Privacy Policy

What we collect

• Nickname, email address, and password (stored as a secure hash, never in plain text) when you create an account.
• Content you choose to post — specials, comments, votes, and reactions — which is public by design.
• Your marketing email preference (opted out by default until you explicitly opt in).
• Standard technical logs collected automatically by our hosting provider (e.g. IP address, browser type) for security and reliability — we don't use this for tracking or profiling.
• Usage data collected via Google Analytics (e.g. pages viewed, approximate location, device/browser type) to understand how the site is used.
• If we're showing ads (via Google AdSense), Google and its advertising partners may collect data through cookies to serve and measure ads — see the Cookies section below.

Why we collect it

• To run your account — logging in, posting, commenting, voting, and notifications.
• To send you the deals digest email, but only if you've explicitly opted in.
• To keep the site secure and working properly.
• To understand how people use the site and improve it, via Google Analytics.
• To show ads, once we're approved for Google AdSense, which helps fund running the site.

We don't sell your personal information. We don't hand it to advertisers directly ourselves — but if we show ads via Google AdSense, Google acts as an independent advertising provider on the site and may use cookies of its own; see the Cookies section below for what that means and how to opt out.

Who we share it with

We use third-party services to run the site, who process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy standards: a database provider (Neon) to store site data, a hosting provider (Vercel) to run the site and store uploaded images, and — only if you opt in — an email delivery provider to send the deals digest. None of these providers are permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

We also use Google for analytics (Google Analytics) and, once approved, advertising (Google AdSense). Unlike the providers above, Google may use data collected through these services for its own purposes too, under Google's own privacy policy.

Cookies

We use one essential cookie to keep you logged in.

We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used, which sets its own cookies.

This site may also show ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners use cookies to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, or opt out of third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices. You can read more about how Google uses data from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Your choices and rights

• Update your nickname or marketing preference anytime in your profile.
• Unsubscribe from marketing emails instantly via the link in every email — no login needed.
• Opt out of personalised ads at any time — see the Cookies section above for how.
• Request a copy of your data, or ask us to correct or delete it, by contacting us below.

Data retention

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. If you ask us to delete your account, we'll remove your personal information, though public posts and comments may be retained in an anonymised form to keep discussion threads intact.

Children

LunchSpecial isn't intended for children under 15, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Email chef@lunchspecial.com.au.