Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: [TO FILL IN AT LAUNCH] Last updated: [TO FILL IN AT LAUNCH]

This Privacy Policy describes how Chili'd ("we," "us," "Chili'd") collects, uses, and shares information when you use the Chili'd mobile application and related services (the "Service"). Chili'd is operated by [Chili'd LLC / Spencer Russo] ("Operator").

If you have questions, email privacy@chilid.app.

1. Who can use Chili'd

Chili'd is intended for users 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us at privacy@chilid.app and we will delete the account.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

Account information. Your email address, and a password you choose. Passwords are stored as salted hashes by our authentication provider (Supabase) — we never see your plaintext password.
Profile information. Display name, handle, optional bio, optional city, and optional profile photo (avatar).
Check-in content. Chili name, venue or homemade/canned source, heat rating, star rating, optional notes, and up to four optional photos. The check-in's timestamp and your chosen visibility setting are recorded automatically.
Social activity. Who you follow, who follows you, comments you post, accounts you block, and reports you file.

Information collected automatically

Device location. With your permission, we use your device's location to find chili spots near you and to compute distance to venues. You can grant or revoke location permission at any time in your device's Settings → Privacy → Location Services. Without location permission, the app still works but does not show distances or center the map on you.
Photo library and camera access. With your permission, we let you attach photos to check-ins or set a profile avatar. We only access photos you explicitly select; we do not scan your library.
Usage and crash data. We use Sentry to capture errors and crashes so we can fix bugs. Crash reports may include the type of device, OS version, and a stack trace; they do not include the contents of your check-ins or messages.

Information collected from third parties

Restaurant data. When you import a restaurant from Google Maps via the venue picker, we receive that restaurant's name, address, latitude, longitude, and Google place ID. We store these in our database to dedupe future imports of the same restaurant.

3. How we use information

To provide and improve the Service (sign you in, store your check-ins, deliver photos, render maps).
To compute aggregate statistics like average venue ratings — these are derived from individual check-ins and shown publicly.
To enable badges and other gamification features (we evaluate badge criteria against your check-in history).
To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms.
To send service-related communications such as email confirmation or password reset.
To debug crashes and improve reliability.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not run third-party advertising in the Service.

4. How we share information

We share information only as described below.

Other users. Your profile (display name, handle, avatar, optional bio and city) is visible to other Chili'd users. Your email address is never shown to other users, and your device location is never shown to other users — we use it only to compute distances.

You control who sees each bowl. Every check-in is posted as one of:

Public — visible to anyone on Chili'd, with your name attached.
Friends — visible only to people you and they follow each other. The rating still counts toward the venue's average score, but without your name or profile attached to anyone who cannot see the post.
Just me — visible only to you, and excluded from venue averages entirely.

A venue's average rating and check-in count are aggregate figures. They may include friends-only ratings, but aggregates never identify who gave a rating.

Follows and social graph. Who you follow and who follows you is visible to others, unless your account is private. If your account is set to private (Settings → Privacy), follows require your approval and your bowls stay hidden until you approve.
Comments. Comments you post are visible to everyone who can see the bowl they're on.
Reports. If you report content, your report is visible only to you and to us — never to the person you reported.
Service providers. We use third parties to run the Service, and they receive limited information necessary to do so:
Supabase (database, authentication, file storage) — stores your account, profile, check-ins, and photos.
Google Maps Platform (Maps SDK, Places API) — renders maps and serves restaurant search results. Their use is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
Sentry (crash reporting) — receives crash and error reports.
Apple App Store / Google Play — distributes the app; their privacy practices apply to the app store environment.
Legal compliance. We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Chili'd, our users, or the public.
Business transfers. If Chili'd is acquired or merges with another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

5. Your rights

Access and update. You can update your display name, handle, bio, city, and avatar at any time from your Profile screen.
Delete your account. From the Settings screen you can permanently delete your account. Deleting your account removes your profile, your check-ins, and your photos from Chili'd's servers within 30 days. Aggregated, de-identified statistics derived from your check-ins (such as a venue's average rating) may be retained.
Location and photo permissions. Manage these any time in your device's Settings.
Marketing emails. We do not currently send marketing emails. If we begin to, every email will include an unsubscribe link.

California residents (CCPA)

If you live in California, you have the right to know what personal information we collect about you, to request deletion of that information, to opt out of any "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, and to non-discrimination for exercising your rights. Chili'd does not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise your rights, email privacy@chilid.app.

European residents (GDPR)

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, to object to or restrict processing, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Our legal bases for processing are: performance of our contract with you (delivering the Service), our legitimate interests (improving and securing the Service), and your consent (for optional features like location and photo access).

6. Data retention

Account, profile, and check-in data: retained until you delete your account.
Photos: retained until you delete the corresponding check-in or your account.
Crash reports: retained for up to 30 days.
Backups: removed from rotating backups within 30 days of deletion.

7. Security

We use industry-standard practices to protect your information, including encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest (provider-managed). No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee that information will never be accessed by unauthorized parties.

8. International data transfers

Chili'd is operated from the United States. If you use the Service from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. and other countries where our service providers operate.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via the app or by email and update the "Last updated" date above.

10. Contact

Questions, requests, or concerns: privacy@chilid.app

[Postal address — to be added once LLC is registered]

This document is a starting template provided by Chili'd's developer and does not constitute legal advice. Have an attorney review and customize it before relying on it for production launch.