Privacy

The short version

• No ads, no advertising trackers. Signing in is optional.
• Without signing in, we never ask for your real name or email.
• Your location sorts the list. We do not save it.
• Ask us, and we delete what you sent.

What your phone keeps

FoodKOL sets no cookies unless you sign in. Your browser keeps these small things for this site:

• A random code, so we can count visits without knowing who you are.
• The last day we counted you, so you count once a day.
• The creators you chose to hide. If you sign in, the list is also kept with your account.
• The last list you looked at, with its search word and area, for the “Back to the list” link. It goes when you close the tab.
• If you sign in: cookies that keep you signed in. They go when you sign out.

Clearing this site's data in your browser removes all of them, and signs you out.

What we keep on our server

• Visits: your random code, the day and time of your first visit that day, the first page you opened, and one word for where you came from, such as “google” or “shared”. We do not keep the address of the site that sent you.
• Feedback: your message, the page you were on, your random code, and your email if you typed one. We use the email only to answer that message.
• “Wrong restaurant?” reports: which video, your note, a restaurant name if you suggested one, and your random code.
• “Add a video”: the post link you pasted (we remove tracking tags from full links), the restaurant name, a creator handle if you typed one, and your random code.

Each item also keeps the time it was sent. The same random code sits on your visits and on anything you send, so a feedback email can be linked to this browser's visits.

We use these to count visits, to stop abuse (each form takes 10 a day from one browser), and to read and act on what you sent. We keep them while FoodKOL runs. Please do not type private details, such as a phone number or a home address, into these forms.

When you sign in

• Signing in with Google is free and optional. You need it only to hide creators, so your choice follows you to every phone you use.
• We keep your Google email and name, the profile picture link Google sends, your Google account id, and when you signed in. Our database host may also keep your IP address and browser type with each sign-in.
• We keep your list of hidden creators with your account.
• If you tick “Email me new videos near me”, we may email you new videos near you, with an unsubscribe link in every email. We keep each yes or no you give, with the time and the version of this page you saw. Without the tick, your email is used only to sign you in.
• We get nothing else from your Google account: not your password, your contacts or your files.
• To delete it all, tap “Delete my account” on the Creators page. That removes your sign-in, your hidden list and your answers at once.

Your location

“Use my location” asks your phone only when you tap it. Your position goes to our server to sort restaurants by distance. We do not save it, and we remove it from our error reports before they are sent. Our web host's technical logs may still hold it for a while. Your browser may remember that you allowed FoodKOL to ask. You can change that in your browser's settings.

Who else sees data

• Vercel, a US company, runs this website. Our server code runs in Singapore. Like every web host, Vercel sees your IP address and the addresses you open, and keeps technical logs.
• Supabase holds our database, on servers in Singapore.
• Sentry, in the United States, gets our error and speed reports: the page address, your browser type, and perhaps a rough city. Words you type in search can appear in them. We remove your location first, Sentry is set not to store IP addresses, and it deletes reports after 30 days.
• TikTok, Instagram and YouTube: nothing loads from them until you tap Play. Then their own player loads, sees your IP address and the video you play, and may set its own cookies. Their own privacy policies apply.
• Instagram’s player runs inside this page, not in a separate frame. After you play an Instagram video, it can also see the page address and what this site keeps on your phone.
• When we answer your feedback by email, the reply goes through our email provider.
• Google: when you sign in, Google tells us who you are and knows you signed in to FoodKOL.

So some of your data leaves Malaysia, for Singapore and the United States.

Ask us

To see, correct or delete what you sent us, tap Feedback at the bottom right of any page, or email privacy@foodkol.com. Tell us what you sent and roughly when, and leave your email so we can reply. We answer within 21 days. Older backup copies of our database drop deleted items later, on their own schedule. Visit rows carry only the random code. To cut the link to your old visits, clear this site's data in your browser: you get a new code.