Privacy Policy

This Policy applies to the PlateMaps website and related services (the “Service”). It applies to all visitors and account holders. We are a San Diego-focused restaurant discovery and social platform; we do not sell your personal information, and we ask you to check a box agreeing to this Policy and our Terms before you can create an account.

We collect information in three ways: what you give us, what you create on the Service, and what we observe automatically.

• Information you provide: your name, email address, and password when you create an account; your profile photo if you upload one; any preferences you set (like a favorite cuisine); and anything you type into the Service, including support requests.
• Content you create: posts, photos attached to posts, restaurant and dish ratings, comments, upvotes, hearts, and aspect votes. See Section 6 of our Terms of Service for how ratings and plate scores work.
• Information collected automatically: usage data (pages and features you use), device and browser information, and standard server log data (such as IP address and timestamps). If you use “Nearby,” your device’s precise location — see Section 3.

If you use the “Nearby” feature, your browser sends your device’s coordinates to our server in a single request so we can compute distance to nearby restaurants and return results. That position is used to answer that one request and is not stored or logged by us, and it never appears in a URL, browser history, or our server logs. You control whether your browser shares your location at all — you can decline the browser’s location permission prompt and still use every other part of the Service.

We use the information described above to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Service, including your Feed, Discover results, and Plate Points;
• Create and secure your account, and authenticate you when you sign in;
• Personalize what you see, such as favorite cuisines or nearby results;
• Communicate with you about your account or the Service;
• Monitor for, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents;
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service; and
• Understand how the Service is used so we can improve it.

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in — it is required for the Service to function and is not used for advertising. We use Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights, which are cookieless and record page views and page performance without identifying you. If we add analytics or advertising cookies in the future, we will update this Policy and, where required, ask for your consent first. We currently do not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, but see Section 8 for how we handle Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals.

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only in these circumstances:

• With other users, as intended by the Service’s design: your posts, ratings, and comments are visible to other users according to your settings (for example, posts are friends-only unless you turn on public photo sharing). Upvotes on a post are shown publicly; hearts are private and are never shown to anyone, including the post’s author.
• Service providers: companies that host our infrastructure and database, send email on our behalf, or provide similar services under contract, and only to the extent needed to provide the Service.
• Legal and safety reasons: if required by law, subpoena, or legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of PlateMaps, our users, or the public.
• Business transfers: if PlateMaps is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy or a successor policy you are notified of.

We keep your account information and most of your content for as long as your account is active, so the Service can function as intended (for example, so your past posts and ratings continue to display correctly). If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period, except where we are permitted or required to retain it — for example, to resolve disputes, enforce our Terms, or comply with a legal obligation.

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), gives you the right to:

• Know what personal information we have collected about you and why;
• Delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions;
• Correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you;
• Opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information — as noted above, we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of today;
• Limit the use of sensitive personal information (such as precise geolocation) to what is necessary to provide the Service, which is already how we use it; and
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise these rights, contact us using the information in Section 15. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before acting on a request. You may also designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. Where technically feasible, we recognize the Global Privacy Control (GPC) as a valid opt-out-of-sale/sharing signal, consistent with CPRA regulations.

Residents of other states with similar privacy laws (for example, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, or Utah) have comparable rights, which we honor on the same basis described in this Section.

As required by California law, this table summarizes the categories of personal information we collect, why, and whether we sell or share it.

We retain each category for as long as described in Section 7. None of these categories are sold, and none are shared for cross-context behavioral advertising.

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us personal information, contact us using the information in Section 15.

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including hashing passwords and using encrypted connections. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

We store and process data in the United States. The Service is intended for users in the United States, and in particular the San Diego area. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

Certain restaurant information and photographs are sourced from third parties, including Yelp Inc., under their own terms; our map is provided by third-party mapping and geolocation providers. The Service may also link to restaurant websites or other third-party sites. Those third parties have their own privacy practices, which we do not control and this Policy does not cover — review their policies directly.

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where you have an account, make reasonable efforts to notify you, such as by email or an in-product notice. Your continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.

Questions about this Policy, or requests to exercise your privacy rights, can be sent to:

Carson Brassell (sole proprietor, d/b/a PlateMaps)
4812 Campanile Dr
San Diego, CA 92115
helloplatemaps@gmail.com