Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

FineWineTrails ("we", "us", "our") is an AI-powered discovery platform connecting wine lovers with small, sustainable, and boutique wineries. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data with care.

For questions about this policy, contact us at info@finewinetrails.com.

2. What data we collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Account data — email address, first name, last name, and phone number when you create an account or update your profile.
• Taste profile — wine preferences you provide via our taste quiz (sweetness, body, varietals, price range, experiences).
• Usage data — pages visited, searches made, wineries viewed, and chat sessions. We use PostHog for analytics.
• Wishlist data — wineries and wines you save to your wishlist.
• Chat history — conversations with our AI assistant, stored to provide continuity across sessions.

3. How we use your data

We use your data to:

• Provide personalised winery and wine recommendations based on your taste profile.
• Operate and improve the FineWineTrails platform.
• Authenticate your account and keep it secure.
• Send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset). We do not send marketing emails without your consent.
• Understand how users interact with the platform to improve features.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. Ever.

4. Third-party services

We use the following third-party services to operate the platform:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage. Data is stored in the US.
• Anthropic (Claude) — AI responses in the chat feature. Your messages may be processed by Anthropic to generate responses.
• Google (Gemini) — generating embeddings for search. Content is processed but not stored by Google for training.
• PostHog — product analytics. Usage data is anonymised where possible.
• Vercel — frontend hosting. Railway — backend hosting.

5. Data retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. Chat sessions expire after 30 days of inactivity. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time by contacting us at info@finewinetrails.com.

6. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate data via your profile page.
• Request deletion of your account and data.
• Object to or restrict processing of your data.
• Export your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@finewinetrails.com.

7. Cookies

We use cookies and local storage to maintain your session and remember your preferences. We use analytics cookies (PostHog) to understand usage patterns. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though some features may not work as expected.

8. Children

FineWineTrails is a platform about alcohol and is not intended for anyone under the legal drinking age in their jurisdiction (typically 18–21 years old). We do not knowingly collect data from minors.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of significant changes via email. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.