishers' business qualifications and apps, check that apps meet the integration requirements, calculate and confirm revenue shares, prevent cheating and fake traffic, check invoices and pay revenue shares, withhold individual income tax according to law, handle disputes and meet legal obligations. When we, or the affiliate we entrust (see item (1) of Part 4), pay you, the account name and number of the receiving account are given to the bank that makes the transfer (see item (3) of Part 4). Our staff review and see this information as their roles allow; the admin console partly hides phone numbers and email addresses, and viewing full contact details, business licences, receiving account numbers or invoices is logged. We do not give publishers the personal information of readers or of their apps' users; publishers only see aggregate data about their own apps. How the Yutou Ad Network SDK processes the personal information of users in publishers' apps is described in the Yutou Ad Network SDK Personal Information Rules (see Part 1). Before you turn it on, the page clearly explains this processing, and you must read and accept the Yutou Ad Network Publisher Agreement and the Yutou Ad Network SDK Personal Information Rules to turn it on; if you do not turn it on, none of this information arises. See Part 6 for how long it is kept and Part 9 for account deletion.

3. Local storage and similar technologies

4. Entrusted processing, sharing, transfer and public disclosure

We require the service providers, partners and third-party SDK providers that receive your personal information to protect it to the same standard under laws, regulations and this policy. Their names, locations, the information they process and their contact details are given in the Appendix.

(1) Entrusted processing

We entrust Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. with cloud servers and databases (in mainland China), a text message service (sending verification codes by text message), business email (sending email verification codes and sending and receiving customer service email) and an identity verification service (checking whether the payee information authors and individual publishers provide to receive payments matches), and with object storage (keeping the pictures and other files you upload); our servers call these services (your device also connects directly to the object storage when you upload or view pictures), and they do not run on your device. We also entrust our affiliate Taizhou Yutou Chuhai Technology Co., Ltd. (台州芋头出海科技有限公司), located in mainland China, with providing parts of the Service and handling matters related to it, including collecting payments, handling refunds and issuing invoices, and settling and paying authors and publishers, issuing or obtaining invoices and withholding individual income tax according to law, as well as placing promotional materials and settling with ad platforms; it may process only the personal information needed for these matters (such as order and transaction information, the payee information and settlement records of authors and publishers, and personal information authors put in promotional materials), as we instruct and for the purposes in this policy. We agree with the entrusted parties on the purpose, method, duration and safeguards of processing and supervise their processing. We may also entrust service providers in China with technical services such as AI translation, proofreading, writing and review assistance, search understanding and work categorization, speech synthesis, content security review, online customer service and data backup; they may process only the information needed for that service, as we instruct. When we add or replace a service provider, we update the Appendix. The listening audio, short drama videos and similar content we provide are kept in the object storage above too, and your device fetches them from it directly when you listen or watch.

(2) Third-party SDKs

Once an SDK starts, its provider collects the information listed in the Appendix directly on your device and processes it under its own privacy policy, and you can exercise your rights against the provider in the ways that policy describes. We currently use three kinds of SDKs:

If we later offer message reminders in your phone's notification area, we may integrate a push notification SDK (including push channels provided by phone makers); the information it collects will not go beyond device identifiers (the push ID assigned by the push service, and the OAID), device brand and model, OS version, network type, carrier information and whether notifications are switched on, and it is used only to deliver the Service's notifications to your device. To find and fix app crashes and performance problems, we may integrate a crash diagnostics SDK; the information it collects will not go beyond device brand and model, OS version, app version, network type, IP address, a random install ID generated by the SDK, and the stack trace, logs and app state at the time of a crash or freeze, and it is used only to find and fix problems.

Where a new or replacement SDK is entrusted by us with processing personal information, or its provider is already listed in the Appendix, and the information it collects, its purposes and its methods are all within the scope described in this item and the Appendix, we will, before starting it, add its name, provider, the information collected, purposes, permissions used and contact details to the Appendix and tell you in the app: for Yutou Novels, it is also added to the "Third-party SDKs and ads" page under "Me" in Yutou Novels; for Yutou Writer, the Appendix is the list, and we tell you in the feature that uses the SDK, before it starts (for example on the notice page shown before you link Alipay to receive payments). Where a new SDK provider processes personal information for its own purposes, or an SDK needs to collect a kind of personal information not described in this policy or to send personal information outside the People's Republic of China, Part 11 applies.

