Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 22, 2026  •  Last Updated: April 23, 2026

1. Introduction

TasteBud ("we," "us," "our," or "the app") is a mobile and web application that provides AI-powered personalized recommendations for movies, TV shows, books, music, and games. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

TasteBud is operated by Matt Miles, based in Yuba City, California, USA. By using TasteBud, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account information: Email address and password when you create an account. You may also use TasteBud as a guest, in which case no email is collected and your data is stored only on your device until you choose to create an account.
• Ratings and reviews: Scores (1–10), comments, and contextual tags you add to movies, TV shows, books, music, and games.
• Favorites and watchlist: Items you mark as favorites, save to your watchlist, or mark as "not interested."
• Taste preferences: Responses during onboarding and Speedrun calibration, including preferred genres, decades, gaming platforms, and content types.
• Chat messages: Messages you send to our AI companion ("Bud"), which are stored to maintain conversation context and improve your recommendations over time.
• Imported music data: If you use the Music Import feature, any playlist text, song titles, or artist names you paste into the app.
• Support and waitlist submissions: Email address and any message content you submit through contact forms or premium waitlist signups.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Which screens you visit, which items you tap, which recommendations you accept or reject, and how often you use the app.
• AI usage logs: Records of which AI features you use, which model processed the request, and approximate input/output size (used for cost tracking and rate limiting). We do not retain the full content of AI calls beyond what is necessary to deliver the feature.
• Derived taste profile: A "Soul" profile automatically generated from your ratings and interactions, including inferred preferences such as emotional drivers, viewing rhythms, genre affinities, and cross-content themes.
• Device and session information: General device type (Android/web), app version, and a randomly generated user identifier.

2.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

• We do not collect precise location data or GPS coordinates.
• We do not access your contacts, photos, camera, or microphone.
• We do not collect payment card information directly — any premium purchases, when available, are processed entirely by Google Play Billing and we never see your card details.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To generate personalized recommendations across movies, TV, books, music, and games.
• To build and refine your Taste DNA and Soul profile, which powers features like Palate Cleanser, Pick for Me, and Taste Friends.
• To maintain the AI companion's memory of past conversations so responses feel continuous and relevant.
• To operate and improve the app, fix bugs, and monitor performance.
• To enforce rate limits and prevent abuse of AI features.
• To respond to support requests and communicate important service updates.
• To match you with optional community "taste tribes" on our Discord server if you choose to participate.

4. Third-Party Services

TasteBud relies on a small number of third-party services to function. Each handles data only as needed to deliver the feature it supports.

• Supabase — hosts our database and handles user authentication. Your account, ratings, taste profile, and chat memory are stored here with encryption in transit (HTTPS) and at rest.
• Anthropic (Claude) and Google (Gemini / Gemma) — process AI prompts to generate recommendations, personality analysis, and conversational chat. AI requests are routed through our own secure server proxy, which adds the API keys — your device never calls these providers directly. Prompts may include your ratings and profile data relevant to the request.
• TMDB (The Movie Database) — provides movie and TV metadata, cover art, and search.
• Open Library and Google Books — provide book metadata and covers.
• RAWG — provides video game metadata, cover art, and platform information.
• Deezer — provides music metadata, album art, and genre tags for imported songs.
• Discord — if you choose to join our community server, Discord's own privacy policy governs that interaction. TasteBud does not transmit your ratings or taste profile to Discord unless you explicitly share them through the in-app "Share" feature.
• Hostinger — hosts our website, privacy policy, terms of service, and the TasteBud web app.
• Google Play Services — handles app distribution and, in the future, in-app purchases for premium features.

We do not sell your personal data to anyone. We do not share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers. We do not use your data for cross-app ad targeting.

5. Advertising

TasteBud does not currently display third-party advertising. If we add advertising in the future (for example, through Google AdMob on the free tier), we will update this policy and the in-app disclosures before any ads are shown.

6. Data Retention

We retain your account information and associated data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, with limited exceptions for backups and legal compliance obligations. Aggregated, de-identified statistics (such as "X users rated Item Y") may be retained indefinitely for product analytics.

7. Your Rights and Choices

• Access and export: You can view your ratings, watchlist, favorites, and taste profile at any time inside the app.
• Correction: You can edit or delete individual ratings, favorites, and watchlist items directly in the app.
• Account deletion: You can delete your account and all associated personal data from Settings → Account → Delete Account, or by emailing hello@mytastebudapp.com.
• Chat memory reset: You can clear the AI companion's memory of your conversations from Settings → AI Companion → Clear Memory.
• Opt out of the community: Joining the TasteBud Discord is entirely optional and separate from app functionality.

Residents of California (CCPA/CPRA), the EU and UK (GDPR), and other jurisdictions with data protection laws may have additional rights, including the right to know, delete, correct, or port your personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the email below.

8. Children's Privacy

TasteBud is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it. Users between 13 and 17 should use TasteBud only with permission from a parent or legal guardian.

9. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards including HTTPS encryption in transit, encrypted database storage, server-side API key handling, and authenticated API endpoints. No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information and will notify affected users of any material security incident in accordance with applicable law.

10. International Users

TasteBud is operated from the United States. If you access the app from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by email before the changes take effect. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

12. Contact Us

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