Privacy Policy

Our Commitment

Mom's Cookbook is committed to protecting your privacy. We follow Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and respect the privacy rights of all our users.

Key principles:

• We collect only what we need
• We don't sell your data
• We don't use external analytics or tracking services
• We don't use your content for AI training without consent

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address - for account verification, password reset, and important notifications
• Username - displayed publicly with your contributions
• Password - stored securely using bcrypt hashing (we never see or store your actual password)

Content You Submit

• Recipes you create or submit
• Comments and ratings on recipes
• Your favorites list

Automatically Collected

• Session information - to keep you logged in
• Basic server logs - IP addresses and request information for security purposes

How We Use Your Information

• Provide and improve the Service
• Send account-related emails (verification, password reset)
• Display your username with your contributions
• Maintain security and prevent abuse

We do not send marketing emails, share your information with advertisers, or sell your data to third parties.

Cookies

We use only essential cookies:

• Session cookie - keeps you logged in (expires after 30 days or when you log out)
• CSRF token - protects forms from cross-site attacks
• Theme preference - remembers your light/dark mode choice (stored in localStorage, not a cookie)

We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics.

Third-Party Services

We use minimal third-party services:

• Bunny CDN - delivers images and static files faster. They process your IP address to serve content from the nearest location. Bunny Privacy Policy

Data Retention

While Your Account is Active

We keep your profile, recipes, comments, and favorites as long as your account exists.

Automatically Deleted

• Login sessions: 30 days
• Password reset tokens: 1 hour
• Email verification tokens: 24 hours
• Failed login records: 30 days

When You Delete Your Account

• Profile and email: Deleted immediately
• Comments: Anonymized (content remains, your name is removed)
• Recipes: You choose to keep (attributed to “Community Contributor”) or delete

Legal Requirements

• Moderation logs: 2 years
• Security logs: 2 years

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access - Request a copy of your personal data
• Correct - Update inaccurate information via your account settings
• Delete - Delete your account and associated data
• Export - Download your recipes and data
• Object - Challenge how we handle your data

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@momscookbook.ca.

Data Security

We protect your data with:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS)
• Secure password hashing (bcrypt with high cost factor)
• CSRF protection on all forms
• HttpOnly, Secure cookies
• Rate limiting to prevent abuse
• Regular security updates

Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

International Users

The Service is operated from Canada. If you access the Service from outside Canada, your information may be transferred to and processed in Canada. By using the Service, you consent to this transfer.

For EU users: We aim to comply with GDPR requirements including the right to access, erasure, and data portability.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of significant changes via email. The “Last updated” date at the top indicates when the policy was last revised.

Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or concerns:

• Email: privacy@momscookbook.ca

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days.