Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

MunchMakers Guides ("we", "our", or "us"), operated by MunchMakers, respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you visit guides.munchmakers.com (the "Site").

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information, depending on your cookie preferences:

2.1 Information Collected Automatically (Essential)

• Language preference: Your selected language is stored in a cookie to provide content in your preferred language.
• Security data: We use Google reCAPTCHA v3 to protect the Site from automated abuse. This service may collect hardware and software information, such as device and application data. This is processed under our legitimate interest in maintaining site security.

2.2 Analytics (Consent Mode)

We use Google Analytics 4 with Google Consent Mode v2. This means:

• If you accept analytics cookies: GA4 collects full usage data including pages visited, time spent, navigation patterns, referral source, device information, and approximate geographic location (country level).
• If you reject analytics cookies: GA4 still runs but in cookieless mode — no cookies are set, no personal identifiers are stored, and Google uses modeled/aggregated data only. This helps us understand overall traffic patterns without tracking individual users.
• Visit tracking: With your consent, our first-party tracker records page views, timestamps, and referrer URLs. This is disabled when analytics cookies are rejected.

2.3 Advertising (Consent Mode)

We use Google AdSense with Consent Mode v2. If you accept advertising cookies, you will see personalized ads based on your interests. If you reject advertising cookies, you will still see ads but they will be non-personalized (contextual ads based on the page content, not your browsing history). No advertising cookies are set without your consent.

3. How We Use Your Information

• Provide content in your preferred language
• Improve our website content and user experience
• Analyze usage patterns to understand which guides are most helpful
• Protect the Site from spam and abuse
• Serve relevant advertisements (with your consent)
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our Site. You can manage your preferences at any time using the cookie banner at the bottom of the page.

4.1 Essential Cookies (Always Active)

4.2 Analytics Cookies (Consent Required)

4.3 Advertising Cookies (Consent Required)

4.4 Security (Legitimate Interest)

5. Data Retention

We retain visit analytics data for a maximum of 90 days, after which it is automatically deleted. Cookie preference data is retained for 1 year. Google Analytics and Ahrefs retain data according to their own retention policies.

6. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell your personal data. We share data with the following third-party services to operate the Site:

• Google LLC (Analytics, AdSense, reCAPTCHA) — Data may be transferred to the United States. Google participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
• Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. (SEO Analytics) — Based in Singapore.
• Heroku / Salesforce (Hosting) — Our servers are hosted on Heroku. Server logs may contain IP addresses.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical measures to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption for all connections, secure cookie flags, and access controls on our servers. However, no internet transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Your Rights (GDPR / EEA Visitors)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right of access: Request a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure: Request deletion of your data.
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Right to withdraw consent: You can change your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie banner.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@munchmakers.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

9. Your Rights (CCPA / California Visitors)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of your data, and opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information. To exercise your rights, contact us at privacy@munchmakers.com.

10. Children's Privacy

Our Site is intended for adults (18+ or 21+, depending on jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If you believe we have collected data from a minor, please contact us immediately.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the new policy on this page with an updated effective date. If we make material changes to how we handle cookies, you will be asked to provide consent again.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us:

• Email: privacy@munchmakers.com
• Website: munchmakers.com