Chefbites Consumer Privacy Policy MH Group LLC Last updated October 01, 2024
I. Introduction
II. What Personal Information does Chefbites collect or process?
III. How does Chefbites collect or receive Personal Information?
IV. How does Chefbites use Personal Information?
V. Chefbites’s disclosure of Personal Information
VI. Your Privacy Rights and Choices
VII. Additional Jurisdiction Specific Disclosures
VIII. Security and Retention
IX. Personal Information from Children
X. Third-Party Sites
XI. How to Contact Us
XII. Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy ("Policy") applies to the website www.chefbites.com and the Chefbites mobile application (collectively referred to as the "Company"). The website www.chefbites.com and the Chefbites mobile application are operated by MH Group LLC, doing business under the name "Chefbites." This Policy governs the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information and data in connection with our website and food delivery services. By accessing or using our website or mobile application, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and consent to the data practices described in this Policy.
Introduction
At ChefBites, our mission is to connect people with the best dining experiences, offering convenience and accessibility to a variety of restaurants and food providers. Through our website and mobile app, we provide consumers with easy access to their favorite meals while supporting local businesses and creating new ways for people to work, earn, and enjoy culinary experiences.
This Privacy Policy ("Policy") outlines how ChefBites ("we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, stores, and shares your personal information when you interact with our services, including the ChefBites website, mobile app, and any other platform that links to this Policy (collectively referred to as the "Services").
Please note, this Policy applies solely to our customers and does not cover independent contractors or merchants working with ChefBites, who have separate agreements and policies.
What Personal Information Does ChefBites Collect? Personal Information is data that can identify you either directly or when combined with other information. Any information that has been anonymized or aggregated to the point that it can no longer identify you is not considered Personal Information. Here are the types of Personal Information we may collect: 1. **Contact Details**: This includes your name, physical addresses (home, work, or delivery locations), email addresses, phone numbers, and any other contact details you provide to us. 2. **Account Information**: Includes your ChefBites account credentials, such as usernames and passwords, notification settings, profile pictures, and other information you add to your account. If you’re using ChefBites through your employer (e.g., ChefBites for Business), it may also include employer-related details. 3. **Verification Information**: In some instances, we may need to collect government-issued identification or proof of age for certain orders (e.g., alcohol). This helps us comply with legal regulations around restricted items.
4. **Communications**: When you communicate with us or with delivery personnel and restaurants via our platforms, we collect the content of those messages (such as text, chats, and emails), along with the time and method of communication. This can include customer service inquiries and feedback.
5. **User-Generated Content**: This includes any content you provide to ChefBites, such as reviews, ratings, or photos shared on our platform.
6. **Payment Information**: We collect data related to payments made through our services, such as credit card numbers or payment service information (e.g., PayPal or other third-party payment systems). While ChefBites does not store full payment details, we may retain limited information, like the last four digits of your payment card.
7. **Order and Activity Data**: Information related to your transactions and interactions with our services, including your order history, preferences, special requests, and participation in any promotions, loyalty programs, or surveys.
8. **Location Data**: With your permission, we may collect precise location information from your device while you’re using our app, to ensure accurate deliveries. You can manage your location sharing settings within the app or your device's settings.
9. **Device Information**: We collect information about the devices you use to access ChefBites, such as IP addresses, device types, operating systems, browser types, and language preferences.
10. **Information from Partners**: We may also gather information from co-branded offers or promotional activities in collaboration with our business partners (e.g., when you sign up for a ChefBites promotion through a third-party).
Some of the information you provide to us (such as government-issued identification and your signature, which we collect to verify age and identity for certain orders like alcohol, or for fraud prevention and legal compliance) may be classified as sensitive Personal Information under certain jurisdictional laws. Additionally, precise location data, which we use to facilitate deliveries and enhance the functionality of our Services, may also fall under this category. You can manage and disable ChefBites' access to precise location data at any time through your app’s settings.
We only use sensitive Personal Information for purposes that would be reasonably expected by our users—primarily to provide our services, ensure legal and regulatory compliance, and maintain security. We do not use this data to infer any personal characteristics about you. For more information on how we process government-issued IDs and verify age for alcohol or age-restricted orders, please refer to our FAQ section: How is my age verified for alcohol orders?
