Privacy Policy

Account information. Your name, mobile phone number (verified by one-time passcode), optional email address, profile photo, and dietary or cuisine preferences you choose to set.

Location. The neighbourhood or address you select for discovering nearby kitchens, and — if you grant the permission — your device’s location to set that automatically. Buyers’ precise addresses are not shown publicly. Cooks’ exact pickup addresses are shared only with buyers who have a confirmed order; public pages show approximate area only.

Orders and payments. Your order history (dishes, amounts, pickup times, the other party to the transaction) and payment metadata such as card brand and last four digits. Card numbers are collected and processed directly by Stripe, our payment processor — eatcircle never stores your full card number.

Messages. Order-related messages between Buyers and Cooks are delivered through our own in-app messaging system and stored on our servers so both parties and our support team can reference them. We do not use a third-party chat provider.

Content you post. Dish photos, reels (short videos), reviews, and kitchen descriptions.

Cook verification. If you sell on eatcircle: your kitchen address, food-safety attestations, food-handler certificate if you upload one, and the identity and banking details Stripe collects to verify you and pay you (held by Stripe, not by us).

Device and usage data. Device type, operating system, app version, push notification token, IP address, and in-app events (screens viewed, searches, orders) used for security, debugging, and improving the product.

We use personal information to:

• operate the marketplace — accounts, listings, orders, pickup coordination, and messaging;
• process payments, payouts, refunds, and subscription billing through Stripe;
• show you relevant kitchens and dishes near your chosen location;
• send transactional notifications (order status, pickup reminders, support replies);
• verify Cooks, moderate content, enforce our Terms, and prevent fraud and abuse;
• provide customer support and investigate incidents, including food-safety reports;
• understand aggregate usage so we can improve the Service; and
• comply with legal obligations, including tax and accounting rules.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use your data for third-party advertising.

We collect, use, and disclose personal information with your consent, or as permitted or required by law. Providing your phone number and using the Service constitutes consent to the processing described in this Policy. You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice — for example, by disabling optional permissions (location, notifications), deleting content, or deleting your account. Withdrawing consent for processing we need to run the marketplace means we can no longer provide you the Service.

We share personal information only as needed to run the Service:

• Stripe — payment processing, subscription billing, and Cook payouts (Stripe also acts as a controller for identity verification; see Stripe’s privacy policy);
• Twilio — delivery of SMS verification codes;
• Google Firebase — push notifications and app infrastructure;
• Amazon Web Services — cloud hosting, databases, and storage of photos and videos;
• Google Maps and Mapbox — maps, address lookup, and static map images on order screens;
• Other users — the counterparty to your order sees the information needed to complete it (your first name and profile photo; for Buyers with a confirmed order, the Cook’s pickup address; your messages to each other). Content you publish (dishes, reels, reviews, kitchen profile) is public and may appear on eatcircle.com share pages;
• Legal — where required by law, subpoena, or court order, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of eatcircle, our users, or the public; and
• Business transfer — if eatcircle is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred with notice to you.

Our servers are hosted with Amazon Web Services in Canada. Some service providers (including Stripe, Twilio, Google, and Mapbox) process data in the United States or other countries. While your information is outside Canada it is subject to the laws of those jurisdictions, which may permit access by their courts, law enforcement, and national security authorities. We use contractual and technical safeguards with all providers.

We keep personal information while your account is active and as long as needed for the purposes above. Transaction and financial records are retained for up to seven years to meet Canadian tax and accounting requirements. When you delete your account, your public profile and content are removed promptly and remaining personal data is deleted or anonymized within a 30-day grace window (which also lets you undo an accidental deletion), except records we must keep by law, records needed for open disputes, and minimal suppression records used to enforce prior bans.

Subject to limited exceptions under PIPEDA, you can access the personal information we hold about you, correct it, export a copy of your data, and delete your account. You can do all of these in the app (Profile → Settings) or through the account portal. For anything you cannot do self-serve, email info@eatcircle.com — we respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle a privacy request, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).

We protect personal information with safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity: encryption in transit (TLS), encrypted storage with our cloud providers, access controls limiting staff access to what their role requires, signed webhooks, and audit logging of administrative actions. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm we will notify you and report to the Privacy Commissioner as required by PIPEDA.

Transactional notifications (order updates, pickup reminders, support and moderation notices) are part of the Service. Marketing communications are sent only in compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) — with your consent and always with a working unsubscribe. Push notifications can be turned off in your device settings; notification categories can be managed in the app.

The Service is for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

The eatcircle.com website uses only essential cookies (session and security). We do not run third-party advertising trackers. Details are in the Cookie Policy.

We may update this Policy as the Service evolves. Material changes will be posted here with a new effective date and announced in the app. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Privacy questions and requests: info@eatcircle.com
eatcircle — Brampton, Ontario, Canada