Privacy Policy

NomVote (“we,” “our,” or “the app”) is a group food-decision app. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and how it is used. We are committed to collecting only what is needed and never selling your personal data.

1. Information We Collect

Required for the app to work:

• Phone number — used only to verify your identity via a one-time SMS code (powered by Firebase Authentication). We do not use your phone number to send marketing messages.
• Display name (optional) — a name you choose; shown to group members you invite.
• Session location — your approximate location at the time you start a dining session, used to query nearby restaurants. We do not record a history of your locations.
• Votes — your swipe choices (like / pass) on restaurant cards within a session, used to compute the group result.
• Session history — a record of past sessions you participated in, used to power features like “we always end up here” detection and to improve future recommendations.

Optional features that collect additional data:

• Device contacts — if you choose to use the “Invite from contacts” feature, your device contact list is uploaded as one-way cryptographic hashes (SHA-256 of the phone number). Plaintext contact names and numbers are never sent to or stored on our servers. Hashes are compared only to find which of your contacts already use NomVote.
• Place tags — notes or labels you attach to restaurants (e.g., “great patio”), stored against your account and optionally shared with a group.
• Dietary preferences & favorite cuisines — stored in your settings to filter session results.
• Gender (broad category) — completely optional. If you choose to provide it, we store one of: Male, Female, Non-binary, Other, or Prefer not to say. This is used only for anonymous aggregate reporting (e.g., “35% of Female users prefer Sit Down over Take Out”). It is never linked back to your account in any report.
• Age group (broad category) — completely optional. If you choose to provide it, we store one of eight ranges (e.g., 25–34). Used only for the same anonymous aggregate reporting as gender above. Never linked to your account in any report.
• Household type (broad category) — completely optional. One of: Single, Couple, Family with kids, Roommates, or Other. Used only for anonymous aggregate reporting. Never linked to your account in any report.
• Primary use case (broad category) — completely optional. How you most often use NomVote: Family, Date nights, Work lunches, Friend groups, or Other. Used only for anonymous aggregate reporting. Never linked to your account in any report.

2. How We Use Your Information

• Authenticate your identity and maintain your account.
• Find nearby restaurants matching your session preferences.
• Compute group voting results and deliver push notifications about outcomes.
• Match you with friends who also use NomVote (via hashed phone number).
• Generate aggregate, anonymous usage statistics to improve the app (e.g., most popular cuisines, session completion rates, demographic breakdowns where users have opted in).
• Respond to feedback or bug reports you submit in-app.

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share data only in these limited circumstances:

• Google (Firebase & Places) — Firebase handles phone authentication and push notifications; Google Places API provides restaurant data. Both are subject to Google’s privacy policy.
• Cloudflare — our network provider; handles TLS termination and DDoS protection. Cloudflare does not have access to your account data.
• Legal requirements — we may disclose information if required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

4. Data Retention

• Your account data is retained while your account is active.
• Session data (votes, candidates) is retained to support history features and future re-ranker improvements. You may request deletion (see Section 7).
• Restaurant data from Google Places is cached for up to 30 days per our agreement with Google’s Terms of Service.
• Contact hashes are discarded after each matching pass; we do not store them persistently.

5. Children’s Privacy

NomVote is not directed at children under 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.

6. Security

Your data is stored on a server protected by TLS encryption, firewall rules, and token-based authentication. Sensitive fields (e.g., phone numbers) are stored only in encrypted-at-rest PostgreSQL on hardware we control. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable precautions.

7. Your Rights & Choices

• Access: you can view all profile data via the app settings screen at any time.
• Correction: you can update your display name, location, preferences, and optional demographic fields in-app at any time.
• Deletion: email us to request deletion of your account and associated data. We will process the request within 30 days.
• Opt-out of demographic data: gender, age group, household type, and primary use case fields are all optional and can be left blank or set to “Prefer not to say” at any time in app settings.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy occasionally. Material changes will be announced via an in-app notification. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent revision.

9. Contact Us

Questions or requests about your data? Contact us at:
privacy@nomvote.com