(3) Sharing

Apart from the third-party SDKs in item (2), we provide your personal information to other personal information handlers only in the following cases, and only the information needed for the purpose:

Apart from the cases in this policy, we do not share your personal information with other companies, organizations or individuals; where sharing is truly necessary, we will tell you the recipient's name and contact details, the purpose and method of processing and the kinds of personal information, and obtain your separate consent.

(4) Transfer

If personal information must be transferred because of a merger, division, dissolution, bankruptcy or similar reason, we will tell you the recipient's name and contact details and require the recipient to continue to meet the obligations of this policy. If the recipient changes the original purpose or method of processing, it must obtain your consent again.

(5) Public disclosure

We do not publicly disclose your personal information unless you separately consent or laws and regulations require it. The nickname, avatar, comments, posts and works you choose to make public, your bio, moments and the pictures in them, and the nickname, avatar and fan points you choose to show in fan rankings when cheering for works, are shown to all users as you choose. If you place ads as an advertiser, your entity's name is shown in your ads to people who see them (see item (13) of Part 2).

5. Where information is stored and cross-border transfer

6. How long we keep information

We keep your personal information only for the shortest period necessary for the purposes in this policy, unless laws and regulations provide otherwise:

After these periods we delete or anonymize your personal information.

7. Security measures

We use HTTPS to encrypt communication; passwords, sign-in credentials and verification codes are stored only as hashes; the database is accessible only from the server itself; the management system uses separate staff accounts with role-based permissions, keeps operation logs and shows phone numbers and emails only partly; registration, sign-in, publishing and similar actions are rate-limited; and uploaded images are stripped of metadata. No internet environment is perfectly secure. If a personal information security incident happens, we will take remedial measures immediately, and inform you and report to the authorities as laws and regulations require. Please keep your account password safe.

8. Your rights

You can exercise these rights as described in Part 12. To keep your account secure we may need to verify your identity first. We reply within 15 working days after receiving your request and verifying your identity, and in principle do not charge for reasonable requests; where laws or administrative regulations provide otherwise, or a request involves national security, public security, criminal investigation or other statutory cases, we may be unable to respond and will tell you why. After your death, your close relatives may, for their own lawful and legitimate interests, exercise rights such as access, copy, correction and deletion over your relevant personal information, unless you arranged otherwise during your lifetime.

9. Account deletion

10. Minors

11. Updates to this policy

We may update this policy as our business or laws and regulations change. Every update raises the version number and states the effective date; we publish the new version in the apps and on the websites and tell you in the apps what has changed. You can ask for earlier versions of this policy as described in Part 12.

For the following significant changes, we will notify you prominently, such as with a dialog, and obtain your consent again before the change takes effect:

"Kinds of personal information" in this policy means the categories of information listed in the items of Part 2.

Where such a change concerns only a feature you can choose whether to use, or only some users (for example a new sign-in method, or a feature that needs additional authorization), we will tell you about the change prominently in a dialog or on a page and obtain your consent before you first use that feature; if you do not use that feature, the existing processing stays the same and you do not need to agree to this policy again. Where such a change concerns only processing that is necessary to conclude or perform a contract to which you are a party, or to meet legal obligations (for example a new payment method), we will update this policy and the Appendix before the change, stating the recipient's name, contact details and the information processed, and tell you in the app.

The following updates are not significant changes; they take effect when published, and we will tell you in the app without asking you to agree again:

We will not reduce your rights under this policy without your explicit consent.

12. Contact us and complaints

Appendix: Third-party SDKs and partners

This list is updated under the rules in item (2) of Part 4 and in Part 11; every update raises the version number of this policy, and we tell you in the app.