Privacy Policy

Overview

BaytCooks is a marketplace that helps people in Bahrain find home kitchens near them. This page explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. We have kept the language plain so it is easy to follow.

Food payment and delivery are arranged directly between you and the cook. BaytCooks does not process food payments and never sees your card details for an order. The only money we handle is seller plan and promotion billing.

What We Collect

We collect three kinds of information.

Information you give us. Your name, email address, password (stored only as a salted hash), phone or WhatsApp number, preferred area, preferred language, and country. If you list a kitchen we also collect the kitchen name, address, description, opening hours, delivery settings, menu items, prices, and any photos you upload.

Information from your activity. Inquiries you send to kitchens, ratings and reviews you write, recipes and stories you publish, kitchens and dishes you save, and notifications we generate for you. We also count page visits on kitchen profiles so sellers can see how their listing performs.

Technical information. Standard request data such as your IP address and browser type, which our hosting layer records to keep the service running and to prevent abuse.

How We Use It

We use your information to:

• Create and secure your account, and verify your email address.
• Show your kitchen, menu, recipes, and reviews to other people on the marketplace.
• Pass your order details to the kitchen you chose so the cook can reply to you on WhatsApp.
• Send transactional email such as verification links, password resets, and order notifications.
• Give sellers aggregate statistics about visits, inquiries, and confirmed orders.
• Bill seller plans and promotions, and keep a record of those payments.
• Review kitchens before they go live, and investigate reports of misuse.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not run third party advertising networks on the site.

Cookies And Local Storage

BaytCooks does not use tracking or advertising cookies. We store a small amount of data in your browser using local storage:

• Your access and refresh tokens, so you stay signed in between visits.
• A copy of your basic profile, so the page can render before the server responds.
• Your chosen language, so the site opens in English or Arabic next time.
• Your inquiry cart, so items you picked are still there if you close the tab.

Clearing your browser storage signs you out and empties your cart. Nothing in local storage is shared with other websites.

Who We Share Data With

We use a small number of service providers, and we share only what each one needs to do its job.

• Polar handles seller plan and promotion checkout. When a seller subscribes, Polar receives the billing details needed to take payment. Card data goes to Polar, not to us.
• Resend delivers our transactional email. Resend receives your email address, your name, and the contents of the message we send you.
• Google Cloud Datastore stores the marketplace database, including accounts, kitchens, menus, inquiries, and reviews.

When you contact a kitchen, the seller sees your name, the items you asked about, your note, and the phone number you use to message them. Conversations that happen on WhatsApp are governed by WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy, not ours.

We may also disclose information if we are required to by Bahraini law, or if it is necessary to protect the safety of our users.

Where Data Is Stored

Your data is stored on Google Cloud infrastructure. We keep your account and its content for as long as your account is open. If you close your account we remove your profile and personal details, but we keep a minimal billing record where we are required to, and reviews may remain visible in anonymised form so kitchen ratings stay accurate.

Your Rights

You can:

• See and edit most of your information yourself from your profile page.
• Ask us for a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct anything that is wrong.
• Ask us to delete your account and the personal data attached to it.
• Unsubscribe from non essential email while keeping account security messages.

Email [email protected] for any of these and we will respond within 30 days. BaytCooks is intended for adults, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes To This Policy

If we change how we handle your data we will update this page and move the date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced by email or in the app before they take effect.

Contact Us

Questions about privacy go to [email protected]. You can also reach us through the contact page.