PRIVACY POLICY
Toochooz
Last Updated: April 2026
This Privacy Policy ("Policy") governs the collection, use, storage, transfer, and disclosure of information by Toochooz ("Company," "we," "us," or "our") in connection with two distinct but related digital properties operated under the Toochooz brand:
(1) The Toochooz Mobile Application ("App") — a consumer-facing swipe-based platform that enables paired users to discover and select restaurants and recipes together; and
(2) The Toochooz Restaurant Submission Website ("Submission Portal" or "Website") — a web-based portal through which members of the public may submit restaurant listings, images, hours of operation, and related data, or submit removal requests, for moderation and potential inclusion in the Toochooz platform database.
This Policy applies jointly and severally to both digital properties and is published at a single URL. Where provisions are specific to one property only, they are clearly identified as such. By accessing or using either the App or the Website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Policy in its entirety.
For the purposes of this Policy, the following definitions apply:
• "Personal Data" means any information that identifies or could reasonably identify a natural person, including but not limited to phone numbers, location data, device identifiers, and IP addresses.
• "User" means any individual who accesses or uses the App, the Website, or both.
• "App User" means any individual who has registered for and uses the Toochooz mobile application.
• "Submitter" means any individual who accesses the Submission Portal to submit or request removal of restaurant data.
• "Username" means the permanent display name selected by an App User at the time of registration, limited to sixteen (16) characters.
• "Content" means any data, text, images, restaurant information, recipes, or other materials submitted by Users.
• "Database" means the Toochooz proprietary database of restaurant and recipe data, including all associated metadata.
• "Paired Session" means a linked connection between two registered App Users who have mutually elected to connect their accounts for the purpose of jointly swiping on restaurant or recipe cards.
• "Swipe Session Data" means affirmative or negative swipe inputs recorded during an active session, which expire after twenty-four (24) hours.
• "Firebase" means the cloud infrastructure platform provided by Google LLC, used to host, store, and serve the Toochooz Database and user data.
• "Google Cloud Vision" means the automated image and text analysis service provided by Google LLC, used to screen submitted Content for prohibited material.
The Toochooz App is a free, swipe-based platform designed to facilitate joint decision-making between two users regarding restaurant selection and recipe discovery. The App is currently developed and maintained by an individual developer operating under the Toochooz brand.
To access the core features of the App, users are required to register an account via phone number verification. Your phone number serves as your primary account identifier and authentication credential. It is stored securely in our Firebase backend. We do not collect your legal name, email address, or other personally identifying information at the point of registration beyond the phone number used for verification and the Username you select.
As part of the mandatory App sign-up flow, every prospective user is required to affirmatively agree to the Toochooz Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy before the registration process can be completed. The sign-up flow will not permit a prospective user to create an account without this affirmative agreement. By completing registration, you confirm that you have had the opportunity to review both documents and accept their terms.
At the time of registration, you are required to select a Username of up to sixteen (16) characters. Your Username is permanent and cannot be changed after registration. Your Username appears at the top of your profile tab within the App. It is also visible to:
• Any user to whom you send a pairing request.
• Any user whose pairing request you receive and review.
• Any user currently paired with your account. While paired, your Username appears at the top of the Swipe Tab on your partner's device in a header reading "Swipe with" followed by your Username, and is also viewable via the Unpair Accounts screen.
Your Username is not publicly searchable and is not visible to the general user population. Because the Username is permanent, you are solely responsible for selecting a Username that is appropriate and compliant with these Terms at the time of registration.
The App's pairing feature allows two users to connect their accounts by phone number. You acknowledge and agree that:
• When you send a pairing request, the recipient sees your Username and phone number.
• When you receive a pairing request, you see the requesting user's Username and phone number.
• While paired, each user's Username is displayed to the other at the top of the Swipe Tab in a header reading "Swipe with" followed by the partner's Username. Each user can also view the other's Username and phone number via the Unpair Accounts screen.
• Pairing is entirely user-initiated. Toochooz does not suggest, match, or facilitate pairings through any backend process. All pairings are established solely through mutual user action.
• While paired, each user can view the recipes uploaded by the other user via the Manage Recipes feature.
Toochooz does not sell or share pairing relationship data with third parties for their independent commercial use, subject to the data commercialization rights reserved in Section 6 of this Policy.
When a pairing is dissolved — whether because one user initiates an unpair action or because one user deletes their account — the former paired partner does not receive a direct notification or message. Instead, the App's user interface updates automatically to reflect the unpaired state upon the next application state refresh on the former partner's device. Specifically:
• The swipe tab will display a prompt indicating that the user should pair their account.
• The recipe upload function on the profile tab will be disabled, with an in-app message indicating that pairing is required to upload recipes.