When processing de-identified information, we ensure that it remains anonymized and do not attempt to re-identify it unless permitted by applicable laws.
III. How does ChefBites collect or receive Personal Information?
**From Users of our Services**: We collect information directly from users of our Services during various interactions, such as when you create or update an account or profile, place an order, participate in surveys, contests, promotions, or sweepstakes, or when you upload content like reviews or photos. Information is also collected when you contact us, sync your contacts, or sign up for additional services or programs (such as referral or gift programs). If a user provides Personal Information about someone else (for example, in referral or gift programs), they confirm they have the necessary rights and consent to share that person’s information with us.
**Automatically Through Our Services**: When you interact with ChefBites, we automatically collect certain Personal Information from your device and browser, such as your IP address, device type, and browsing behavior.
**Through Cookies and Similar Technologies**: ChefBites uses cookies—small text files placed on your device—to gather information like your settings and preferences. Depending on your configuration, some Services (such as our website) may gather data through cookies or similar technologies (such as pixels or software development kits).
**From our Service Providers**: We may receive Personal Information from third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf. These may include communication providers (e.g., email, SMS), payment processors (such as PayPal and Venmo), market research firms, companies managing promotions or contests, and services that provide marketing, advertising, analytics, security, fraud, identity, and age verification.
**From Partners**: ChefBites may collect Personal Information through partnerships, such as co-branded offers or promotions that you participate in with ChefBites and our business partners.
**From Employers**: If your employer has subscribed to a ChefBites business service, we may receive certain Personal Information from them to facilitate your access to our Services.
**From Merchants**: If a Merchant has integrated its loyalty program with ChefBites, we may receive Personal Information to identify users who are also loyalty program members. This information helps us to better target communications about the integration or to provide loyalty rewards and discounts when you make purchases through ChefBites.
**From Legal Claims, Disputes, Requests, and Orders**: We may collect Personal Information from third parties or authorities, such as law enforcement, government agencies, or other individuals involved in a legal matter, to comply with legal obligations or resolve disputes.
IV. How does ChefBites use Personal Information?
Depending on how you use our Services and interact with us, ChefBites may use your Personal Information (as described in Section II) for the following purposes:
1. **To Provide and Personalize ChefBites Services**: This includes enabling you to browse, place, and pay for orders, managing your orders, and suggesting restaurants based on your location, order history, and preferences. If you have synced your contacts, we may also recommend restaurants based on where your contacts have ordered (without revealing their specific orders). We use this information to customize your experience, facilitate your participation in promotions, contests, and special offers, as well as to display any reviews, photos, or content you post publicly on the platform.
2. **To Offer Customer Support**: ChefBites uses your information to manage and resolve any issues related to orders, deliveries, or account inquiries. This includes exchanging messages, investigating problems, and improving the overall customer support experience while adhering to our standards and legal requirements.
3. **To Improve and Develop our Services**: We analyze your interactions with our Services to troubleshoot, debug, and enhance our platform. Understanding how you and other customers use our platform helps us continuously improve the experience and create new features or services that cater to your preferences.
4. **To Advertise and Promote ChefBites and Our Services**: We may use your information to display relevant advertisements about our Services or participating restaurants on both our platform and third-party sites. We also analyze the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and personalize the ads to make them more relevant to you. If you wish to opt out of personalized advertising on third-party platforms, you can find more information in the opt-out section.
5. **To Facilitate Communications**: ChefBites may use your Personal Information to send you updates about our Services, including order confirmations, delivery updates, and account notifications. We also use this information to facilitate communication between you, ChefBites, delivery personnel, and participating restaurants.
6. **For Authentication, Security, and Safety**: We use Personal Information to verify your account and identity, ensuring secure transactions and shopping experiences. This also includes detecting and preventing fraud, malware, illegal activities, or unsafe conduct (e.g., ensuring age-restricted items like alcohol are delivered to the correct person). Our priority is to safeguard both your safety and the security of our Services.
