Help > Privacy
Although Goodreads offers a private profile option, all book reviews are public and viewable on the book page. This means reviews are also indexed by search engines, but you can change your profile details to ensure that your reviews don’t appear from a search of your name on search engines.
To do so on the desktop site, navigate to the Profile tab of your Account Settings and edit your name details or make your last name visible to “Friends.” Then click on “Save Profile Settings” at the bottom of the page.
You can also do this on the mobile site by clicking on Settings from the hamburger menu, then selecting “Edit” to the right of "Last Name." You can then select “Friends” to restrict your last name to friends only, or simply leave your last name blank, as this is not a required field.
Here’s how to make your location private:
1. Click on your profile picture and select Account Settings from the dropdown menu.
2. Navigate to the Profile tab.
3. Next to “location viewable by,” click on either “friends only” or “no one” depending on your preferences.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Save account settings.”
You can also make your location private on the mobile site by navigating to your Settings from the hamburger menu and selecting “Privacy.” Click on Edit across from “Profile” and select “Friends Only” from the options. Select “Done” to save your edit.
Reviews can be displayed on our partner sites only if you have that option turned on in your privacy settings. You can easily opt out of this. Here's how:
1. Click on your profile picture and select Account Settings.
2. Navigate to the Settings tab.
3. Uncheck the box next to “allow partners of Goodreads to display my reviews.”
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Save account settings.”
To opt out on the mobile site, navigate to your Settings from the hamburger menu, select “Privacy” and click on “My Reviews.” On the resulting screen, turn the option off by moving the slider from green to gray.
We require all members to submit their birthday during the registration process in order to screen out potential users who might be underage. This is a requirement of all social networking sites. Federal law (COPPA) has dictated that the legal age of consent to participate in a social networking site is thirteen years old. This isn't only a Goodreads rule, but a United States law. As such, we must ask for your birthday when you sign up.
