Privacy policy

Last updated: 9 November 2026

ruralbites.ie (“ruralbites”, “we”) is run by Susan Doyle, based in Ireland. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and what you can ask us to do with it. If you have any questions, email us at hello@ruralbites.ie.

What we collect

When you suggest a place:

• the details of the place you tell us about
• your email address, only if you choose to give it
• whether you own or run the place

When you recommend a place:

• your email address, so we can send you a code to confirm the recommendation is yours
• the first name or nickname you choose, which is shown publicly with your recommendation
• what you write and any tags you pick, which are shown publicly
• whether you own or run the place, which is shown publicly

To stop spam, we also keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your internet address for a short time. We can’t turn it back into your actual address.

Your email address is never shown on the site, never sold, and never used for marketing.

Why we use it

• to check suggestions and recommendations before they go on the site
• to confirm a recommendation really came from you (the 6-digit code)
• to let you know whether a place you suggested has been added, if you gave your email
• to keep the site free of spam and fake recommendations

We rely on your consent when you choose to send us a suggestion or recommendation, and on our legitimate interest in keeping the site accurate and free of abuse.

Who else handles it

We use a small number of trusted services to run the site:

• Supabase, which stores our database in its West EU (Ireland) data centre
• Resend, which sends our emails (such as your recommendation code and updates on places you’ve suggested) from its EU (Ireland) region
• Vercel, which hosts the website, with our server code running in its Dublin region
• OpenStreetMap map tiles, which load the maps you see

They only process information on our behalf, to provide their service. Your information is stored and processed within the EU.

Cookies

ruralbites doesn’t use advertising or tracking cookies, and we don’t use analytics that follow you around the web.

How long we keep it

• Recommendations stay on the site until you ask us to remove them, or we remove them.
• Suggestions are kept for up to 12 months after we’ve dealt with them, then deleted.
• Unconfirmed recommendations (where the code was never entered) are deleted after 30 days.

Your rights

You can ask us to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or to remove a recommendation you made. Email hello@ruralbites.ie and we’ll respond within one month, usually much sooner.

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you can complain to the Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.

Changes

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top of this page.