Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 7, 2026.

Best, Etc. (“we,” “us”) is a place-discovery service made up of the bestetc.com website and the Best, Etc. iOS app. This policy explains what data we collect, what we do with it, who we share it with, and what choices you have.

1. What we collect

When you create an account, save places, or use the app:

Account info. Your email address and name (from Sign in with Apple, Sign in with Google, or email/password registration, whichever you use), your chosen screen name (handle), and an internal user ID we assign to your account. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we also keep the account ID it gives us, so your next sign-in finds your account. If you choose an avatar (a small drawn figure or an icon), anyone can see it next to your screen name, including people who aren't signed in. We don't keep or show your Google profile picture.
Saved content. The places you save to Lists, the addresses you add as named locations, the people you block, the share invitations you send or receive, and your reviews: your thumb, your words, and the month you went, if you add it.
Location. Your precise location, when you grant permission, so we can rank places near you. Your home address and any other addresses you save, after you enter them. We log score-movement data at the coordinates you query (without your user identity attached) so the local “Best Place Score” stays current.
Network metadata. Your IP address, briefly, to coarsely determine your metro area as a fallback when GPS isn't available, and to apply per-IP rate limits.
Site usage. Our own servers count visits to bestetc.com. We use no cookies and no cross-site identifiers for this, and no analytics vendor is involved. For each page we record the page viewed, the site that referred you, the link or button you clicked, your browser and device type, the country your connection comes from, whether you were signed in, whether an ad blocker is present, and whether the page stayed on screen for at least five seconds. Each visit is grouped under a pseudonymous visitor key: a hash of your IP address and browser identifier under a random key that is discarded daily, so visits cannot be linked from one day to the next. The IP address itself is not stored.

We don't collect contacts, photos, calendar, microphone audio, advertising identifiers, biometric data, or third-party tracking identifiers.

2. How we use it

We use the data above to:

Sign you in and keep you signed in.
Show you places near you, near a location you've saved, or in the location you've searched for.
Save the places, addresses, and Lists you choose to save.
Let you share Lists with people you invite, and let you block users you don't want to interact with.
Operate the service: server logs, abuse prevention, rate limits, and troubleshooting.
Understand how the site is used, from the pseudonymous usage counts above, so we can see which pages and features people find useful. Our lawful basis for this is our legitimate interest in running the site.

We don't use your data for advertising, ad targeting, tracking you across other apps or websites, or building profiles for sale.

3. Who we share it with

Best, Etc. doesn't sell or rent your data. We share narrow slices of it with the following service providers, strictly to operate the service:

Apple, Inc. When you Sign in with Apple, we verify the identity token Apple gives you and read your email and account ID from it, and your name the first time Apple shares it.
Google LLC. When you sign in with Google, Google gives us your email address, name, account ID, and a link to your profile picture. If you created your account with Google, we keep the email address, name and account ID; if not, the email address and account ID. We never keep the link to your picture or show the picture. A later sign-in with Google never changes your name. You can change your name in Best, Etc. at any time.
Mapbox, Inc. When you enter or edit an address, or search for one, we send the address text to Mapbox's Geocoding API to convert it to coordinates, with a rough location (to about ten kilometers: your home, or the middle of a list's saved places) so an ambiguous address resolves nearby. When you type in an address field with autocomplete on, your typed characters are sent to Mapbox Search Box for suggestions. We don't send your account identity with either.
MaxMind. IP-to-metro lookup runs against a MaxMind GeoLite2 database we host on our own servers; your IP doesn't leave our servers for this purpose.
Supabase, Inc. and Fly.io, Inc. are our database and application hosting providers. They have access to our servers and database only as required to operate them.

Your screen name appears wherever you do. Anyone can see your published Lists and the words of your reviews, with your thumb beside them, including people who aren't signed in and search engines. A thumb on its own is counted anonymously and isn't shown as yours (we keep it with your account so you can change or delete it). The name on your account is separate from your screen name, and it shows up in far fewer places. People you invite to a List see it on the invitation and on that List (and any lists inside it), even if you later leave the List. Otherwise we don't show it to anyone, unless you turn on the setting “Let people find me by name” (it starts off). Anyone can find your person page by your screen name. Adding a name to your account is optional, and it doesn't have to be your real one. With “Let people find me by name” on, anyone can find you by that name in people search, and they see it next to your screen name there, in their Following list if they follow you, and in their Blocked list if they've blocked you. Turn it off and all of that stops right away. Your person page never shows it. Deleting your account removes your name from all of these.

Site usage counts are collected and kept on our own servers. No analytics vendor receives them.

We may also disclose data when required by law, to protect rights and safety, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all our assets, in which case we'll notify you.

4. How long we keep it

We keep your account and the content you've saved for as long as you have an account. You can delete your account at any time from the Settings screen, which permanently removes your account, saved places, saved addresses, block list, screen name, and session tokens. Score-movement logs at coordinates you previously queried are retained without your user identity attached and are not personally identifiable after deletion. Per-visit usage records are deleted after 90 days; only daily aggregate counts are kept.

5. Your rights

You can:

See, edit, or delete your saved content at any time from inside the app.
Delete your account from Settings → Delete Account. Deletion is immediate and permanent.
Block people from search results and shared Lists from Settings → Privacy.
Withdraw location permission from your device's system settings; the app will fall back to a coarse IP-based metro guess for ranking.
Contact us at the email below for questions, data requests, or complaints.

If you're a California resident, you have rights under the CCPA, including the right to know, the right to delete, the right to correct, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights. We don't sell or share your personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA.

If you're in the EU/EEA or UK, you have rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. Our lawful basis for processing your data is the performance of a contract (operating the service you signed up for).

6. Children

Best, Etc. is for general audiences and is not directed to children under 13 (or 16 in the EU/EEA/UK). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.

7. Changes to this policy

We'll post any material changes here and update the Effective Date above. If the changes are significant, we'll notify you in-app or by email before they take effect.

8. Contact

Questions, requests, or complaints: support@bestetc.com.