the fine print, in plain words
Effective October 15, 2026
RateMyCafe ("we", "us") is a cafe journal app operated by Amit Rand. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the RateMyCafe iPhone app and this website, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. Questions: support@ratemycafe.app.
When you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your email address and, if you share it, your name. Sign in with Apple lets you hide your real email; if you do, we receive a private relay address. We also store the username you pick and, if you add one, your profile photo.
Your cafe ratings and rankings, reviews and notes, photos you add to reviews, the day and time you visited, tags (like "good for work"), seating and noise reports, lists you make, cafes you save, people you follow, likes, and your onboarding answers (like your usual order). Reports you file and people you block are private to you and our moderation.
If you allow it, the app uses your device's location while you're using it to find cafes near you and show distances. Your location is sent to our servers and to Google Places to look up nearby cafes. We don't save your location to your account or keep a history of where you've been. The app may keep your last search area on your phone only, so it can load faster. The app never uses your location in the background. You can say no and still search for cafes by name.
If you choose to find friends from your contacts, the phone numbers in your address book are scrambled (hashed) on your phone and only those scrambled values are sent to us, to check which of your contacts already use RateMyCafe. We use the values only to find matches and do not keep them or your contacts' names. Hashed phone numbers can sometimes be reversed by someone with enough effort, so we treat them as personal information and protect them accordingly. If you add your own phone number to your account, we keep a hashed copy so friends who have your number can find you. This is off unless you turn on "Let friends find me by phone" in Settings.
If you allow notifications, we store a push token for your device so we can tell you when someone likes your review or follows you. You can turn notifications off in the app or in iOS Settings at any time.
Like most services, our servers process basic technical information (such as your IP address, device type and app version) to run the service, keep it secure and fix problems. If you send feedback or a bug report from the app, we receive what you write and basic app and device details.
We use your information only for the purposes below. We don't use it for advertising and we don't build advertising profiles.
Your username, profile photo, follower counts, public reviews (including their photos, notes and scores), your public lists, and your top-ranked cafes (unless you make your rankings private) can be seen by other RateMyCafe users. Reviews you keep private are visible only to you.
We don't sell your personal information. We share it only with the services that help us run RateMyCafe, and only as needed for them to do that work:
These services are required to protect your information to a standard consistent with this policy and to use it only to provide their service to us; their own privacy policies also apply.
We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the safety of our users or the public. We don't sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
We keep your information for as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, we delete your account and the content linked to it, including your reviews, photos, lists, follows, likes, push tokens, and profile photo. Feedback you sent us from the app may be kept without your name attached. Reports other people filed about your content may be kept so we can keep the community safe and show we acted on them. Deleted data can remain in encrypted backups for a limited time before it is overwritten. We may also keep information longer when the law requires it or to resolve a dispute.
Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights to access, correct, delete or export your data. Email support@ratemycafe.app and we'll help. You can also email us to withdraw a permission or ask us to stop using your information in a particular way. We won't treat you differently for using these rights. We may need to confirm it's really you before acting on a request. We'll respond within 45 days and tell you if we need more time.
If you live in California, Colorado, Virginia or another state with a privacy law, you may have the right to know what personal information we hold about you, to correct or delete it, and to get a copy of it. We don't sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. You can ask us to do any of these by emailing us; if we decline, you can appeal by replying to our answer.
Amit Rand is the controller of your personal information and can be reached at support@ratemycafe.app. We process it on these bases: to provide the service you asked for (contract); to keep the service safe, fix problems and enforce our Terms (legitimate interests); and for optional features such as location, contacts and notifications (your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in iOS Settings or by emailing us). You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your information, to receive a copy of it in a portable format, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Our service providers are based in, or may process data in, the United States, so your information may be transferred there; where required we rely on safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or the provider's data transfer framework certification. You are not required to give us this information, but without an account (which needs your sign-in details) we can't provide the app. We don't make decisions about you based only on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects. Our profanity filter checks what you post against a word list, and a person reviews reports.
RateMyCafe is not intended for children under 13 (or under the higher minimum age required in your country), and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If we learn that a child under 13 has an account, we'll delete it. If you're a parent and think your child has an account, email support@ratemycafe.app and we'll act on it promptly.
Information is sent over encrypted connections and stored with access controls. No service can be perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.
We don't track you across other websites or apps over time, and we don't use third-party advertising or analytics trackers, so we don't change anything in response to "Do Not Track" browser signals. Other companies do not collect information about your online activities across websites or apps over time through RateMyCafe.
If we change this policy, we'll update the effective date above, and for significant changes we'll let you know in the app or by email before they take effect. The current version is always at ratemycafe.app/privacy.
Amit Rand, RateMyCafe · mailing address available on request at support@ratemycafe.app, USA · support@ratemycafe.app