TasteBuds — Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
Last updated: October 3, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how TasteBuds ("we," "us") collects, uses, and shares information when you use tastebuds-app.com, our related sites, and any TasteBuds app (the "Service"). It covers people with accounts and visitors who open shared links without an account.
TasteBuds is built around your taste and your conversations. To match you with people and recommend things you'll love, we analyze what you do on TasteBuds, including the content of your messages. This policy explains how.
2. Information we collect
2.1 What you give us.
- Account information: email, password (stored only as a secure hash), and handle. We also record that you confirmed you are 18 or older and agreed to our Terms.
- Profile: your bio, favorites and the notes you add to them, and the messages you pin.
- Ratings and actions: your favorites, loves, likes, dislikes, skips, saves, and quiz answers, for movies, TV shows, and books.
- Clubroom activity: hooks you post, messages, message edits, reactions, watch parties you create, and RSVPs.
- Group Watch: invitations you send and accept.
- Reports and blocks: messages you report and users you block, and reports others make about you.
- Feedback you send us, and emails you send to contact@tastebuds-app.com.
2.2 What we collect automatically.
- Server logs: IP address, browser and device type, pages and features requested, and timestamps. Our servers record these for every request, including from visitors without an account.
- Session data: a login session ID and when your session was last active.
- Usage data: which recommendations we showed you, which pages and features you use, and technical details such as IP address and device or browser information. We collect this with our own in-house analytics, including from visitors without an account.
We do not collect precise GPS location, and we do not access your contacts, camera, or microphone. We don't use your IP address to work out your location for any feature today.
2.3 What we generate.
- Taste profile: a mathematical representation of your taste, built from your favorites and actions.
- Persona: the persona we assign based on your ratings and Clubroom activity.
- Interaction signals: who you talk with and react to, and how your conversations go, which we use for matching.
- Matching records: which chat group we placed you in and why.
- Recommendation lists generated for you.
3. How we use information
3.1 Your messages. Our systems analyze the content of your messages to understand what you like and dislike and who you enjoy talking with. We use what we learn across the Service: recommendations, matching you into chat groups, notifications, and personalized ads. This analysis runs on our own systems. We do not currently send your messages to outside AI services. If that changes, we will update this policy first.
3.2 Other uses. We use the information we collect to:
- create and run your account and keep you logged in;
- recommend movies, TV shows, and books;
- build Community Picks for people with similar taste, from loves that are never shown with your name;
- place you in chat groups and bring you back together with people you got along with;
- create Group Watch picks for you and a partner;
- assign and display your persona;
- send service emails, such as password resets and important notices;
- show and personalize ads (Section 6);
- keep TasteBuds safe: review reports, enforce our rules, prevent abuse, and protect users;
- understand how features are used and improve them;
- comply with the law and respond to legal requests.
4. What other people can see
| What | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| Your handle | All users, and anyone with a shared link to a hook you posted |
| Your profile: bio, favorites, persona, pinned messages | Any logged-in user |
| Hooks you post | All users in Clubrooms, and anyone with a shared link, including people without an account |
| Chat messages | Members of that chat group |
| Group Watch picks | You and your Group Watch partner, who sees picks based on your combined taste |
| Your loves | Used anonymously in Community Picks; never shown with your name or handle |
| Shared movie and TV pages | Anyone with the link; these pages do not show who shared them |
Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. TasteBuds can access them, and our staff may read them for moderation, safety, and legal reasons. Pinned messages show the current text of the original, so editing a message also changes its pin.
5. How we share information
Beyond what other users can see (Section 4), we share information only in these cases:
- Service providers. Companies that provide cloud hosting, email delivery, and other services process data for us in the United States, under their agreements with us. You can ask us for the names of the companies we share your information with.
- YouTube. When you play a video clip, the video loads from YouTube. YouTube may receive your IP address and set its own cookies, under the Google Privacy Policy.
- Content providers. We get movie, TV, and book information from third-party data providers. Some images, such as posters and covers, load directly from these providers, so they may receive your IP address and browser information when you view them. We do not send them other information about you.
- Legal and safety. We may disclose information if the law requires it, to respond to legal process, or to protect the safety and rights of users, TasteBuds, or the public.
- Business transfers. If TasteBuds is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that deal.
- With your consent, or at your direction.
If we start selling personal information, or sharing it with other companies for their advertising, we will update this policy and notify you before it begins.