This interface change may take a brief moment to appear if the former partner is actively using the App at the time the dissolution occurs. Toochooz is not responsible for any confusion or inconvenience resulting from this brief delay.
The App includes a toggle allowing users to enable or disable location access at any time. You acknowledge and agree that:
• The restaurant swiping feature requires location access to function. If location access is disabled, the restaurant swiping portion of the App will not operate.
• Restaurants are populated based on your current location and your selected search radius of one (1) to thirty-five (35) miles.
• Your approximate location at the time of account registration may be stored in association with your account to establish your home region for geographically relevant content.
• Real-time location used during active swiping sessions is processed ephemerally and is not stored in a persistent, precise form.
• Location data may be subject to the data commercialization rights reserved in Section 6 of this Policy.
The App may send push notifications relating to pairing requests, pairing-related in-app events, and recipe deletion requests from paired partners. Notification access can be toggled on or off within the App's Profile Tab. Toochooz does not use push notifications for advertising or marketing purposes at this time.
Swipe session data, including affirmative ("yes") swipes on restaurant or recipe cards, is retained for a period of twenty-four (24) hours from the time of recording. If not matched or acted upon by the paired partner within this window, swipe data is automatically purged. Toochooz does not maintain a permanent swipe history or long-term behavioral preference profile for individual users.
Users may submit recipes, which may include a title (maximum fifty (50) characters), a description (maximum one hundred sixty (160) characters), and an image. Recipe content is stored in the Toochooz Database and associated with the submitting user's account. Key data practices regarding recipes include:
• Recipes uploaded during any pairing remain stored in the submitting user's account and are accessible whenever that user is actively paired. If two users unpair and subsequently re-pair, their previously uploaded recipes will reappear and be accessible within the renewed pairing.
• Recipes are visible to a user's current paired partner via the Manage Recipes feature while the pairing is active.
• Upon account deletion, all recipes ever uploaded by the deleting user across all pairings, past and present, are permanently and irrevocably deleted, including all associated images, descriptions, and metadata.
• All recipe submissions are subject to initial automated screening by Google Cloud Vision prior to publication. Reported recipes are subject to a second, stricter round of automated moderation. Recipes removed through either round of moderation are not recoverable.
• Any user may report a recipe directly from the swipe screen using the per-card report button. When reporting a recipe, the user must select either the recipe image or the recipe description as the basis for the report; reporting both elements simultaneously in a single report is not supported. There is no penalty for users who submit reports, regardless of frequency or volume. Recipes that successfully pass the second round of enhanced automated moderation will not be subject to further review based on additional reports.
The App may utilize Firebase Analytics, provided by Google LLC, to collect anonymized and aggregated usage data, including information about feature interactions, session duration, and general usage patterns. This data is used solely to improve App performance and user experience. Firebase Analytics does not individually identify users by name. For details on Google's data practices, please refer to Google's Privacy Policy.
The App integrates with the following third-party services, each operating under its own privacy policy:
• Google Firebase: Database storage, user authentication, and backend infrastructure.
• Google Cloud Vision API: Automated content moderation of recipe images and text.
• Firebase Analytics: Anonymized usage analytics.
Toochooz is not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party services.
Toochooz is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any restaurant, restaurant brand, or restaurant location displayed in the App. Each restaurant card in the App displays an explicit non-affiliation notice. Restaurant names, logos, and associated imagery are the property of their respective owners. Toochooz does not collect or store any data on behalf of, or share any data with, any restaurant displayed in the App.
Restaurant data displayed in the App is composed of two distinct categories. Restaurant names, addresses, geographic coordinates, and hours of operation are publicly available factual information. The Toochooz Database is initially seeded with this category of data and is expanded over time through user submissions made via the Submission Portal. This factual data is not subject to wholesale removal upon brand or restaurant request. Restaurant logos, storefront photographs, and other associated imagery may be subject to copyright or trademark protection and are addressed by the following policy.
A restaurant or brand owner contacting admin@toochooz.com or another direct channel may request the following actions, which Toochooz will accommodate in good faith:
• Replacement of the brand's existing logo or image with a new logo or image supplied directly by the brand, subject to format and quality requirements.
• Removal of the brand's logo or image entirely, in which case Toochooz will substitute a generic placeholder corresponding to one of the restaurant's assigned cuisine types so users continue to receive a complete restaurant card. Toochooz does not unilaterally substitute placeholder images for brands that have not made such a request. Mass image replacement (whether with a brand-supplied image or a cuisine-type placeholder) across all of a brand's locations is supported upon legitimate request.
• Update or correction of a specific location's address, hours of operation, or open/closed status when accurate information is provided.
• Adjustment of cuisine type(s) assigned to a restaurant in the Database.
