Privacy Policy

The short version

• You can use almost all of the site without telling us who you are. We don’t require an account.
• We use Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics to understand how the site is used, and we record which venues get viewed and clicked in our own database, without your name or IP address.
• Location features only run when you ask for them, and your precise location is never stored on our servers.
• If you send us something — a venue listing request, a photo, a correction — we keep what you sent and use it for that purpose.
• We don’t sell personal information, and we don’t run advertising networks that track you across other sites.

Information collected automatically

Google Analytics 4. We use Google Analytics to measure traffic and how pages are used. It sets cookies (for example _ga) that assign a random identifier to your browser, and it collects information such as the pages you view, the links you click, your approximate location derived from your IP address, and your device and browser type. Google processes this on our behalf under its own privacy policy. You can prevent Google Analytics from running by installing Google’s browser opt-out add-on or by blocking cookies in your browser.

Vercel Analytics. Our hosting provider, Vercel, records page views in a privacy-focused way that does not use cookies or persistent identifiers.

Our own interaction records. When you view or click a venue on the site, we record that interaction in our database so we can tell which venues people find useful. Those records contain the venue, the type of interaction, the time, and in some cases which part of the page it came from. They do not contain your name, IP address, email address, or any identifier tied to you. Separately, our servers hold a short rolling log of recent interactions in memory, in which your IP address and browser type are combined into a temporary session identifier so we can see activity on an internal dashboard; that log is not written to disk or to our database and rolls over continuously.

Server and security logs. Like every website, our hosting provider receives your IP address and standard request information in order to serve pages and protect against abuse, and retains those logs for a limited period.

Location

The map on the Explore page has a “near me” feature. It only runs when you tap the locate button and your browser asks your permission. When you allow it, your device’s location is used in your browser to centre the map and rank nearby venues. Your precise coordinates are not sent to our servers or stored by us. We do send an approximate location, rounded to roughly one kilometre, to Google Analytics as part of a “location used” event so we can understand how often the feature is used and from where in general terms.

If you type a ZIP code or city into the map instead, that text is sent to Mapbox, our map provider, to be converted into map coordinates, and the result is saved in your own browser so the map remembers it next time. Map tiles are also loaded from Mapbox, which means Mapbox receives your IP address when the map is displayed, under its own privacy policy.

Information stored in your browser

Some features remember things for you using your browser’s local storage rather than an account: venues you save, a plan you build for tonight, a map location you chose, and a flag that stops the map from re-scrolling after you decline location access. This information stays on your device, is not sent to us, and disappears if you clear your browser data.

Information you send us

Venue listing requests. If you ask us to feature or list a venue, the form asks for a venue name, a contact name, an email address and a website. That is delivered to us by email through our email provider, Resend, and we use it to reply to you and evaluate the request.

Photo submissions. If you submit a “tonight’s vibe” photo for a venue, we receive the photo, an optional caption and, if you choose to give one, your Instagram handle. Submissions are held privately, reviewed by a person, and approved photos are shown publicly on the venue’s page for about 24 hours, alongside the handle you provided. Please only submit photos you took and have the right to share, and don’t include other people in a way they wouldn’t expect.

Corrections and email. If you report outdated information or email us, we keep the message and use it to fix the listing or answer you.

How we use information

• To run the site and its features, including maps and location-based results.
• To understand which pages and venues are useful so we can improve the guide.
• To review and publish content you submit, and to respond to your messages.
• To keep the site secure and prevent abuse.

We do not use your information to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell it.

Who we share information with

We share information only with service providers who process it for us and are bound to use it only for that purpose: Google (analytics), Vercel (hosting and analytics), Mapbox (maps and geocoding), Supabase (our database and file storage) and Resend (email delivery). We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of the site, its users or others.

Some content on the site may be presented by a sponsor. Sponsors do not receive personal information about you from us.

How long we keep information

Interaction records are kept for as long as they are useful for measuring the site, and contain no personal identifiers. Google Analytics data is retained according to the retention setting in our Google Analytics account. Emails and listing requests are kept for as long as needed to handle them and for our records. Submitted photos are kept for moderation and record-keeping after their public window ends; you can ask us to delete one at any time.

Your choices

• You can block or delete cookies in your browser, or use Google’s analytics opt-out add-on.
• You can decline location access when your browser asks, and the map will still work with a typed location or the city filters.
• You can clear saved venues, plans and locations by clearing your browser’s site data.
• You can ask us to access, correct or delete anything you have sent us by emailing palmbeachhappyhour.com@gmail.com.

We honour these requests regardless of where you live. We do not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, because there is no agreed standard for them; the choices above work instead.

Children

This site is about bars, restaurants and happy hours and is intended for adults. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS. Submitted photos are stored in a private bucket and only made visible through time-limited links after review. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

If we add a feature that collects information in a new way, we will update this page and change the date at the top. Significant changes will be noted on the site.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: palmbeachhappyhour.com@gmail.com. See also our Terms of Use.