7. **For Legal and Compliance Reasons**: ChefBites processes Personal Information to comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests (such as those from law enforcement or government agencies), and enforce our terms, policies, and agreements. We may also use this information to manage legal claims, conduct audits, and fulfill any necessary tax or regulatory requirements.
V. ChefBites' Disclosure of Personal Information
Depending on how you use or interact with our Services, ChefBites may share or disclose Personal Information (as described in Section II) as follows:
1. **To Service Providers**: To operate our business and deliver our Services, we may share Personal Information with service providers and vendors, including those offering identity verification, cloud storage, payment processing, gift card services, auditing, security, marketing, advertising, promotions, sweepstakes, customer communication, analytics, mapping, and customer support. These service providers may store and process your information outside of your home jurisdiction, including in the United States and other regions.
2. **To Delivery Personnel**: To facilitate order deliveries, we share limited Personal Information with delivery personnel (such as first name, last initial, delivery address, and masked phone number). Delivery personnel also receive location data through the app (if location sharing is enabled) and order details (which may include product information and any special instructions).
3. **To Merchants**: ChefBites shares Personal Information with merchants for the fulfillment of orders. This may include details about the products being prepared, order delivery information, fraud and safety checks (such as age verification for restricted products), and, if applicable, loyalty program information if you’ve linked your account to the merchant’s loyalty system. When merchants handle their own delivery, they may contact you using the provided information (phone, email, or SMS) for updates or delivery issues. Merchants are responsible for any communications initiated directly from them to you.
4. **Publicly**: Any content or reviews you share publicly on ChefBites, such as restaurant reviews or photos, may be displayed on our platform, allowing others to learn about your experiences with restaurants and our Services.
5. **To Marketing and Advertising Partners**: ChefBites may work with third-party marketing and advertising partners to deliver ads on our behalf or on behalf of our restaurant partners. Some of these ads may be personalized based on your activity on our platform or other services.
6. **For Corporate Transactions**: In the event of a strategic transaction (such as a sale, merger, acquisition, joint venture, or restructuring), ChefBites may disclose your Personal Information during the diligence process and transfer it to a successor or affiliate as part of the transaction.
7. **To Government Authorities or Where Legally Required**: We may disclose your Personal Information to government authorities or other third parties if required by law, or when necessary to enforce our agreements, prevent fraud, or protect the rights, property, and safety of our business, customers, employees, or other stakeholders.
8. **Within ChefBites' Corporate Group**: ChefBites may share your Personal Information with its affiliates and subsidiaries for use in line with the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
9. **To Other Third Parties or Individuals**: We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties or individuals at your direction or with your consent, such as when you send a gift or referral through our Services or engage in co-branded promotions. Additionally, if you’re using our Services through a partnership with your employer, such as ChefBites for Business, we may share information with your employer as needed.
VI. Your Privacy Rights and Choices
Your Privacy Rights
ChefBites provides you with tools and options to manage your Personal Information. Depending on your location and applicable laws, and subject to certain exceptions and limitations, you or your authorized representative may have the following rights:
1. **Access/Portability**: You may request access to your Personal Information and receive it in a portable, machine-readable format.
2. **Deletion**: You may ask us to delete your Personal Information, including your ChefBites account. However, this may limit your ability to use our Services. Please note, we retain certain minimal information related to your request, such as a record of the rights request.
3. **Correction**: You may request to correct or update inaccurate Personal Information that ChefBites holds about you.
4. **Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing (Targeted Advertising or Ads Personalization)**: ChefBites may share some of your Personal Information (such as identifiers and platform usage data) with advertising partners, which could be considered a “sale” or “sharing” under certain privacy laws. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of Personal Information by sending an email to privacy@chefbites.com with the subject “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”. If you are not logged in, you can disable ad personalization by adjusting your browser settings. For registered users, you must log into your account to opt-out and disable personalization. To opt back in, you can change your preferences using the same options.
If you use a browser that supports global privacy controls (GPC), it will automatically communicate your opt-out preferences to us. We treat this in the same way as opting out through your browser-level options.
5. **Right to Appeal**: You may have the right to appeal any decision regarding your privacy rights requests.
