Spinach Privacy Policy

1) Who we are

For the purposes of the EU/UK GDPR, the Data Controller is Bartosz Filipowicz, reachable at spinach.guide@gmail.com. We do not appoint a Data Protection Officer because we don't meet the legal criteria.

2) What we collect

We aim to collect only what's necessary to run Spinach.

• Account ID: the App creates an anonymous account the first time you open it, so your saves work without signing up. Its ID links the data below.
• Account data (if you sign up): email address, display name and profile picture. With email sign-up we store a password hash, never the password. With Sign in with Apple or Google Sign-In we receive your name and email address from them.
• Photos you post: dish photos, review photos, photos of a place you suggest, and menu pages. The App removes location (GPS) and camera details from a photo before it uploads it.
• Other things you post: reviews, reports about a place (with an optional note of up to 2,000 characters), answers to a place's check questions, places you suggest, and feedback you send in the App. When you suggest a place, the App sends what you type and the map position to Google to find its address.
• Marketing emails (only if you opt in): your choice, when you made it and which version of this policy you saw.
• Saves: your saved places, lists, the lists you follow, filters and settings.
• Location (only while you use the App, never in the background):
  • Places near you: when you allow location, the App sends your position to our server to fetch nearby places. The server answers and doesn't keep it. The App remembers your last position on your phone, so the map opens where you were.
  • Precise location, for the check card: the card that asks you about a place you're at works only with Precise Location on. We store your distance from the place (rounded to 10 m) and how accurate your phone's fix was, and mark your answers, reports and menu photos as taken on site when you're within 150 m.
  • Approximate location: our analytics provider works out your approximate city from your IP address.
• Usage analytics: screens you open, taps, when the App opens and closes, device and OS details, and the words you type into search (the first 100 characters). They are linked to your account ID.
• Crash and error reports: what went wrong, and device and OS details at the time.
• Support communications: emails you send to us and the metadata necessary to reply.

Approved reviews appear on the place's page with your display name. Approved photos can appear on the place's page. We do not collect special categories of personal data (e.g., health, political opinions). We do not sell your data.

We also hold data about people who review places on other platforms. Section 6 explains it.

3) How we use your data (purposes & legal bases)

4) Third-party processors & services

These providers process data on our behalf, under their data protection terms:

• Supabase – sign-in, database and file storage: your account, saves, and everything you post.
• PostHog (EU cloud) – usage analytics, search terms, and crash and error reports.
• Google Maps Platform – the maps in the App, and the address search when you suggest a place. Google's SDK collects a device identifier, your IP address, how you use the map, and crash and performance data, under Google's privacy policy.
• Google Sign-In and Sign in with Apple – only if you choose to sign in with them. Google's sign-in SDK also collects device identifiers and usage data under Google's privacy policy.
• Resend – sends account emails (such as sign-up confirmation and password reset), messages about places you suggest, and marketing emails if you opt in.
• Anthropic and OpenAI – AI services that help us check photos and reviews you post, read menu pages, and read public reviews (section 6).
• Cloudflare – hosts spinach.guide and serves photos to the App.
• Gmail – support email.

We do not share data with third parties for advertising, nor do we allow ad networks to track you across apps/sites.

5) Data retention

• Account & app content: kept until you delete your account or request deletion. A place you suggested that we approved stays on the map, without your name.
• Location: the position used to find places near you isn't kept. Check-card distances stay with your answers until you delete your account.
• Analytics: retained for 12–18 months.
• Crash logs: retained for 90–180 days.
• Backups: may persist for 30–90 days after deletion for disaster recovery.
• Reviews from other platforms: see section 6.

We'll retain data longer only if required by law or to establish/defend legal claims.

6) Reviews you wrote on Google Maps or HappyCow

If you've reviewed a place on Google Maps or HappyCow, we may hold your review. GDPR Article 14 says we must tell you about data we didn't get from you, so here it is.

• What we hold: public reviews: the text, the star rating, the date and the reviewer's public name or username. From HappyCow we also hold the public profile details it shows with a review.
• Where it comes from: Google Maps and HappyCow, as anyone can see them without logging in.
• What we do with it: we read the reviews, partly with AI services, to work out how good the vegan food at a place is, dish by dish, and how easy the place makes it to eat vegan. The scores are ours. We never republish your review or your name. Next to our score we show the Google and HappyCow star ratings, with a link to read the reviews there.
• Legal basis: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): helping people find good vegan food, using reviews their authors chose to make public.
• How long: as long as we use them to score the place.
• Your choice: to have your reviews left out, email spinach.guide@gmail.com with your username and the platform. We stop using your reviews and delete our copy within 30 days. You can also ask for a copy of what we hold about you, or complain to your supervisory authority.

7) Your rights (GDPR/UK GDPR)

You have the right to access, rectify, erase, and port your data; to object or restrict certain processing; and to withdraw consent at any time.

If you signed up, you can delete your account and its data in the App's Settings, or follow the steps at spinach.guide/delete-account.

For anything else, email spinach.guide@gmail.com from the address linked to your account. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

8) Children

Spinach is not directed to children under 16. If you are under 16, please do not use the App. If we learn a child's data was collected, we will delete it.

9) International data transfers

We are EU-based (Poland), but some providers may process data outside the EEA/UK (e.g., the US). When this happens, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and other appropriate safeguards to protect your data.

10) Security

We use industry-standard security measures (encrypted transport, access controls, restricted API keys, database row-level security where applicable). No method is 100% secure, but we continually improve our safeguards.

11) Do we use advertising or tracking?

• No targeted advertising and no sale/sharing of personal data in the CCPA/CPRA sense.
• We do not use cross-app tracking (IDFA/GAID) for ads.
• If we ever introduce ads or tracking, we will update this policy and request consent where required (including iOS ATT).

12) Your choices

• Location: allow or deny it, and choose precise or approximate, in your phone's settings. You can always search by city instead. The check card needs Precise Location.
• Marketing emails: turn them off in the App's Settings or with the unsubscribe link in any email.
• Analytics: the App has no switch for analytics yet. To object, email us and we'll delete your analytics data.
• Account: if you signed up, delete it in the App's Settings, or see spinach.guide/delete-account. If you never signed up, email us to delete the data linked to your phone.

13) California (CCPA/CPRA) notice

We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. California residents can request access, correction, or deletion of their personal information by emailing spinach.guide@gmail.com.

14) Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We'll post changes at https://spinach.guide/privacy and update the "Effective date." Material changes may also be announced in-app.

15) Contact

Controller: Bartosz Filipowicz
Email: spinach.guide@gmail.com