Privacy Policy

OtterHonest ("we", "us", "our") is a verified review platform operated from Denmark, within the European Union. We take your privacy seriously and are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and what rights you have.

1. Data We Collect

When you write a review

• Your name (displayed publicly with your review)
• Your email address (used for verification, never displayed publicly)
• Your review content, rating, and title
• The date and time of submission

When you create a business account

• Your name and email address
• Company information (name, website, description, category, country)
• Company logo (if uploaded)

Automatically

• Basic server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited) for security and debugging purposes

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data only for the purposes necessary to operate the platform:

• Verify reviews — We use your email to confirm you are a real person and to prevent spam or fraudulent reviews.
• Send notifications — Business accounts receive email notifications when new reviews are submitted for their company.
• Operate the platform — Authentication, account management, and displaying reviews publicly.
• Improve the service — Aggregated, non-personal analytics to understand how the platform is used.

We do not sell your data. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

• Contract — When you create an account or submit a review, processing your data is necessary to provide the service.
• Legitimate interest — Security, fraud prevention, and service improvement.
• Consent — Where required, such as optional email communications.

4. Cookies

We use minimal cookies, limited to what is necessary for the platform to function:

• Session cookies — To keep you logged in to your business dashboard. These expire when your session ends.

We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party analytics cookies. There are no cookie banners because there is nothing to consent to beyond essential functionality.

5. Third-Party Services

We use a small number of third-party services to operate the platform. Each processes only the minimum data necessary:

• Cloudinary — Image hosting for company logos. Receives only the image file.
• Resend — Email delivery for notifications and verification emails. Receives recipient email addresses and email content.
• Hetzner — Server hosting, located in the EU. All data is stored on EU-based servers.

6. Data Storage and Retention

Your data is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted on EU-based servers (Hetzner, Germany). We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service:

• Reviews — Kept as long as the review is published on the platform. You can request deletion at any time.
• Business accounts — Kept until the account is deleted by the owner or upon request.
• Server logs — Automatically deleted after 90 days.

7. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights:

• Access — Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — Ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure — Ask us to delete your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Portability — Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection — Object to the processing of your data based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children

OtterHonest is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify affected users by email. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.

10. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Location: Denmark, European Union

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Danish Data Protection Agency (Datatilsynet) or your local supervisory authority.