6. Advertising
6.1 How ads are personalized. TasteBuds may show ads, including sponsored titles and ads for other products and services. We choose and personalize ads using what you do on TasteBuds: your favorites, ratings, Clubroom activity, and the content of your messages. We do this on our own systems. We do not use data about your activity on other companies' sites or apps to target ads.
6.2 What advertisers get. Advertisers do not receive your email, handle, messages, or individual activity. We may give them aggregated reports, such as how many people saw or clicked an ad.
7. Cookies and browser storage
| What | Set by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| TasteBuds cookies | TasteBuds | Keep you logged in and support core site features. Required for the Service to work. |
| TasteBuds analytics cookie | TasteBuds | A random ID set on your first visit, including for visitors without an account. It lets our own in-house analytics count visits and connect a first visit to a later signup. It is first-party only, is not shared with third parties, and lasts up to 400 days. |
| Browser storage | TasteBuds | Remembers small display choices, such as a dismissed banner. Some of this stays until you clear your browser data. |
| YouTube cookies | YouTube (Google) | Set only when you play a video clip. Governed by the Google Privacy Policy. |
We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.
Do Not Track. Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal. TasteBuds does not currently respond to these signals.
8. How long we keep information
We keep most information for as long as your account exists, because your full history is what lets TasteBuds learn your taste and match you well.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account information, profile, persona | Until your account is deleted |
| Ratings, actions, and taste profile | Until your account is deleted |
| Messages and hooks | Indefinitely, even if the chat group is later closed. When your account is deleted, they may remain visible to that group without your name. |
| Matching records and interaction signals | Until your account is deleted; then the link to you is removed |
| Reports and blocks | Until your account is deleted, or longer when needed for safety or legal reasons |
| Server logs | Kept for security, troubleshooting, and recovery. We are setting retention limits and will update this policy when they take effect. |
| Backups | Kept for security, troubleshooting, and recovery. We are setting retention limits and will update this policy when they take effect. |
We may keep information longer when the law requires it or to resolve disputes and enforce our Terms.
9. Your choices and rights
9.1 In the app. You can edit your bio, favorites, and pinned messages, edit messages within the editing window, block users, and report content.
9.2 Requests. Email contact@tastebuds-app.com from your account's email address to:
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- correct inaccurate information;
- delete your account (Section 8 explains what deletion removes);
- get a copy of your information in a portable format.
We respond within 45 days. If we need more time, we'll tell you why, and we may extend by up to another 45 days where the law allows. We may need to verify your identity first. You can also use an authorized agent where your state's law allows it.
9.3 No discrimination. We will not treat you differently for exercising your privacy rights.
9.4 Your state's laws. Depending on where you live, such as California, you may have additional rights under state privacy laws. Contact us to exercise them.
10. Users in the EU and UK
TasteBuds launched in the United States and can be used anywhere. If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, this section also applies.
10.1 Why we use your information.
| Use | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Running your account, recommendations, matching, Group Watch, profiles, personas | Performing our contract with you (the Terms) |
| Ad personalization, analytics, improving the Service, safety and abuse prevention | Our legitimate interests in running a safe, free, improving service |
| Responding to legal requests | Legal obligation |
10.2 Your rights. You can ask to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your data. You can also ask us to restrict or stop certain uses, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and withdraw consent. We respond within one month. You can complain to your local data protection authority.
10.3 Transfers. Your information is processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from yours.
11. Security, children, and where data is processed
11.1 Security. We protect your information with measures including HTTPS encryption in transit, hashed passwords, secure, HTTP-only login cookies, and access to our database limited to our own services. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you as the law requires.
11.2 Children. TasteBuds is for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that a user is under 18, we close the account and delete its information. If you believe a minor is using TasteBuds, report it in the app or email contact@tastebuds-app.com.
11.3 Where we process data. We store and process information in the United States. By using the Service from another country, you understand that your information will be processed in the United States.
12. Changes and contact
12.1 Changes. We may update this policy. For material changes, such as new uses of your information, selling or sharing it with other companies, or sending messages to outside services, we will notify you by email or in the app at least 30 days before they take effect. We will not apply a material change to information we already collected without telling you first. The "Last updated" date shows the latest version.
12.2 Emails from us. We send service emails, such as password resets and important account or policy notices. If we send marketing emails in the future, each will include a way to unsubscribe.
12.3 Contact. Questions or requests: contact@tastebuds-app.com.