Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

• Account info: email address, username, display name, and password (your password is handled by our authentication provider, Supabase, and we never see it in plain text).
• Profile info: profile photo, bio, and city/state/country, if you choose to add them.
• Content you create: reviews (rating, title, text), photos attached to reviews, restaurants you save to favorites or eat lists, and likes on reviews.
• Social info: friend requests and connections.
• Communications: anything you send us, e.g. support emails.

Information collected automatically

• Usage data via Google Analytics: pages viewed, features used, approximate location derived from your IP address, device/browser type, and referring pages. See “Cookies” below.
• Advertising data via Google AdSense: the page you're viewing, approximate location, and device/browser type, used to show an ad relevant to that page — not to your browsing history or personal profile. See “Cookies” below.
• Technical logs: IP address, timestamps, and request metadata, used for security, debugging, and abuse prevention (e.g. rate limiting).

Information from third parties

Restaurant details (name, address, hours, photos, ratings) come from the Google Places API. This is public business information, not personal data about you.

2. Cookies & Similar Technologies

• Essential cookies keep you signed in via Supabase. These are required for the app to work and aren't affected by the choice below.
• Analytics cookies from Google Analytics distinguish users and sessions so we can see aggregate usage statistics. We don't enable Google's ad-personalization features alongside Analytics.
• Advertising cookies from Google AdSense support the ads you see on ChowLog. We request only non-personalized ads — Google shows an ad based on the page you're viewing, not a profile built from your browsing history across other sites.

The first time you visit, we ask whether it's OK to set analytics and advertising cookies — neither Google Analytics nor AdSense loads until you accept. You can change your answer any time using the “Cookie Preferences” link in the footer, or block cookies entirely in your browser settings (blocking essential cookies may prevent you from staying signed in).

3. How We Use Your Information

• Operate the app — display your profile, reviews, favorites, and friend features.
• Communicate with you — account verification, password resets, and service notices.
• Keep the app safe — detect abuse, enforce rate limits, prevent fraud.
• Understand usage — aggregate analytics on which features people use.
• Show ads — support the free app with non-personalized, contextual advertising via Google AdSense.

We do not sell your personal information, and the ads you see are not targeted or based on your behavior — they're chosen contextually, based on the page you're viewing.

4. How We Share Information

• With other users, based on your privacy settings (Section 6). A public profile is visible to any visitor; you control which parts of it show to non-friends.
• With service providers who help us run ChowLog, under agreements that limit their use of your data: Supabase (authentication, database, file storage), Google (Places API for restaurant data, Maps for the map view, Analytics for usage stats, AdSense for non-personalized ads), and Upstash (rate-limiting infrastructure).
• For legal reasons, if required by law or to protect the rights, property, or safety of ChowLog, our users, or the public.
• In a business transfer — if ChowLog is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may transfer as part of that deal. We'll notify you if this happens.

5. Your Privacy Choices & Controls

• Profile visibility: in Settings > Privacy, set your profile to public or private, and independently control whether your city, review history, saved restaurants, and review photos are visible to others.
• Account deletion: delete your account any time from Settings > Account. This immediately and permanently deletes your profile, reviews, photos, favorites, and friend connections — it isn't a queued request, and it can't be undone.
• Access or correction: update most information directly in Settings. For anything else, contact us below.

6. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account remains open. If you delete your account, your data is deleted immediately as described above, except where we're required to retain limited records for legal or security purposes (e.g. abuse logs).

7. Children's Privacy

ChowLog is not directed to children, and you must be at least 13 years old to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we've done so, we will delete it promptly. Contact us below if you believe a child has provided us information.

8. Your State Privacy Rights (US)

Depending on where you live, state privacy laws (such as those in California, Utah, and other states) may give you the right to know what personal information we hold about you, request a copy of it, request correction or deletion, and opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information. We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise any of these rights, email us below — we'll respond within the time required by applicable law.

9. Security

We use industry-standard measures including HTTPS encryption, database-level access controls (row-level security), and rate limiting on our APIs. No system is 100% secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security of your information.

10. International Users

ChowLog is intended for users located in the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the United States.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll update the “Last updated” date and, where appropriate, notify you.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Email privacy@chowlog.com or visit our Contact page.