PRIVACY POLICY
Food Done Better, LLC
Effective Date: March 10, 2026 Last Updated: March 10, 2026
1. Introduction
Food Done Better, LLC ("Food Done Better," "we," "us," or "our") is a Texas limited liability company that operates the Food Done Better platform (the "Platform"), a community-driven discovery platform for local food businesses. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website, use our services, or otherwise interact with the Platform.
By accessing or using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our practices, please do not use the Platform.
This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Service, which govern your use of the Platform.
Geographic Scope: The Platform is intended for users in the United States and Canada. Your information is stored and processed in the United States. If you are accessing the Platform from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. By using the Platform, you consent to this transfer.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information in three ways: information you provide to us, information collected automatically, and information from third parties.
2.1 Information You Provide
Account Registration Data When you create an account, we collect your email address and, if you register using Google OAuth, your full name and profile photo. If you register with email and password, your password is securely hashed and stored.
Profile Data You may optionally provide additional information including your full name, username, website URL, profile photo, hometown (city), and account type preference (individual user or business).
User-Generated Content When you create listings, markets, reviews, or other content, we collect the information you provide, including business names, descriptions, contact information, addresses, hours, practices, sourcing information, images, and review text.
Favorites and Preferences We collect information about listings and markets you save as favorites, including any optional notes you add.
Payment Information When you subscribe to a paid membership (available to users age 18 and older), payment card information is collected and processed directly by Stripe, our payment processor. We never receive or store your full payment card number, expiration date, or CVC. We store only your Stripe customer ID, subscription plan, subscription status, and billing period.
Listing Claim Verification If you claim a business listing, we may collect verification evidence such as email domain verification, phone verification, or documentation of business ownership.
AI Chatbot Interactions When you use our AI chatbot, we collect your chat messages, timestamps, and AI-generated responses.
Communications If you contact us directly, we collect the information you provide in your communication, including your name, email address, and message content.
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
Authentication and Session Data We use essential cookies to manage your authentication session. These cookies are strictly necessary for the Platform to function.
Analytics Data We use third-party analytics tools to collect analytics data including page views, click events, feature usage, device and browser metadata, referrer URLs, and IP addresses. These tools may also record user sessions (mouse movements, clicks, and page interactions) to help us understand how users interact with the Platform. These providers may set their own cookies for session tracking.
IP-Based Geolocation We may process your IP address through a third-party geolocation service to estimate your approximate location (city and region). This processing is transient — your IP address is not stored by us. The geolocation service returns an estimated city, which we may store as part of your session context or use to suggest a default hometown in your profile. The IP address itself is not retained in our database.
Audit Logs We maintain audit logs that record edits to listings and markets, including the user ID of the editor, the action taken, field-level changes, and timestamps. These logs are used for content integrity and moderation purposes.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
Google OAuth If you sign in using Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from Google, as authorized by you through Google's OAuth consent screen.
Business and Map Data When listings are created or displayed, we may retrieve business information from third-party business data and mapping services. These services may receive search queries and location coordinates.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Providing the Platform: To operate, maintain, and improve the Platform, including displaying listings, processing searches, managing accounts, and enabling user interactions
- Authentication and Security: To verify your identity, manage sessions, protect against unauthorized access, and detect fraudulent activity
- Personalization: To customize your experience, including location-based recommendations and personalized discovery results
- AI-Powered Features: To power our chatbot and other AI features by processing your queries alongside relevant listing data through our AI infrastructure and service providers. Your content may be indexed and vectorized to enable AI-assisted search and retrieval
- Communications: To send you service-related communications, newsletters, and marketing messages (with your consent where required). We use an email marketing service for these communications
- Payments and Memberships: To process subscriptions, manage billing, and maintain transaction records through Stripe, our payment processor
- Sponsored Content: To display and measure the performance of sponsored content and affiliate promotions on the Platform, including targeting sponsored content based on general location, browsing categories, and user type
- Analytics and Improvement: To understand how users interact with the Platform, identify trends, diagnose technical issues, and improve our services
- Content Moderation: To monitor, review, and enforce compliance with our Terms of Service and content policies
- Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, respond to legal requests, and protect our rights
4. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We share your information only in the following circumstances:
4.1 Service Providers
We share information with third-party service providers who process data on our behalf to help us operate the Platform. These providers are contractually obligated to use your information only for the purposes we specify. Our key service providers include:
- Stripe, our payment processor — Payment card information is collected and processed directly by Stripe; we do not store full card details on our servers
- AI service providers — Chat messages and relevant listing data may be transmitted through our AI infrastructure and processing partners to generate responses
- Analytics providers — We use analytics and session-recording tools to understand product usage and improve the Platform
We also use additional service providers for hosting, database management, image storage, email communications, geocoding and mapping, and geolocation services. These providers receive only the data necessary to perform their specific functions.
4.2 Sponsored Content and Affiliate Relationships
The Platform may display sponsored content promoting businesses with which we have affiliate or referral relationships. All sponsored content is created and managed by Food Done Better - businesses do not submit or purchase ads directly on the Platform. We may earn commissions or referral fees when users take qualifying actions through promoted links.
We do not share your personal information with the businesses we promote or with any third-party advertising networks. Sponsored content targeting is based on general attributes (location, browsing category, user type) and is performed within our own systems.
