Privacy notice
What we collect, and why
Last updated 18 October 2026
The short version
- We collect only what we need to run the site.
- If you rate a spot, everyone can see your first name, last initial and your rating; your email stays private.
- We never sell your information.
- We don’t run ads or ad trackers.
- You can delete your account, and your ratings with it, any time.
What we collect
What we collect
- If you just browse: nothing that identifies you. Like any website, our hosting provider sees your IP address and browser type when it sends you a page. If you tap “Near me”, your browser shares your location with the page to sort spots by distance. It stays in your browser and isn’t sent to us.
- If you sign in with Google: your name, email address and profile photo, from Google. While you’re signed in we also keep a session record with your IP address and browser type.
- Your ratings: the score, your answer to “would you go back?”, anything you write, and when you posted it, plus the two scrambled fingerprints described under “Keeping ratings honest”.
- Your lists: the spots you save as “Want to go” or “I’ve been”. Only you can see them.
- Email consent, only if you give it: whether you said yes to our email, when, and on which form.
- Reports: if you report a rating, the reason, any note you add, and who sent it.
Why
Why we need it
We use your name to show your ratings as your first name and last initial, and your account to keep it to one rating per person per spot. We use the session record to keep you signed in and to protect accounts from misuse. Your lists are there so you can find your spots again. We use your email address to reach you about your account or a report you sent, if we need to, and for our email only if you said yes to it.
Your ratings are public, and search engines can find them. Your email address, lists and reports are not public.
Keeping ratings honest
Keeping ratings honest
- What we keep: with each rating, two one-way scrambled fingerprints: one of the internet address the rating came from, and one of a random device ID that our site keeps in a cookie on your browser (called “wr_did”). We never store the address or the device ID itself. The fingerprints only let us tell whether two ratings came from the same network or the same browser.
- Why: to catch one person rating a spot from several accounts, for example a personal and a work email. If a new rating shares a fingerprint with another account’s rating of the same spot, or a brand-new account rates a lot of spots on its first day, the rating waits for the crew to check it. Until then it doesn’t count toward the Diners’ score, and only you can see it.
- Who decides: a person on the crew looks at every held rating and either approves it or removes it. Nothing is removed automatically.
- How long: as long as the rating exists. When you edit a rating, its fingerprints are replaced with fresh ones. Delete the rating, or your account, and they go with it. The device ID cookie is set the first time you rate and lasts a year.
- One inbox, one account: we also keep a tidied copy of your email address, without the “+” tags (and, for Gmail, the dots) that deliver to the same inbox, so one inbox can’t hold two accounts. We don’t accept throwaway email addresses.
Where it’s stored
Where it’s stored, and who else sees it
Our hosting providers are in the United States. The site runs on Vercel and our database is on Turso, and both store and process your information in the US. That means it’s subject to US law, which can include lawful access by US authorities.
Google handles sign-in under its own privacy policy. If you chip in, Ko-fi or PayPal handles the payment under its own policy; we never see your card details. If we use an email service to send our email, it gets the names and addresses of people who said yes, and we’ll name it on this page.
We never sell your information, and we don’t share it with advertisers. We don’t have any.
How long
How long we keep it
We keep your account, ratings and lists until you delete them. Deleting your account in My account removes your account, ratings, lists and email address from our database straight away. Reports you sent stay, with your name removed. Our database provider may hold backup copies for a short time before they expire.
Sign-in sessions end 30 days after your last visit. If you unsubscribe from our email, we keep the record of when you said yes, because the law asks us to be able to show that consent was given. It goes when your account does.
Your rights
Your rights under PIPEDA
Canada’s privacy law, PIPEDA, lets you ask what we hold about you, get a copy, have it corrected, and withdraw your consent. In My account you can download a copy of your data, and delete a rating or your whole account, at any time.
For anything else, see Contact. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Email (CASL)
Our email, and Canada’s anti-spam law
We only send you our email if you give express consent, by ticking a box that is never ticked for you. The box says what we’ll send. We record when you said yes and on which form.
Every email says who it’s from, gives our mailing address and a way to reach us, and has an unsubscribe link. Unsubscribing takes effect immediately, and you don’t need to sign in. You can also switch our email off in My account.
Changes
If this notice changes
We’ll update it here and change the date at the top. If a change affects how we use what you’ve already given us, we’ll say so on the site first.