Privacy
Policy.

1. Who We Are

Ukus ("we", "our", or "us") is a personal restaurant journaling platform that allows users to log, review, and curate restaurants they have visited. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our website and services.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

• Account information: your username, first name, last name, and email address when you register.
• Profile information: your biography and any other optional profile details you choose to add.
• Restaurant logs: restaurant visits, ratings (1–10 scale), written reviews, photo URLs, and whether you recommend a restaurant.
• Curated lists: names, descriptions, and restaurant collections you create.
• Communications: any messages or feedback you send to us.

Information collected automatically

• Authentication tokens stored as cookies to keep you signed in.
• Basic usage data such as pages visited and features used, to improve the service.
• Error logs to help us diagnose and fix technical issues.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To create and maintain your account and authenticate your identity.
• To display your restaurant logs, reviews, ratings, lists, and profile to you and, where applicable, to other users of the platform.
• To send transactional emails, including email verification links and account-related notifications.
• To compute aggregated statistics shown on your profile (average rating, cuisine diversity, achievement progress, etc.).
• To geocode restaurant addresses using the Nominatim / OpenStreetMap API to display your personal food map.
• To improve the platform by analysing how features are used in aggregate.
• To respond to your support requests or communications.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With other users of Ukus: your username, profile bio, restaurant reviews, ratings, and curated lists are visible to other logged-in users as part of the community feed and profile pages, unless future privacy controls allow you to restrict this.
• With service providers: we use Brevo (Sendinblue) to send transactional emails. Your email address is shared with Brevo solely for this purpose. We use MongoDB Atlas to host our database. We use OpenStreetMap's Nominatim API for geocoding restaurant addresses — only the restaurant name and city are sent to Nominatim; no personal data is transmitted.
• If required by law: we may disclose your information if required to do so by applicable law, regulation, or legal process.
• In connection with a business transfer: if Ukus is acquired or merges with another entity, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal information within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes such as fraud prevention. Aggregated, anonymised statistics derived from your data may be retained indefinitely as they cannot identify you.

6. Cookies

We use a single authentication cookie to keep you signed in to your account. This cookie is essential for the platform to function and does not track you across other websites. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: the right to request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: the right to request that we delete your account and personal data.
• Portability: the right to request your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection: the right to object to certain processing of your data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the email address listed at the bottom of this policy.

8. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including password hashing using bcrypt, HTTPS encryption for all data in transit, and access controls on our database. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.

9. Children's Privacy

Ukus is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Third-Party Links

Our platform may contain links to external websites or services (such as restaurant pages or photo URLs you provide). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of Ukus after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at: