Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 17, 2026 · Last updated: October 17, 2026
Fork & Follow ("Fork & Follow," "we," "us") is an iPhone app and website that helps you save restaurants you find online and reminds you when you're near one. It's run by Nygle Gillett in California. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. It covers the Fork & Follow app, forkandfollowapp.com, our share links (/r/ and /go/ links), the waitlist, and the restaurant and creator tools (together, the "Services").
The short version
- We don't run ads, and we don't sell or "share" your personal information for advertising.
- We use your location to show nearby restaurants and to remind you about places you saved. Nearby checks happen on your phone. We don't keep a history of where you go.
- We store your location only at the moment you claim a promo, so the restaurant can confirm you were there.
- Screenshots you import go to Google's Gemini AI to find the restaurant. We don't store them.
- You can delete your account and data anytime in the app: Settings → Account → Delete account.
1. What we collect and why
| Information | Where it comes from | Why we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Account info: name, email address, a user ID, and how you sign in (Google, Apple or email and password) | You, through our sign-in provider Clerk. If you use Sign in with Apple or Google, they share your name and email (or an Apple relay email) with us. | To create and secure your account, sync your saved places across devices, and contact you about your account. |
| Saved places and lists: restaurants you save, priorities (Must try, Soon, Someday), "Been There" status, alert distance settings | You | To run the app, back up your list, and let you restore it. |
| Precise location (while using the app, and in the background if you choose "Always") | Your phone, with your permission | To show restaurants near you, sort and map your saved places, and send nearby reminders. See Location. |
| Check-ins | You, when you tap Check in | We use your location at that moment to confirm you're within about 50 meters of the restaurant. We store that you checked in and when, but not your coordinates. |
| Promo claims, including your location when you claim | You, when you claim an offer | To confirm you're at the restaurant, prevent repeat claims, and show restaurants how many people claimed. The claim location is stored with the claim. |
| Screenshots you choose to import | You, from your photo library | To find the restaurant in the screenshot. See Screenshot import. |
| App activity: app opens, saves, notifications sent and opened, visits, and an app-generated install ID | The app | To run features (such as alert cooldowns), measure what's working, and show creators and restaurants anonymous totals. |
| Analytics through HeyCatch: your user ID, email, name, sign-up date, and events such as "sign-up completed" | The app and our server | Product analytics. We plan to remove HeyCatch soon and will update this policy when we do. |
| Crash and diagnostic data: device model, iOS version, app version, error details | The app, through Sentry | To find and fix crashes. We've set Sentry not to collect your name, email or IP-based identity by default. |
Link attribution: a click ID from a creator's /go/ link, the time of the click, and which link it was | The link you tapped | To credit the creator or restaurant that sent you. See Share links. |
| Technical data: IP address, device and browser type, request times | Your device when it connects to our servers | Security, rate limiting and abuse prevention, debugging. |
| Waitlist and contact forms: name, email, city, messages | You, on our website (Netlify Forms) | To send early-access invites and answer you. |
| Restaurant and creator info: restaurant name, address, Instagram handle, contact name and email; creator dashboard account details and links | Restaurants and creators who use our forms or dashboard | To verify claims, manage links and promos, and contact them. |
2. Location
Location is optional, but nearby search and reminders need it. Here's how we use it:
- While you use the app: your phone sends its current location to our server with a search, so we can find nearby restaurants (we look them up with Google Places). We use it to answer that request and don't save it as a location history.
- In the background (only if you choose "Always"): your phone uses iOS geofences and background location to notice when you're near a place you saved. That check happens on your phone. We don't upload a trail of where you go.
- Check-ins: your exact location is checked against the restaurant's location and then thrown away. Only the fact that you checked in, and when, is stored.
- Promo claims: the location you claim from is stored with the claim so the restaurant can trust it. Deleting your account erases it.
Under California law, precise location is "sensitive personal information." We use it only to provide the features you ask for, as listed above. We don't use it to infer anything about you, and we don't sell or share it. You can turn location off, or switch from "Always" to "While Using," anytime in iPhone Settings → Fork & Follow → Location.
3. Notifications
- Saved-place reminders ("X is nearby!") are notifications your phone creates when you're near a place you saved. You can turn them off with Hungry Mode in the app, change the distance and cooldown in Settings, or turn off notifications in iPhone Settings.
- Restaurant offers and nearby promo alerts are off until you turn them on in the app. We record when you turn them on or off. Turning on iPhone notifications alone does not sign you up for promotions. You can turn them off anytime in Settings.
- Notifications are never required to use the app.
4. Screenshot import and Google AI
When you import a screenshot, the app shrinks the image you picked and sends it to our server. Our server sends it to Google's Gemini AI to read restaurant names, then looks those names up with Google Places. We don't save the image in our database or storage, and we don't write it to our logs. Google processes the image under its Gemini API terms, and may keep it for a limited time, for example for abuse monitoring. Only the photo you pick is sent, never your library. If you'd rather not use AI, search by name instead.
5. Share links, creators and promos
- Restaurant links (
/r/) open a restaurant page you can add to your list. - Creator links (
/go/) count the click, then send you on to the app or website with a random click ID. The app keeps that ID on your phone for up to 7 days. If you save the restaurant, the ID goes along with the save so the creator gets credit. Creators and restaurants see totals (clicks, app opens, saves, visits, claims), not your name or email. If a creator deletes their account, their public links may stay live under Fork & Follow with the creator's personal details removed (see Deleting your account). - Promos are offered by restaurants. When you claim one, we record the claim, the time and your location (see Location).
- Instagram claims: if a restaurant asks us to link its Instagram, we keep the business details and the contact name and email it gives us so we can verify and reply.
6. Who we share data with
We share personal information only with service providers that help us run the Services. They may use it only to provide their service to us:
| Provider | What they do | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk | Sign-in and account security | Name, email, user ID, sign-in method, sessions |
| Apple and Google | Sign in with Apple and Google sign-in; Apple delivers the app and notifications | What you approve when you sign in |
| Replit (with Google Cloud) | Hosts our server, database and encrypted backups | Everything we store |
| Google (Gemini API, Places API) | Reads imported screenshots; restaurant search, details and hours | Screenshots you import; search text and location sent with searches |
| Sentry | Crash reporting | Crash and diagnostic data |
| HeyCatch (being removed soon) | Product analytics | User ID, email, name, sign-up date, app events |
| Netlify | Hosts our website and its forms | Waitlist and contact form entries, website request data |
| Resend | Sends account and dashboard emails | Email address and message content |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our rights, or as part of a merger or sale of the business, in which case this policy keeps applying to your information.
7. No ads, no selling
We don't show ads, and we don't use advertising pixels or trackers. We don't sell your personal information, and we don't "share" it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as California law defines those terms. We haven't done either in the past 12 months. We don't track you across other companies' apps or websites. Since we don't sell or share, there's nothing to opt out of. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we honor it as an opt-out anyway.
8. How long we keep data
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Account, saved places, settings, check-ins, promo claims (including claim location) | Until you delete your account |
| Recently deleted places | 30 days, then removed automatically |
| Backups of your saved list | Rolling 30 days; deleted right away if you delete your account |
| Screenshots | Not kept by us. Google may keep them briefly under its terms. |
| App activity and analytics events | While your account exists. When you delete it, they're de-identified (see below). |
| Crash reports (Sentry) | Up to 90 days |
| HeyCatch analytics | Under HeyCatch's retention policy. Email us to ask for deletion. |
| Server logs | Short periods, for security and debugging |
| Waitlist and contact form entries | Until launch invites are done, or until you ask us to delete them |
9. Deleting your account
In the app: Settings → Account → Delete account. Type DELETE to confirm. The deletion happens right away, and it can't be undone.
By email: write to forkandfollowapp@gmail.com from the email on your account.
What's deleted: your sign-in account, profile, saved places, Been There list, settings, offer preferences and consent history, check-ins, promo claim locations, recovery codes, and backups.
What's kept: anonymous totals that can't be tied back to you, such as "a place was saved from this creator's link" or "an offer was claimed." These keep creators' and restaurants' totals accurate. We remove your name, email, account ID, device ID and claim location from them first. Crash reports expire on their own.
Creators and restaurant partners: public links you made (/go/ and /r/ links), campaigns and promos may stay live under Fork & Follow after you delete your account, so people who already have them don't hit a dead link. We remove your personal details from them first: your name, email and Instagram handle are replaced with "former creator." Their anonymous totals stay. One exception: a link's web address stays the same so it keeps working, so if you picked your handle as the link name, it stays in that address. Email us if you'd like us to retire a particular link.
Signed in with Apple? You can also remove Fork & Follow in iPhone Settings → your name → Sign-In & Security → Sign in with Apple.
10. Your choices
- Turn location, background location or notifications on or off in iPhone Settings.
- Pause reminders with Hungry Mode, and turn restaurant offers and nearby promo alerts on or off in the app's Settings.
- Export your saved places in Settings → Saved places & recovery.
- Delete your account in the app, or email us.
- To stop marketing emails, email us and we'll take you off the list.
11. California privacy rights
If you live in California, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, gives you the right to:
- Know and access the personal information we've collected about you, where it came from, why we use it, and who we've disclosed it to.
- Delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
- Correct inaccurate personal information.
- Get a portable copy of your data.
- Opt out of sale or sharing, and limit the use of sensitive personal information. We don't sell or share, and we use precise location only for the services you ask for, so these don't apply today. If that ever changes, we'll update this policy and give you a way to opt out first.
- Not be discriminated against for using these rights.
To use these rights, delete your account in the app or email forkandfollowapp@gmail.com. We'll verify your request by confirming it came from the email on your account, and we'll respond within 45 days. An authorized agent can make a request for you with your signed permission. We'll still verify your identity with you directly.
Categories of personal information (last 12 months)
| Category | Examples | Disclosed to | Sold or shared? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Name, email, user ID, install ID, IP address | Clerk, Replit, HeyCatch, Sentry (technical only), Resend, Netlify | No |
| Internet or other electronic activity | App activity, link clicks, crash data | Replit, HeyCatch, Sentry | No |
| Geolocation (sensitive) | Precise location for search, reminders, check-ins and promo claims | Replit, Google (searches) | No |
| Photos you choose | Imported screenshots | Google (Gemini) | No |
| Inferences and preferences | Saved places, priorities, Been There | Replit | No |
| Commercial information | Promos you claimed | Replit; restaurants see totals | No |
Sources and purposes for each category are in section 1, and how long we keep each one is in section 8.
12. Children
Fork & Follow is meant for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account (see our Terms). The Services aren't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, email forkandfollowapp@gmail.com and we'll delete it.
13. Security and where data is stored
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls, private backups, and limits on how often accounts and devices can call our servers. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong password if you sign in with email. Fork & Follow is based in the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the U.S. If you use the Services from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred here.
14. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll post the new version here and update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
15. Contact us
Questions or requests: forkandfollowapp@gmail.com. Email is the best and only way to reach us about privacy.