6. **Right to Withdraw Consent**: You have the right to withdraw your consent where consent is legally required. Please note, withdrawing consent may impact your access to certain Services.
ChefBites will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights. We may, however, deny a request if we are unable to verify your identity or if a legal exception applies.
Exercising Your Rights
If you have a ChefBites account, you can manage certain rights directly through your account. For example, you can update or correct your account information by logging in. To request access to or deletion of your Personal Information, you can also use your account’s privacy settings.
If you have any questions about how to exercise your privacy rights, or if you do not have a ChefBites account or cannot exercise your applicable rights through your account, please contact us at privacy@chefbites.com. We will respond in a timely manner in accordance with applicable laws. You may also call us at our toll-free number (786) 919-1040 to exercise any applicable rights. When reaching out to us, please provide your first and last name, email address, residency address, and specify the right(s) you wish to exercise, as well as whether you are a user, non-user, or fall under another category.
For rights requests submitted by authorized agents, please email privacy@chefbites.com and include the following information: (i) the first and last names and email addresses of both the data subject and the authorized agent, (ii) proof of the agent’s authority (such as a power of attorney), (iii) details about the data subject’s relationship with ChefBites (e.g., registered user, non-user), (iv) the specific rights being exercised, and (v) "Authorized Agent Request" in the subject line.
VII. Additional Jurisdiction-Specific Disclosures
1. United States:
a. California:
**i. Notice at Collection:**
- For information on the categories of Personal Information collected, please refer to **Section II** of this Policy.
- For information on the sources from which we collect Personal Information, please refer to **Section III** of this Policy.
- For information on the purpose(s) for which Personal Information is collected or used, please refer to **Section IV** of this Policy.
- For information on the categories of third parties to whom we may disclose your Personal Information, please refer to **Section V** of this Policy.
- For information about ChefBites' selling or sharing of Personal Information, please refer to **Section VI** of this Policy.
Here’s the revised version for ChefBites:
b. Nevada:
For residents of Nevada, under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A (Security and Privacy of Personal Information) (“Nevada Privacy Law”), companies classified as an Operator under this law must comply with certain requirements regarding “Covered Information.” This term includes the following types of personally identifiable information: (1) first and last name, (2) home or other physical address, (3) email address, (4) phone number, (5) social security number, (6) an identifier that allows a specific person to be contacted either physically or online, and (7) any other information collected from the person through the Operator’s website or online service and maintained in a form that makes the information personally identifiable.
Under the Nevada Privacy Law, certain Nevada consumers have the right to opt out of the sale of Covered Information, defined as the exchange of Covered Information for monetary consideration. While we do not believe that we sell Covered Information as defined under Nevada Privacy Law, we do provide an opt-out option for the sale or sharing of Personal Information to comply with other data protection laws. This right is also available to residents of Nevada.
1. Our Collection of Consumer Health Data
We collect Personal Information as described in Section II (What Personal Information does ChefBites collect or process) of this Policy, which may include the following Consumer Health Data about you or those for whom you are purchasing:
- **Allergies or Other Conditions**: When using our Services to place orders for specific items (e.g., food), you may use free-text fields to provide special instructions. In these fields, you may disclose information that may indicate health status (e.g., allergies or other conditions).
- **Product Purchase Information**: Your purchase history of health-related products ordered through our Services may indicate information regarding your health status, including, but not limited to, contraceptives, at-home diagnostic tests, and diabetic testing supplies.
- **Activity on or with Our Services**: When you use or interact with our Services, we may collect information that indicates health status, such as when you add health-related products to your cart, conduct searches for or browse health-related products, interact with content or features related to health-related products, or submit photos or videos of health-related products through our Services.
When we process de-identified information, we maintain and use it in de-identified form and do not attempt to re-identify the information.
2. Sources of Consumer Health Data
We collect Personal Information from the sources described in Section III (How does ChefBites collect or receive Personal Information) of this Policy, which may include collecting Consumer Health Data from the following sources:
- **From Your Use of Our Services**: We may receive Consumer Health Data about you or someone you are purchasing for when you place an order through our Services that identifies Consumer Health Data in connection with your interactions.
