Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 5th, 2025

1. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Respect the Beans ("RTB," "we," "our," or "us"). At RTB, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and website.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By accessing or using our platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by all the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

2.1. Information You Provide to Us

We may collect the following types of information that you voluntarily provide to us:

• Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your email address, username, and password.
• Profile Information: You may optionally provide additional information such as:
  • Avatar/profile photo
  • Coffee preferences and brewing methods
  • Location (city/state)
• Coffee Logs and Reviews: Information about your coffee experiences, including:
  • Coffee ratings and tasting notes
  • Brewing parameters and methods
  • Personal coffee journal entries
• User-Generated Content: Content you choose to share publicly, including:
  • Posts and captions
  • Comments on other users' content
  • Photos of coffee, brewing equipment, and setups
• Communications: Messages you send to us through our contact forms or support channels.

2.2. Information We Collect Automatically

When you use our platform, we may automatically collect certain information, including:

• Camera and Photo Data: When you use our coffee recognition feature, we process photos of coffee bags and packaging to extract coffee information (roaster name, coffee name, origin details) using optical character recognition (OCR) technology.
• Usage Information: Information about your interactions with our platform, including features used, time spent, and content viewed.
• Device Information: Information about the device you use to access our platform, including device type, operating system, browser type, and mobile device identifiers.
• Location Information: With your consent, we may collect your approximate location to enhance search functionality and connect you with local coffee communities.
• Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to maintain your session and improve your experience.

2.3. Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties, such as:

• Social media platforms if you choose to connect your accounts
• Analytics providers who help us understand platform usage
• Service providers who assist with our operations

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We may use the information we collect for various purposes, including to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our mobile app and services
• Create and manage your account and profile
• Process coffee photos using OCR to automatically identify coffee details
• Enable you to create private coffee logs and public posts
• Facilitate community interactions (comments, following, content sharing)
• Personalize your coffee discovery experience
• Send you important updates about your account and our services
• Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities to improve our platform
• Ensure platform safety and prevent misuse
• Comply with legal obligations and protect our rights

4. PRIVACY CONTROLS AND CONTENT SHARING

4.1. Private by Default

• Coffee Logs: All your coffee logs are private by default and only visible to you
• Sharing Choice: You choose what content to share publicly through posts
• Profile Control: You control what profile information is visible to other users

4.2. Public Content

When you choose to create public posts, the following information becomes visible to other users:

• Your username and avatar
• Post content, including photos and captions
• Coffee ratings and brewing details you choose to include
• Comments you make on public posts

5. CAMERA ACCESS AND PHOTO PROCESSING

5.1. Camera Permissions

Our app requests camera access to enable coffee bag scanning and photo capture features. You can:

• Grant or deny camera permissions through your device settings
• Use the app's other features without camera access
• Revoke camera permissions at any time

5.2. Photo Processing

• OCR Technology: We use AI-powered optical character recognition to extract coffee information from photos
• Quality Improvement: We may use anonymized photo data to improve our recognition accuracy

6. CONTENT MODERATION AND COMMUNITY SAFETY

6.1. User-Generated Content

• We may review user-generated content to ensure compliance with our community guidelines
• Users can report inappropriate content or behavior
• We reserve the right to remove content that violates our terms of service

6.2. Content Backup

• We may temporarily cache or backup user content to ensure service reliability
• Deleted content may remain in our backups for a limited time for technical reasons

7. HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We do not sell, rent, or otherwise disclose your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: With third-party providers who perform services on our behalf (hosting, analytics, OCR processing, customer support)
• Legal Requirements: If required by law or in response to legal process
• Safety and Protection: To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, or that of our users or others
• Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, sale, financing, or acquisition of our business
• Public Content: Information you choose to make public through posts and comments

8. DATA SECURITY

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Secure authentication systems
• Regular security assessments
• Limited access to personal information by employees

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

In the event of a data breach that may affect your personal information, we will notify affected users in accordance with applicable law.

9. YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

9.1. Account Management

• Review and update your account information through your profile settings
• Control your privacy settings and content sharing preferences
• Delete your account and associated data by contacting us at https://www.respectbeans.com/contact

9.2. Communication Preferences

• Opt out of promotional communications (when available)
• Control push notifications through your device settings
• Manage email preferences in your account settings

9.3. Device Permissions

• Control camera access through your device settings
• Manage location permissions
• Control push notification permissions

9.4. Additional Rights for Certain Jurisdictions

Depending on your location, you may have additional rights including:

• Right to access and receive a copy of your personal information
• Right to request deletion of your personal information
• Right to request correction of inaccurate information
• Right to data portability
• Right to opt-out of certain data processing

To exercise these rights, contact us at https://www.respectbeans.com/contact.

10. DATA RETENTION

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide our services and as required by law:

• Account Information: Retained while your account is active
• Coffee Logs: Retained until you delete them or delete your account
• Public Posts: May be retained even after account deletion to maintain community integrity
• Analytics Data: Aggregated and anonymized data may be retained indefinitely

11. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Our platform is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete such information as soon as possible.

12. INTERNATIONAL USERS

Our platform is accessible worldwide, but our servers are located in the United States. By using our platform, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States, which may have different data protection rules than those in your country.

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes through the app or by email. Your continued use of our platform after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.

14. CONTACT US

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at: https://www.respectbeans.com/contact