Privacy policy

Last updated 17 October 2026

SafeEater is operated by Saul Aaron Hirner (ABN 19 159 463 363) ("we", "us"). This policy explains what personal information we collect when you use the SafeEater website and app, why we collect it, who we share it with and the choices you have. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

What we collect

When you create an account

• Email address and password. Your password is handled by our authentication provider (Google Firebase) and stored only in hashed form. We never see it.
• Username. Shown publicly next to your reviews.
• Peanut allergy severity (for example "Anaphylaxis" or "Non-severe reaction"). This is health information. We ask for it so other diners can judge how much weight to give your ratings, and it is shown publicly with your username and reviews. You give it to us by choosing it in your profile, and you can change it at any time.

When you use SafeEater

• Reviews and ratings you write, including your comments, safety ratings and what you noticed at the restaurant. These are public.
• Likes you give to other people's reviews, and points (XP) you earn when others find your reviews helpful.
• Saved restaurants, if you use that feature.
• Your location, only if you allow your browser or device to share it. We use it to centre the map and find restaurants near you. It is sent to Google to run the search and is not stored against your account.
• Searches you type into the map, which are sent to Google Places to find matching restaurants.

Collected automatically

• Technical information such as your IP address, browser type and request logs, collected by our hosting and backend providers to run and secure the service.
• Abuse protection signals. We use Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise (through Firebase App Check) to stop automated abuse. It collects information about your device and how you interact with the page, under Google's Privacy Policy.
• Browser storage. We save small flags in your browser's local storage, such as whether you have accepted the safety disclaimer, so we don't show it again. We don't use advertising cookies or third-party analytics.

How we use it

• To create and secure your account, and to send account emails such as email verification and password resets.
• To show your reviews, username and allergy severity to other users.
• To calculate restaurant safety ratings from everyone's reviews.
• To find restaurants on the map near you or matching your search.
• To prevent spam, fraud and abuse, and to keep the service running.

We don't sell your personal information, use it for advertising, or send you marketing email.

Who we share it with

Everything in your public profile and reviews (username, allergy severity, reviews, ratings) can be seen by anyone using SafeEater, including people who are not signed in. Otherwise, we only share personal information with the service providers that run SafeEater for us:

• Google: Firebase (accounts, database and server functions), Google Maps and Places (maps and restaurant search) and reCAPTCHA Enterprise (abuse protection).
• Vercel: hosting for the website.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.

Storage outside Australia

Our providers store and process information in data centres that may be outside Australia, including in the United States. Some of our backend runs in Google's Sydney region, but account and hosting data can be processed overseas. We choose providers that use industry-standard security.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information and reviews until you delete them or delete your account. Technical logs held by our providers are kept for a limited period under their own retention schedules.

Your choices and rights

• Access and correction. You can see and edit your username and allergy severity on your profile, and edit or delete any of your reviews. You can also ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Delete your account. You can delete your account at any time from your profile. This permanently deletes your login, profile, reviews, likes and saved restaurants, and restaurant ratings are recalculated without your reviews. Copies may remain in our providers' systems for a short time before they are overwritten.
• Location. You can turn off location sharing in your browser or device settings at any time and search by place name instead.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit and stored with providers that encrypt it at rest, and we limit who and what can access it. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a password you don't use anywhere else.

Children

SafeEater is not intended for children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

Questions and complaints

To ask for a copy of your information, ask a question or make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, email saulhirner@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as SafeEater changes. We will update the date at the top of this page, and if a change is significant we will let you know in the app or by email.