- **From a ChefBites Account Holder Acting on Your Behalf**: We may receive Consumer Health Data about you when a ChefBites account holder uses our Services to place an order on your behalf, although we may not know that this information is associated with you.
- **From You When You Communicate with Us**: We may receive Consumer Health Data about you when you submit it or communicate with us, such as when you make a customer support inquiry or request.
3. Purposes for the Collection and Use of Consumer Health Data
We use your Personal Information as described in Section IV (How does ChefBites use Personal Information) of this Policy, and Consumer Health Data may be used for the following purposes:
- **To Provide ChefBites Services**: This includes allowing you to place and pay for orders, facilitating the orders you place through our Services (including communicating Consumer Health Data to Merchants and delivery personnel), and making recommendations or offers to you on our Services.
- **To Provide Customer Support**: This includes exchanging communications, investigating, analyzing, and resolving support issues, evaluating our customer support, making improvements, and ensuring that support issues comply with our internal standards and applicable law.
- **To Develop, Analyze, and Improve Our Services**: This includes debugging or troubleshooting our Services, understanding how you and other customers use our Services, improving the Services, and developing new Services or initiatives to enhance user experience.
- **For Integrity, Security, Quality, and Safety**: This includes detecting, investigating, and preventing malicious or illegal conduct, bugs, malware, fraudulent activity, and any actions deemed necessary to protect your safety and security, as well as that of others, and to secure our Services.
- **For Legal Reasons and Policy Compliance**: This includes complying with applicable laws, responding to valid legal processes, investigating or participating in legal proceedings, enforcing our agreements, monitoring alleged illegal activities, performing audits, and enabling you to exercise your rights as legally required.
4. Our Sharing of Consumer Health Data
We may share your Personal Information as described in Section V (ChefBites’ disclosure of Personal Information) of this Policy and we may share your Consumer Health Data as follows:
- **To Delivery Personnel**: We may disclose Consumer Health Data to delivery personnel in connection with facilitating the delivery of orders, which may include your name (such as first name and last initial), delivery address, order information (which may include information on products purchased), and user instructions (e.g., special and/or delivery instructions).
- **To Merchants**: We may disclose Consumer Health Data to Merchants in connection with your order from or in connection with the Services, such as your name (first and last names), delivery address (depending on whether the Merchant is providing the delivery), and order information (including, but not limited to, products purchased, allergies, special instructions, and/or other delivery instructions).
- **To Service Providers**: We may disclose Consumer Health Data to our service providers for business needs and to perform our Services, including, without limitation, disclosing data to providers of cloud and IT services, payment-related services, communication services, customer support services, safety, fraud and security services, and auditing services.
- **To ChefBites’ Group of Companies**: We may disclose Consumer Health Data to our corporate subsidiaries and affiliates in connection with our Services and business activities.
- **To Government Authorities or Where Legally Required or Permitted**: We and our service providers may share your Consumer Health Data, including products purchased through our Services, with third parties such as government authorities, industry peers, or other third parties if legally required or permitted, or as necessary to enforce our agreements, prevent fraud, or protect the rights, property, or safety of our business, employees, merchants, delivery personnel, customers, or other persons or parties. These disclosures may include lawful access by US or foreign courts, law enforcement, or other government authorities.
- **For Actual or Potential Corporate Transactions**: If we are involved in strategic transactions including any sale, merger, acquisition, joint venture, assignment, transfer, reorganization, bankruptcy, or receivership, we may disclose your Consumer Health Data and other information in the diligence process with counterparties and others assisting with the transaction and transferred to a successor or affiliate as part of that transaction along with other assets.
- **Other Third Parties or Persons**: We may disclose or provide your Consumer Health Data to other third parties or persons, such as with your consent or at your direction, including, without limitation, in connection with linking accounts with third parties to your account with us.
5. Your Privacy Rights
**Rights:**
ChefBites will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your applicable rights. Subject to certain exceptions, exemptions, and restrictions, you may have the privacy rights provided in Section VI (Your Privacy Rights and Choices) of this Policy. These rights include, without limitation, the following:
- **Access**: You may have the right to request access to your Consumer Health Data and receive it in a portable and machine-readable format.
