Privacy Policy

Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to FoodTruckScout.com and all related web pages, mobile experiences, and services we provide (collectively, the "Service"). It does not apply to third-party websites that may be linked from FTS - those sites have their own privacy practices, and we encourage you to review them. If you are a food truck operator, venue, food park, advertiser, or event organizer using our business tools, this policy covers those activities as well.

Information You Provide

Depending on how you use FTS, you may provide:

• Account information: Your name, email address, phone number (recommended), and password when you create an account. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider (Supabase) using cryptographic hashing - we cannot see your plaintext password.
• Profile information: Avatar photo, display name, and role (consumer, truck owner, venue owner, etc.).
• Business information: If you claim or create a listing - truck name, logo, description, cuisine, menu items, prices, photos, schedule, service area, phone number, website, and social media links.
• Venue and park information: Venue name, address, capacity, amenities, photos, and opportunity postings.
• Event information: Event name, date, time, location, description, and photos for events you create.
• Ratings and reviews: Star ratings and optional short reviews you submit for menu items or trucks.
• Favorites: Trucks, dishes, events, and parks you save require a free account.
• Messages: Contact form submissions, catering inquiries, advertising inquiries, and opportunity application messages.

If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name, email, and profile photo with us based on the permissions you grant. We do not access your Google contacts, documents, or other Google data.

Business & Public Information

Food Truck Scout is a discovery directory. To build a useful platform, we may obtain information about food trucks, venues, and food parks from:

• Business owners and authorized representatives
• Public websites and public social media pages
• Publicly accessible menus and pricing
• Public directories and government records where applicable
• Other publicly available sources

We may create or maintain business listings using publicly available information even if the business has not created an account, where legally permitted. If you are a business owner, you can claim your listing to update, correct, or request review of information. We do not claim ownership of third-party trademarks, photographs, logos, or menu content merely because they appear in a listing.

Automatically Collected Information

When you use FTS, we and our service providers automatically collect:

• IP address (used for approximate location and security)
• Browser type, device type, and operating system
• Pages viewed, referring pages, and timestamps
• Search queries and filter selections
• Clicks and interactions (such as menu views, directions clicks, and favorites)
• Session information and analytics identifiers
• Crash and error information for debugging
• Approximate location derived from your IP address or city selection

We use Google Tag Manager (GTM) to help manage analytics and measurement tags. GTM may set cookies and collect aggregated usage data. See the Google Privacy Policy for details.

Location Information

Location is fundamental to Food Truck Scout. We distinguish between several types of location data:

• Business locations: Addresses and coordinates for food trucks, venues, and food parks. This information may be public.
• Approximate user location: We infer your general area from your IP address or your selected city to show nearby results. This does not require device permission.
• Precise device location: Features like Ask Scout may request your device's GPS coordinates to find the nearest food options. This requires your explicit browser permission, which you can deny or revoke at any time in your browser settings.

We use location to calculate distances, display maps, sort nearby results, and power recommendations. If you deny location permission, FTS still works - you can manually select your city or browse without location.

Payment Information

We use Stripe to process subscription payments. Stripe handles your credit card number and sensitive payment details - we never see or store your full card number. What we do store includes your Stripe customer ID, subscription ID, plan type, subscription status, and billing-related metadata. This lets us manage your subscription and display billing status in your account.

How We Use Your Information

• Providing and operating the Service, including search, discovery, recommendations, and Ask Scout
• Authenticating your account and managing sessions
• Displaying business listings, menus, schedules, and profiles
• Processing subscriptions, payments, and billing
• Sending transactional emails (welcome, claim status, gig notifications, password resets)
• Enabling favorites, ratings, and reviews
• Powering the venue opportunity marketplace and application workflow
• Serving and measuring advertising performance
• Improving our Service through analytics and performance monitoring
• Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, and security threats
• Managing customer relationships and marketing communications (with your consent where required)
• Complying with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information. We share data with service providers who help us operate the platform, as described below.

Advertising & Sponsorship

Food Truck Scout may display paid advertisements, sponsored placements, and promoted listings. These are clearly labeled and do not influence organic search rankings or Ask Scout recommendations.

Advertisements are labeled using terms such as: "Sponsored", "Promoted", "Featured", "Partner". We measure ad impressions and clicks using our own first-party tracking system.

Advertising does not influence Ask Scout recommendations or organic search rankings. We do not currently use third-party behavioral advertising networks for cross-context behavioral advertising. If we introduce such networks in the future, we will update this policy accordingly.

