PRIVACY POLICY
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data Batchef ("Batchef", "we", "us") collects on batchef.com, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have. We keep it short and plain on purpose.
1. Who is responsible
Batchef, the creator and operator of batchef.com, is the controller of your personal data. To contact us about privacy, use the contact form on the Smoke Signal page and choose "General signal". Put "Privacy" at the start of your message.
2. What we collect
| When | Data | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You send a message on Smoke Signal | Name, email, brand or company (optional), message, the type of enquiry | To read and answer your message |
| You join the Sous-Chef Squad or the newsletter | Email address | To send you new issues, recipes and Gazette updates |
| You submit a Gazette scoop | Name, email, topic or draft link | To review your piece and credit you if it is published |
| You create a member account (when enabled) | Email address, display name, comments you post, scores you post to the shared leaderboard | To let you sign in, comment and appear on the leaderboard under your display name |
| You play the arcade game | High scores and the name you type are kept in your own browser only | To show your personal Top Chefs list |
| You browse the site | A short note that helps one page open the right comic, recipe or story after you click it, kept in your browser only | To make the site work the way you expect |
| You accept analytics cookies | Pages viewed, approximate location (country or city), device and browser type, how you arrived at the site, and the cookies listed below | To understand which pages people like so we can improve the site |
| Your browser requests a page | IP address, browser type and request time, kept in standard server logs by our hosting provider | To deliver the site and keep it secure |
We do not ask for payment details, and we do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data. Please do not send any in the message boxes.
3. Our legal bases
- Consent for analytics cookies and for newsletter emails. You can withdraw consent at any time (see section 6).
- Legitimate interests for answering your messages, running and securing the site, and preventing spam and abuse.
- Contract for running your member account and leaderboard entry once you sign up.
4. Cookies and similar technologies
Strictly necessary storage works without consent. Analytics only runs if you click "Accept analytics" on the cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| bc_consent | Necessary (browser storage) | Remembers your cookie choice | Until you clear it |
| bc_scores, bc_name | Necessary (browser storage) | Your arcade high scores and chef name | Until you clear it |
| bc_open, bc_last_submit | Necessary (browser storage) | Opens the right comic, recipe or story after a click; limits how fast forms can be resent | Short (removed after use or a few seconds) |
| _ga, _ga_* | Analytics (cookie, only with consent) | Google Analytics 4 visitor and session counting, with IP anonymisation switched on and advertising features off | Up to 2 years |
5. Who we share data with
We do not sell your data. We use a few service providers (processors) who handle data only on our instructions:
- Website hosting provider, to serve the site and keep server logs.
- Supabase, for the database and sign-in that store messages, newsletter sign-ups, member accounts, comments and shared scores.
- Google, for Google Analytics (only if you accept) and for the Google Fonts that style the site. When your browser loads the fonts, Google receives your IP address.
Some of these providers are located outside your country, including in the United States. Where required, transfers rely on safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision.
6. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR or the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on Personal Data Protection), you may have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
- correct data that is wrong or incomplete;
- ask us to erase your data;
- restrict or object to some uses of your data, including direct marketing;
- receive your data in a portable format;
- withdraw consent at any time (for analytics use "Cookie settings"; for emails use the unsubscribe option or contact us). Withdrawing does not affect what we did before;
- complain to your local data protection authority.
To use any of these rights, contact us as described in section 1. We will reply within one month. We may need to confirm who you are first.
7. How long we keep data
- Contact messages: up to 12 months after we last replied, then deleted.
- Newsletter and Squad emails: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
- Gazette scoops: until reviewed, and as long as a published piece carries your name.
- Member accounts, comments and scores: until you delete your account or ask us to.
- Analytics data: up to 14 months.
8. Security
The site is served over HTTPS. Form data goes to a database with access rules that stop the public from reading it, and only the site owner can view submissions. No online service is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.
9. Children
Batchef is a general audience site, but it is not directed at children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their personal data. If you think a child has sent us data, contact us and we will delete it.
10. Links to other sites
Batchef may link to social networks and other websites. We do not control them and are not responsible for their privacy practices.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is significant we will make that clear on the site.