• Coordinated removal of specific listings for permanently closed locations, evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Toochooz does not honor brand requests to remove names, addresses, geographic coordinates, or hours of operation from the Database in bulk based solely on the brand's general objection to inclusion in the Toochooz platform. The only category of data that will be wholesale removed at a brand's request is the brand's proprietary imagery, which will be replaced with cuisine-type placeholders.
Brand-direct communications are completely separate from the public Listing Removal Request form available on the Submission Portal. The public form is designed for use by any member of the public to flag listings that should no longer appear to App users (for example, restaurants that have closed). Public removal requests, when approved, hide a listing from public visibility in the App but do not remove the listing data from the underlying Database. The public removal request form is governed by Section 3 of this Policy and the Website Terms of Service.
Users may delete their account at any time using the account deletion function in the App's Profile Tab. Upon account deletion:
• Your account record, phone number, Username, and associated preferences are permanently deleted.
• All recipes you have ever uploaded, across all pairings, are permanently deleted, including all recipe images, descriptions, and metadata.
• Any active pairing is immediately dissolved server-side. The former partner's device reflects this change upon the next application state refresh via UI changes as described in Section 2.5.
• Swipe session data associated with your account is deleted.
Account deletion is permanent and irreversible. Aggregated or de-identified data derived from your usage may be retained indefinitely as it cannot be traced back to you individually.
The Submission Portal is a publicly accessible web interface that allows members of the public to (a) contribute new restaurant listings to the Toochooz restaurant Database, and (b) submit Listing Removal Requests asking that a specific listing no longer be displayed to App users (for example, when a restaurant has permanently closed or relocated). No account registration is required to use either form.
Both the restaurant submission form and the listing removal request form require the user to affirmatively check a box agreeing to the Toochooz Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy before the form can be submitted. Submissions cannot be processed without this affirmative agreement.
When you submit a restaurant listing through the Submission Portal, we may collect the following:
Voluntarily Submitted Restaurant Data:
• Restaurant name.
• Between one (1) and three (3) cuisine types selected from a predefined list.
• Hours of operation for each day of the week, with optional support for a second open/close window per day.
• Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) and/or full address (Address Line 1, optional Address Line 2, City, State, ZIP Code). At least one location format is required.
• Timezone of the restaurant's location.
• One uploaded restaurant logo or storefront image (JPG or PNG, maximum 2MB).
Automatically Collected Technical Data:
• IP address of the submitting device, temporarily logged for security, anti-abuse, and spam prevention purposes.
• Browser type, operating system, and referring URL collected via standard server logging.
• CAPTCHA verification or similar anti-abuse data.
• Timestamp of submission.
We do not require or solicit your name, email address, or any other personally identifying information in connection with restaurant submissions.
When you submit a Listing Removal Request, we may collect the following:
• The reason for the requested removal.
• The restaurant name, address (Address Line 1 and optional Address Line 2), city, two-letter state abbreviation, and ZIP code.
• CAPTCHA verification or similar anti-abuse data.
• Automatically collected technical data, including IP address (for security and anti-abuse purposes), browser/operating system information, and timestamp.
We do not require or solicit your name, email address, or any other personally identifying information in connection with removal requests.
TOOCHOOZ EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE COPYRIGHT STATUS OR THIRD-PARTY OWNERSHIP OF ANY IMAGE SUBMITTED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE SUBMISSION PORTAL.
Toochooz cannot reasonably be expected to conduct individualized copyright verification on every submitted image. By submitting an image, you represent that you hold all rights necessary to do so. Copyright infringement notices may be sent to admin@toochooz.com.
Restaurant submissions are reviewed and moderated by Toochooz. Approved data may be added to the Database and may appear in the App. Submitted images may be resized or modified for consistency. Rejected submissions are logged for audit purposes.
Listing Removal Requests are reviewed and evaluated by Toochooz. Approved removal requests result in the affected listing being hidden from public visibility in the App; the underlying listing data remains in the Toochooz Database for audit, operational, and reactivation purposes. Toochooz reserves the right to decline any removal request at its sole discretion.
No submitter personal information is required or displayed publicly in connection with either type of submission.
Toochooz may permanently ban IP addresses from accessing the Submission Portal in response to submission spam, bulk false restaurant listings, bad-faith removal requests, or repeated violations of the Website Terms of Service. IP address data used in connection with ban decisions is retained for security and audit purposes. Banned users may contact admin@toochooz.com to discuss the matter, though Toochooz makes no commitment to lift any ban.
Submitters grant Toochooz a perpetual, royalty-free license to use submitted restaurant data and images in the App and associated products, as more fully described in the Website Terms of Service.
• To operate, maintain, and improve the App and the Submission Portal.
• To authenticate App Users and manage accounts.
• To populate and refresh the Database with approved submissions.
• To display restaurant and recipe cards to App Users based on location and pairing.
