Plain English Summary: We respect your privacy. We use Google Analytics to understand how our site is used, but we don't sell your data. Your location data and visited bars stay on your device. We don't require accounts or collect personal information.
What We Collect
Austin Dives is designed with privacy in mind. Here's what we collect:
- Analytics data: We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site (see details below).
- No account required: You don't need to sign up or log in.
- No personal information collected: We don't ask for or store your name, email, or any personal details (unless you voluntarily submit a bar suggestion).
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors interact with our website. This service collects:
- Usage data: Pages visited, time spent on site, and general navigation patterns.
- Technical data: Browser type, device type, operating system, and screen resolution.
- Approximate location: City/region level location based on IP address (not precise location).
- Referral data: How you found our site (search engine, direct link, etc.).
What Google Analytics does NOT collect:
- Your precise GPS location (that stays in your browser)
- Which specific bars you've marked as visited (stored locally only)
- Your name, email, or other personal identifiers
Google Analytics uses cookies to distinguish unique visitors. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.
What We Don't Do
- We don't sell, trade, or rent your information to anyone.
- We don't create personal user profiles.
- We don't serve targeted advertisements.
- We don't share any data with third parties for marketing purposes.
- We don't track which specific bars you've visited (that's stored only on your device).
Local Storage (Your Device Only)
We use your browser's local storage to remember:
- Which bars you've visited: When you click "Drank here!" to mark a bar as visited, this is saved locally on your device.
- Your theme preference: Whether you prefer light or dark mode.
Important: This data never leaves your device. It's stored only in your browser and is not transmitted to our servers or any third party. You can clear this data at any time by clearing your browser's local storage.
Location Data
When you use the "Find Nearest" feature, we request access to your device's location. Here's how we handle it:
- Permission required: Your browser will ask for your permission before sharing location data.
- Processed locally: Your location is used only to calculate distances to bars - this calculation happens entirely in your browser.
- Never transmitted: Your location data is never sent to our servers or stored anywhere.
- You're in control: You can deny location access and still use the site - just search for bars manually.
Third-Party Services
Our site uses the following third-party services:
- Google Analytics: For website analytics. See Google's Privacy Policy.
- OpenStreetMap / Leaflet: For displaying the interactive map. OpenStreetMap may log standard web server information (IP addresses, browser type). See OpenStreetMap's Privacy Policy.
- Map Tile Providers (ArcGIS, CartoDB): For map imagery. These services may collect basic access logs.
- External Links: When you click links to bar websites, Google Maps, Apple Maps, or social media, you leave our site and are subject to those sites' privacy policies.
We have no control over these third-party services and encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.
Bar Submissions
If you submit a bar suggestion through our form:
- The submission opens your email client - we receive the information via email, not through our website.
- We only use submitted information to evaluate adding the bar to our map.
- Your name (if provided) may be used for attribution if we add your suggested bar.
- We don't add your email to any mailing list or share it with anyone.
Children's Privacy
Austin Dives is intended for users who are of legal drinking age (21 years or older in Texas). We do not knowingly collect any information from anyone under 21 years of age. If you are under 21 years old, please do not use this website.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
