Legal

This Privacy Policy describes how OttawaEats ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our website at ottawaeats.com.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly:

• Restaurant listings you submit (name, address, phone, website, description)
• Reviews you write, including your name and rating
• Contact form submissions (name, email, message)
• Claim requests for restaurant listings

Information collected automatically:

• Log data (IP address, browser type, pages visited, time and date)
• Device information (device type, operating system)
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies

2. How We Use Your Information

• To publish and manage restaurant listings
• To display user-submitted reviews
• To respond to your inquiries and support requests
• To improve the directory and user experience
• To prevent spam and fraudulent submissions
• To send transactional emails related to your submissions

3. Cookies

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. These include:

• Essential cookies: Required for the website to function (e.g. WordPress session cookies)
• Performance cookies: Help us understand how visitors use the site (e.g. page views)
• Cache cookies: Set by LiteSpeed Cache to improve page load speed

You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect some site functionality.

4. Location Data

When you use the "Nearest" sort option on the restaurant directory, OttawaEats requests access to your device's location via your browser's built-in Geolocation API. This is used solely to sort restaurant listings by distance from your current location. Your location coordinates are processed entirely within your browser — they are not transmitted to or stored on our servers. You may clear or revoke location access at any time by clicking the "Clear" button in the directory, or by adjusting your browser's site permissions.

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with:

• Service providers: Hosting, email delivery, and analytics providers who assist us in operating the site
• Legal requirements: When required by law or to protect the rights and safety of our users

5. User-Submitted Content

Restaurant listings and reviews you submit may be publicly visible on OttawaEats. Please do not include sensitive personal information in public submissions. We reserve the right to edit or remove content that violates our Terms of Use.

6. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide our services. You may request deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting us.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your personal data
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, contact us at our contact page.

8. Third-Party Links

OttawaEats contains links to restaurant websites and third-party services (e.g. Uber Eats, Google Maps). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites.

9. Children's Privacy

OttawaEats is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes by updating the date at the top of this page.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us.