However, we may use personal information such as your approximate location, browsing behavior, and user type to select which sponsored content to display to you. Under certain privacy laws, this use of personal information for targeted content may constitute "sharing" even though no data is transferred to third parties. See Section 8 (California Residents) for your opt-out rights.
4.3 Public Information
Certain information you provide is publicly visible on the Platform, including your display name, profile photo, listings you create, reviews you post, and markets you manage. Please consider this before submitting content.
4.4 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required by law, subpoena, court order, or government request, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to an emergency.
4.5 Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you of any such transfer and any changes to this Privacy Policy.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies on the Platform. The types of cookies we use include:
| Cookie Type | Purpose | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential (authentication) | Managing your login session and keeping you signed in | Yes — necessary for the Platform to function |
| Analytics | Understanding how users interact with the Platform, identifying trends, and diagnosing issues | No — you may opt out |
| Sponsored content | Sponsored content delivery, frequency capping, and performance measurement | No — you may opt out |
Essential cookies are strictly necessary for the Platform to function (e.g., authentication). They cannot be disabled.
Analytics cookies help us understand how users interact with the Platform. You may opt out of analytics tracking through your account settings.
Sponsored content cookies are used for sponsored content delivery, measurement, and targeting. You may opt out of sponsored content tracking through your account settings.
You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Platform.
6. AI-Powered Features
The Platform includes an AI-powered chatbot that helps users discover local food businesses through natural language conversation.
6.1 Data Processing
When you use the AI chatbot, your messages and relevant contextual data (such as your location preferences and applicable listing information from our database) are transmitted through our AI infrastructure to third-party large language model (LLM) providers for processing. A provider generates a response, which is returned to you through the Platform.
6.2 Data Storage
We store your chat conversation history (messages, timestamps, and AI responses) in our database. This data is associated with your user account and is used to provide conversational context and improve the chatbot experience.
6.3 AI Provider Data Practices
We contractually require our AI providers to process your data solely for the purpose of providing responses and not to use your data for training or improving their AI models. We review our AI providers' data processing terms to confirm this commitment.
6.4 AI-Generated Descriptions
The Platform may use AI to generate suggested descriptions for business listings based on publicly available information. These suggestions are reviewed and edited by users before publication.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Platform, fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, comply with legal obligations, and resolve disputes. The following are our standard retention periods:
| Data Category | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Account data | 30 days after account deletion (grace period), then permanently deleted |
| User-generated content (listings, reviews) | Retained in anonymized form after account deletion; may be fully deleted upon request |
| Uploaded images | 30 days after associated listing or account deletion |
| Audit/history logs | 2 years, then anonymized (user IDs removed; edit history retained for data integrity) |
| Payment/transaction records | 7 years (tax and accounting compliance) |
| Analytics data | 13 months (subject to the retention settings configured with our analytics provider) |
| Chat history (AI chatbot) | 6 months after last interaction; users may request earlier deletion |
| Sponsored content impression/click logs | 12 months for reporting, then anonymized |
| IP geolocation data | Transient only — IP address is not stored; estimated city may be stored as session context or profile data |
| Claim verification documents | 1 year after claim resolution |
| Email marketing data | Until user unsubscribes or account is deleted |
8. California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
- Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share your information
- Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions
- Right to Correct: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information
- Right to Opt Out of Sale/Sharing: You have the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information. If our advertising platform uses personal information for targeted advertising, this may constitute "sharing" under the CPRA
- Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Information: You have the right to limit our use and disclosure of sensitive personal information to purposes necessary to provide the Platform
- Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights
To exercise your rights, contact us at legal@fooddonebetter.com. We will respond within forty-five (45) days. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.
9. Other U.S. State Privacy Rights
Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws — including Texas (TDPSA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), and Connecticut (CTDPA) — may have similar rights, including the right to access, correct, and delete personal information, and to opt out of targeted advertising and the sale of personal data.
To exercise these rights, contact us at legal@fooddonebetter.com. We will verify your identity and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
10. Your Choices
Regardless of your location, you have the following choices regarding your information:
- Access and Update: You can access and update your profile information through your account settings
- Account Deletion: You can request deletion of your account through your account settings or by contacting us at support@fooddonebetter.com
- Email Opt-Out: You can unsubscribe from marketing emails using the link in any email or through your account preferences
- Cookie Preferences: You can manage cookies through your browser settings
- Sponsored Content Opt-Out: You can opt out of personalized sponsored content through your account settings
- Analytics Opt-Out: You can opt out of analytics tracking through your account settings
11. Children's Privacy
The Platform is not intended for children under the age of sixteen (16). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us at support@fooddonebetter.com and we will take steps to delete such information.
Paid membership features require users to be at least eighteen (18) years of age.
12. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
- Secure authentication with password hashing and OAuth 2.0
- Role-based access controls limiting data access to authorized personnel
- HTTPS encryption enforced on all connections
- Input validation and sanitization
- File type and size restrictions on image uploads with authorization checks
- PCI DSS compliance for payment processing handled entirely by Stripe
- Separation of server-side credentials from client-side code
No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
13. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or applicable law. We will notify you of material changes by email and/or by posting a prominent notice on the Platform at least thirty (30) days before the changes take effect. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this Policy indicates the most recent revision.
Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any updates constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
14. Contact Information
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
- Food Done Better, LLC
- 2307 Riverside Farms Rd, Unit B, Austin, TX 78746
- legal@fooddonebetter.com
- https://fooddonebetter.com