- **Deletion**: You may have the right to request the deletion of your Consumer Health Data.
- **Right to Withdraw Consent**: You have the right to withdraw consent to any collection or sharing of Consumer Health Data.
**Exercising Rights:**
If you have a ChefBites account, you can exercise certain rights directly through your account (e.g., access, deletion, and correction).
If you have questions on how to exercise your rights or if you do not have an account or are unable to exercise an applicable right through your account, please contact us at privacy@chefbites.com. We will provide a timely response in accordance with applicable law. You may also contact us at our number (786) 919-3719 to exercise an applicable right. When contacting us, please provide your first and last names, email address, and address of residency, identify the right(s) you wish to exercise, and indicate whether you are a consumer, non-user, or in another category or grouping.
For rights requests from authorized agents, the requests should be submitted to privacy@chefbites.com and include the following: (i) first and last names and email addresses for the data subject and the authorized agent, (ii) evidence of the authority granted to the agent (such as a power of attorney), (iii) information on the data subject’s relationship with ChefBites (e.g., registered user, non-user), (iv) the specific right(s) being exercised, and (v) “Authorized Agent Request” in the subject line.
If your rights request is denied, you may appeal that decision by contacting us as described above. If the appeal is unsuccessful and you are a resident of the State of Washington, you can raise a concern or lodge a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General at [https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint](https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint).
VIII. Security and Retention
We use commercially reasonable administrative, organizational, technical, and physical security controls to protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, modification, disclosure, or destruction. However, we cannot guarantee that your Personal Information is absolutely secure, as no Internet or email transmission is fully secure or error-free. You should exercise caution when deciding what information to send to us via our Services or when communicating with us through email, SMS/texts, chat, or other modes of communication. Additionally, we are not responsible for any circumvention of privacy settings or security measures contained on our Services or those of third-party websites. Please recognize that protecting your Personal Information is also your responsibility, and we urge you to take precautions to safeguard it. If you have reason to believe that your ChefBites account or any interaction with us is no longer secure, please let us know immediately by contacting ChefBites support or as indicated below in Section XII (How to Contact Us) of this Policy.
We retain your Personal Information only as long as necessary to provide our Services to you and engage in the uses described in this Policy, unless a different retention period is required by applicable law.
The criteria used to determine our retention periods include the type of Personal Information being processed, along with:
- The time necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected the information.
- The duration and status of your relationship or connection with us, including whether your account is active.
- Any retention period required for compliance with legal, regulatory, or government requirements, including the duration during which civil claims or regulatory actions may be filed or commenced and the time needed to resolve ongoing legal proceedings.
- Our internal obligations, contractual commitments, including those with Merchants, and other requirements.
IX. Personal Information from Children
Our Services are not intended for individuals under the age of majority in the applicable jurisdictions. Specifically, our Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18. Therefore, we do not knowingly process Personal Information from individuals under 18 years old. For compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (as amended), ChefBites does not have knowledge that it sells or shares the Personal Information of consumers under 16 years of age. Additionally, we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from individuals living in the Province of Quebec, Canada, who are under the age of 14. If a parent or legal guardian of a child under the applicable legal age believes that we have collected Personal Information from or about such an individual, please contact us at privacy@chefbites.com.
X. Third-Party Sites
Our Services may link to other third-party websites that are not controlled by ChefBites, such as when you sign up for a loyalty card on a Merchant’s website. These third parties are not under our control, and we are not responsible for their privacy policies or practices. If you provide any Personal Information to any third party or through any such third-party websites, it will be subject to the privacy policies and practices of that third party.
XI. How to Contact Us.
For questions or concerns related to this Policy, please contact us at :
privacy@chefbites.com
Chefbites
Attn: Legal
2916 N. Miami Ave, 6th Floor
Miami, FL, 33127
XII. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Policy periodically to account for changes in how we collect and process your Personal Information. Any updates to this Policy will be posted on our website with a revised “Last Updated” date at the top. Additionally, we will provide further notice in the event of any significant changes in how we use your Personal Information. Your continued use of our Services after any updates to this Policy constitutes your agreement and acceptance of the Policy as updated.