Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Culinary Journal is operated by its owner ("we", "us", "our") and is accessible at theculinaryjournal.site. For privacy matters, contact us at miseenplacekitchen.official@gmail.com.

We are based in Australia and this policy is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

2. What Information We Collect

When you create an account:

• Full name
• Email address (Gmail or Outlook only)
• Username (publicly visible)
• Password (hashed — we never store plaintext passwords)
• Theme preference

When you use the site:

• Recipes you submit (name, ingredients, method, photos, source URL)
• Grocery lists and pantry items (stored locally on your device)
• Meal plans (stored locally on your device)
• Personal notes on recipes (stored locally on your device)
• Event and seating data you create in the Table Planner (name, event details, guest names, dietary requirements)
• Dietary requirements you enter for guests (in Table Planner)

Automatically collected:

• Login timestamps
• Basic usage data via Vercel Analytics (anonymous, aggregated, no personal identifiers)

We do not collect: date of birth, phone number, address, payment details, or any government identification.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account
• To display your submitted recipes to other users (if marked Public)
• To send account-related emails (email verification, password reset)
• To let you log in via Google OAuth
• To let you manage your event guest lists in the Table Planner
• To improve the site using anonymous, aggregated analytics

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.

4. Third Parties We Share Data With

We use a small number of trusted services to operate the site:

• Supabase (supabase.com) — our database and authentication provider. Your account data and submitted recipes are stored on Supabase servers. Supabase is SOC 2 Type II certified. Their servers may be located outside Australia.
• Google OAuth — if you choose to sign in with Google. Google receives a request to authenticate you. We receive only your email address and name from Google.
• Resend (resend.com) — used to send transactional emails (verification, password reset) from noreply@theculinaryjournal.site. We pass them your email address for this purpose only.
• Vercel (vercel.com) — our hosting provider. All web requests pass through Vercel's infrastructure.
• Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org) — used to calculate nutritional information. We send ingredient names as search queries. No personal information is sent.

We have no data-sharing arrangements with any other parties.

5. Grocery Lists, Pantry and Meal Plans

Your grocery lists, pantry items, meal plans and personal recipe notes are stored on your own device using your browser's local storage. They are not uploaded to our servers. If you clear your browser data, this information will be lost. We are not responsible for loss of locally stored data.

6. Guest and Dietary Information in Table Planner

When you use the Table Planner, you may enter names and dietary requirements for your guests. This information is stored in our database and associated with your account. You are responsible for ensuring you have permission to store information about others. You can delete any guest record or entire event at any time from within the Table Planner.

7. Recipe Preservation Policy

Submitted recipes are never permanently deleted — they are archived. This is a deliberate decision to preserve culinary heritage and honour the work of original authors. If you request removal of your recipe, it will be set to private/archived and removed from public view. The underlying record is retained to preserve source credits and attribution. If you have concerns about a specific recipe, contact us.

8. Cookies and Local Storage

We use browser local storage (not traditional cookies) to store:

• Your login session token
• Your theme preference
• Your grocery list, pantry and meal plan data

We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics cookies. Vercel Analytics is privacy-first and does not use cookies.

9. Your Rights

Under the Australian Privacy Act, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate information (via your Profile page)
• Request deletion of your account — email us and we will deactivate your account and remove your personal profile information
• Complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe we have mishandled your information

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at miseenplacekitchen.official@gmail.com.

10. Data Security

Your password is hashed using industry-standard methods and is never stored in plaintext. All data is transmitted over HTTPS. Database access is protected by row-level security — users can only access their own data. We take reasonable steps to protect your information but cannot guarantee absolute security of any internet-connected system.

11. Data Retention

We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, your personal profile (name, email, username) is removed. Submitted recipes are archived in accordance with our Recipe Preservation Policy above.

12. Children

The Culinary Journal 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, contact us and we will remove it.

13. International Data Transfers

Our service providers (Supabase, Vercel, Resend) may process your data outside Australia, including in the United States. By using our service, you consent to this transfer. We have selected providers who meet appropriate data protection standards.

13a. Users in the European Union and United Kingdom (GDPR)

If you access The Culinary Journal from the EU or UK, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives you additional rights alongside those listed in section 9:

• Legal basis — we process your data on the basis of the contract formed when you create an account (to provide the service) and our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure
• Data portability — you may request a copy of your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Erasure — you may request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to the Recipe Preservation Policy for content you chose to publish
• Restriction and objection — you may ask us to restrict processing or object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Supervisory authority — you may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

To exercise any GDPR right, contact us at miseenplacekitchen.official@gmail.com. We respond within 30 days.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced on the homepage. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent revision. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Contact

For any privacy questions or requests:
The Culinary Journal
miseenplacekitchen.official@gmail.com
Australia