Trust & policy
Privacy
Last updated: May 2026. We minimise data collection and never sell personal data for paid placement.
What we collect
Account email, display name, optional username, phone number (if verified), recommends, archived reviews, restaurant submissions, claim details, and optional cultural-connection declarations. We also collect technical logs (IP address, user agent) for fraud prevention.
How we use it
To operate rankings, moderation, member features (passport, Fork Miles), restaurant owner tools, and service enquiries. Cultural connections power origin-aware ranking lenses in aggregate; they remain private unless you opt into public leaderboard features.
What we do not do
We do not sell personal data to restaurants for ranking placement. Sponsored placements are labelled separately and do not affect community scores.
Retention
We retain account and contribution history while your account is active. Moderation and audit logs may be kept longer for trust and safety. You may request account deletion via support@forkandflag.com.
Your rights
You may access, correct, or delete personal data we hold by contacting us. Australian Privacy Principle rights apply where relevant.
Foodie Circle, follows, and blocks
When you follow another member, they join your private Foodie Circle for discovery sorts on cuisine and dish pages. Those lists show trusted recommends from people you follow, with attribution — they do not change organic community rankings. You can turn off sharing your recommends with followers in member settings (Foodie Circle share); public profile and leaderboard visibility are separate toggles. Follower and following counts may appear on leaderboards and public profiles when those features are enabled. Blocking removes mutual follows and stops the blocked member from appearing in your Foodie Circle; we may send in-app notifications when someone you follow posts a new trusted recommend if you have notifications enabled.
Cookies
We use essential session cookies for authentication. We do not use third-party advertising trackers on the core product.