• To facilitate Paired Sessions between connected App Users.
• To screen recipe submissions and images using Google Cloud Vision.
• To conduct enhanced moderation on reported recipes.
• To manually review restaurant submissions and removal requests.
• To log and analyze rejected submissions for anti-abuse and anti-spam purposes.
• To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent or abusive activity on our platforms.
• To temporarily log IP addresses for security and spam prevention.
• To enforce our Terms of Service and Content Standards, including IP bans.
• To analyze anonymized usage patterns via Firebase Analytics to improve App performance and user experience.
As described in Section 6, Toochooz reserves the right to use data for commercial purposes including data licensing and sale, subject to applicable law.
• App User account data (phone number, Username, location) is retained for the duration of the account and permanently deleted upon account deletion.
• All recipe data and images uploaded by a user are permanently deleted upon that user's account deletion, regardless of which pairings they were associated with.
• Recipe data associated with an active account persists and remains accessible whenever that user is in an active pairing, even across multiple pairing cycles with the same or different partners.
• Swipe session data expires and is automatically purged after twenty-four (24) hours.
• Restaurant submission data, whether approved or rejected, is retained indefinitely for Database and audit purposes.
• Listings hidden from public visibility through approved Listing Removal Requests remain in the Toochooz Database indefinitely; only their public-facing visibility in the App is affected.
• Listing Removal Request records, including the reason and submitted location data, are retained for audit, operational, and anti-abuse purposes for a period determined by Toochooz.
• IP addresses collected through the Submission Portal are retained temporarily and deleted in accordance with our standard log retention schedule.
• Aggregated or de-identified data may be retained indefinitely as it cannot be traced to individual users.
The Toochooz Database, including all restaurant data, recipe data, user-submitted content, and any compilations or derivatives thereof, constitutes proprietary intellectual property owned exclusively by Toochooz.
TOOCHOOZ EXPRESSLY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO USE, LICENSE, SELL, TRANSFER, AND OTHERWISE COMMERCIALLY EXPLOIT ANY AND ALL DATA COLLECTED THROUGH THE APP AND THE SUBMISSION PORTAL, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO USER ACCOUNT DATA, LOCATION DATA, PHONE NUMBERS, USAGE DATA, RECIPE DATA, RESTAURANT DATA, AND BEHAVIORAL DATA, SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE LAW.
This includes the right to enter into data licensing or sharing agreements with third parties, sell or transfer the Database in connection with a business transaction, and use aggregated or de-identified data for analytical or commercial purposes without restriction.
We are transparent with our users: Toochooz currently does not sell or share individually identifiable personal data with third parties for their independent commercial use. We value user privacy and are committed to responsible data stewardship. However, we expressly reserve all legal rights to commercialize data in the future. Any such change in practice will be reflected in an updated version of this Policy. By using either service, you acknowledge and consent to the rights reserved herein.
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data. App Users may exercise their deletion rights directly by deleting their account within the App. For all other requests, contact admin@toochooz.com.
U.S. State Privacy Law Rights: If you are a resident of a U.S. state with a comprehensive consumer privacy law — including but not limited to California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), Texas (TDPSA), and other states with similar laws now or hereafter enacted — you may have additional rights, which may include:
• The right to know what personal information we have collected about you and how it is used.
• The right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, where applicable.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact admin@toochooz.com with a description of your request and the U.S. state in which you reside. Toochooz will respond to verifiable requests within the timeframes required by the applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests, including by confirming details associated with the phone number on your account.
Note that the exercise of individual rights does not affect Toochooz's rights with respect to aggregated or de-identified data, and certain rights may be subject to exceptions under applicable law (such as legal compliance, security, and legitimate business purposes).
Toochooz employs industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect collected data, including:
• Secure storage within Google Firebase, which employs enterprise-grade security infrastructure.
• Server-side storage of all third-party API credentials. No API credentials are exposed to client-side code or end users.
• Access controls limiting Database access to authorized personnel only.
No method of data transmission or storage is completely secure. Toochooz cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data and disclaims liability for unauthorized access resulting from circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
The App and the Submission Portal are not directed to children under the age of thirteen (13). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under thirteen. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such data, we will promptly delete it. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided us with personal data may contact us at admin@toochooz.com.
The App and Website integrate with third-party services that operate under their own privacy policies. Toochooz is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of any third-party services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Google Firebase, Google Cloud Vision, and Firebase Analytics, as applicable.
Toochooz reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes will be posted at the URL where this Policy is maintained with an updated "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of the App or the Submission Portal following the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.
For questions, concerns, or data requests relating to this Privacy Policy, please contact:
Toochooz
Email: admin@toochooz.com
This Privacy Policy was last updated in April 2026 and is effective as of that date. This document supersedes all prior versions.