How Information Is Shared

We share information with the following categories of service providers and parties:

• Supabase - Database, authentication, file storage, and serverless functions. Data shared: Authentication credentials, account data, uploaded files, and analytics events. Privacy policy
• Stripe - Payment processing and subscription billing. Data shared: Email, billing address, and payment method information (card numbers are handled by Stripe and not stored by us). Privacy policy
• Google - Google OAuth sign-in and Google Tag Manager (analytics). Data shared: Email, name, and profile photo from your Google account (if you choose Google sign-in); aggregated analytics via GTM. Privacy policy
• Resend - Transactional email delivery. Data shared: Email address and email content for transactional messages. Privacy policy
• Pulse Formula (CRM) - Customer relationship management and marketing automation. Data shared: Name, email, phone number, user type, and account status for contact management and marketing workflows. Privacy policy
• OpenStreetMap / Leaflet - Map display and geographic visualization. Data shared: Map tile requests (approximate location based on map viewport). Privacy policy

We may also disclose information to professional advisors, in response to legal requests, to protect our rights, or in connection with a business transfer (merger, acquisition, or sale of assets). We do not share your information for any purpose other than as described in this policy, except with your consent or as required by law.

Public Information

Certain information you submit is displayed publicly on FTS. This includes truck names, logos, menus, descriptions, cuisine categories, schedules, service areas, business contact information, website and social media links, photographs, venue information, and park information. Please do not submit private personal information into fields intended for public display.

Cookies & Similar Technologies

We use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies for the following purposes:

• Essential: Authentication session, keeping you logged in, and remembering your selected city. These are required for the Service to function.
• Preferences: Remembering your cookie consent choice and location preferences. Stored in your browser's local storage.
• Analytics: Google Tag Manager may set cookies for measurement and analytics. You can decline non-essential cookies via our cookie consent banner.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies will prevent you from logging in or using interactive features. We do not use cookies for cross-site behavioral advertising.

Data Retention

• Active accounts: For the duration of your account
• Closed accounts: Up to 90 days after account closure, except records we must retain for legal, billing, or safety purposes
• Billing records: As required by applicable tax and financial laws (typically 7 years)
• Security logs: Up to 12 months
• Public business listings: Public business listings may be retained indefinitely as factual directory information, even after an account is closed
• User-generated content: Until account closure or content removal, except copies retained in backups

Backup copies may exist for a limited period after deletion, in accordance with our standard backup procedures.

Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards to protect your information, including encrypted authentication via Supabase, row-level security policies on our database, server-side handling of payment processing through Stripe, and separation of public and private data. However, no system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We do not store credit card numbers, and passwords are cryptographically hashed by our authentication provider.

Your Rights & Choices

• Access and update: You can view and update your profile information in your Account page.
• Correct listings: If you own a business, you can claim your listing to correct or update information.
• Delete your account: You can request account deletion by contacting us at hello@foodtruckscout.com. Please note that public business listings may be retained as factual directory information.
• Unsubscribe from marketing: You can opt out of marketing emails using the unsubscribe link in any marketing email. Transactional emails (account security, booking notifications) are not marketing and will continue.
• Control location permissions: You can deny or revoke browser location permission at any time in your browser settings.
• Cookie preferences: You can manage cookie consent via the banner or your browser settings.
• Privacy requests: Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to, deletion of, or portability of your personal information. Contact us at hello@foodtruckscout.com to submit a request.

U.S. State Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and subject to applicable law, you may have rights including: access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion of your personal information, data portability, opt-out of the sale of personal information, opt-out of certain sharing or targeted advertising, limitation of certain sensitive data uses, and the right to appeal a denial of a request.

We do not sell personal information as that term is defined under applicable U.S. state privacy laws. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. If we introduce practices that change this, we will update this policy and provide appropriate notice and choice mechanisms.

California: California residents may have rights under the CCPA/CPRA depending on applicable thresholds. To submit a request, contact us at hello@foodtruckscout.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

Florida: Florida residents may have rights under the Florida Digital Bill of Rights depending on applicable thresholds. To submit a request, contact us at hello@foodtruckscout.com.

Children's Privacy

Food Truck Scout is a general-audience service and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at hello@foodtruckscout.com and we will take steps to delete it. Account creation requires users to be at least 13 years old, and business accounts require users to be at least 18 and have legal authority to represent a business.

Business Users

If you submit information on behalf of a food truck, venue, food park, advertiser, or organization, you represent that you have the authority to provide that information and to grant us the rights described in this policy and our Terms of Service.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. For material changes, we will provide notice through the Service or by other reasonable means. Your continued use of FTS after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

For privacy questions, data requests, or to contact our privacy team: