1. Introduction

Welcome to BrineHive ("BrineHive," "we," "us," or "our"). We operate the BrineHive digital temperature logging platform, including the website at brinehive.com and all related services (collectively, the "Service").

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what rights you have regarding your data. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

If you have questions, contact us at [email protected].

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

Account information: Your name and email address when you register.
Organization information: Your business name and location details (address, city, state, zip code, phone number, operating hours) that you enter during setup.
Temperature log data: Equipment names, food item names, temperature readings, staff names, and corrective action notes submitted through the Service.
Communications: Any messages or inquiries you send to us.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

IP addresses: We record your IP address at account registration and on each login for security and fraud prevention purposes. We store a truncated version of your registration IP (network range only) and your most recent login IP. Login IP addresses are deleted after 90 days of account inactivity.
Usage data: Standard web server logs including pages visited, browser type, device type, and referring URLs.
Cookies and similar technologies: We use session cookies and CSRF tokens that are strictly necessary to operate the Service. We do not set advertising or tracking cookies ourselves. However, our marketing website uses third-party services — including Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta (Facebook) advertising tools — that may set their own cookies on your device to measure advertising performance and website traffic. See Section 6 for more detail.

2.3 Payment Information

We use Stripe to process payments. When you subscribe to a paid plan, your payment card details are entered directly into Stripe's secure systems. BrineHive never sees, stores, or processes your full card number, CVV, or billing address. Stripe's privacy policy governs how they handle your payment data and is available at stripe.com/privacy.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Provide, operate, and improve the Service;
Process your subscription and manage your billing;
Send transactional emails — including out-of-range temperature alerts, trial expiry reminders, and account notifications;
Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access;
Respond to your support requests and communications;
Comply with legal obligations;
Measure and analyze how the Service is used so we can improve it.

We do not use your temperature log data or your customers' data for any purpose other than providing the Service to you.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing purposes. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

4.1 Service Providers

We share data with third-party vendors who process it solely on our behalf and under our instructions:

Stripe — payment processing and subscription management;
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) / SendGrid — transactional email delivery;
Railway — cloud hosting and database infrastructure (United States);
Cloudflare R2 — file and static asset storage.

4.2 Advertising and Analytics Partners

Our marketing website interacts with Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta advertising tools. These services may receive information such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited in order to measure traffic and advertising effectiveness. This data is governed by each provider's own privacy policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, regulation, or valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

4.4 Business Transfers

If BrineHive is acquired, merges with another company, or transfers substantially all of its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you by email or prominent notice on our website before your information becomes subject to a materially different privacy policy.

5. Data Retention

We retain your data for the following periods:

Temperature logs (active accounts): Retained for the number of days included in your subscription plan (90 days on the Starter plan; 365 days on the Pro plan). Logs older than your plan's history window are automatically deleted on a rolling basis.
Temperature logs (cancelled or expired accounts): Retained for 90 days after your account is cancelled or your subscription expires, then permanently deleted. This window exists so you can export your compliance records before they are removed.
Account and organization data: Retained for the duration of your account, plus 90 days after deletion to allow for account recovery. After that window, your account data is permanently anonymized or deleted.
Billing records: Retained for 7 years to comply with standard US tax and accounting requirements. Billing records are managed by Stripe and subject to their retention practices.
Login IP addresses: Deleted after 90 days of account inactivity.
Registration IP (network range): Retained indefinitely for fraud prevention purposes.

6. Cookies

The BrineHive application uses only the following cookies, which are strictly necessary to operate the Service:

Session cookie: Keeps you logged in during your session.
CSRF token: Protects against cross-site request forgery attacks.

Our marketing website (brinehive.com) loads scripts from Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta that may set additional cookies on your device. These cookies are used to measure website traffic and the effectiveness of our advertising. We do not use these cookies to track individual users across the authenticated application. Because BrineHive is a US-based service directed at US business operators, we rely on disclosure rather than a cookie consent banner. If you wish to limit third-party cookie tracking, you can use your browser's privacy settings, install a browser extension such as uBlock Origin, or opt out of Google Analytics as described in Section 4.2.

7. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational security measures including:

Encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) on all pages;
Encrypted data storage;
Access controls that restrict data access to authorized personnel;
Organization-level data isolation so one customer cannot access another's data.

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information and will notify affected users in the event of a breach as required by applicable law.

8. Children's Privacy

BrineHive is a business-to-business service intended for use by food service operators. Account holders must be 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a minor, we will delete it promptly. Staff members who submit temperature readings through QR codes do not create accounts and are not required to provide any personally identifiable information beyond a name, which may be a first name or nickname.

9. Your Privacy Rights

Regardless of where you are located, you may contact us at [email protected] to:

Access the personal information we hold about you;
Correct inaccurate information in your account;
Delete your account and associated personal data (subject to the retention periods in Section 5);
Export your temperature log data as a PDF report before account deletion.

We will respond to all requests within 30 days.

9.1 California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete your personal information, and the right to opt out of the "sharing" of your personal information with advertising platforms. To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We do not sell your personal information as defined under the CCPA.

Note: Our use of Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta advertising tools may constitute "sharing" of personal information under the CPRA for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes. If you are a California resident and wish to opt out of this sharing, please use the browser-level controls described in Section 6 or contact us directly.

10. Third-Party Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email (using the address associated with your account) and update the effective date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. Prior versions of this policy are available upon request.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

BrineHive
Email: [email protected]