Privacy
Last updated 1 September 2026 · Beta
Thawq is a restaurant discovery app. This page describes exactly what we store, where it lives, and how you remove it. It describes the app as it is actually built, not as a template.
Your location never leaves your device. The app can use your location to sort places by distance and show what is open near you. That coordinate is held in memory while the app is running and is never transmitted to us or written to our database. There is no column anywhere in our system that stores where you have been standing.
What we store
| Category | Fields |
|---|---|
| Account | Email address, password (stored only as a cryptographic hash — we cannot read it), and the date you joined. |
| Profile | Username, display name, bio, avatar image, city, and — if you provide them during onboarding — your gender and date of birth. |
| Taste | Your cuisine preferences, budget range, dining preference, and the ratings you give restaurants and dishes. |
| Activity | Reviews and photos you post, places you save, lists you build, places you mark as visited, who you follow, and direct messages you send. |
| Diagnostics | Anonymous-ish product events (which screen was opened, which action was taken) and crash reports. |
Why we ask for gender and date of birth
They are optional onboarding fields used to improve recommendations, since taste correlates loosely with both. You can skip them. If you have already provided them and want them removed, contact us and we will clear those fields without deleting your account.
Where it lives
All of it is stored in Frankfurt, Germany, on infrastructure operated by Supabase, which runs on Amazon Web Services. We chose a European region because it is the closest well-regulated location to Saudi Arabia with strong data-protection law — there is currently no Middle East region available.
Restaurant photos, your avatar, and photos attached to your reviews are stored in the same region.
What we never do
- We do not sell your data. Not to restaurants, not to advertisers, not to anyone.
- We do not accept payment for placement. There is no advertising inventory in Thawq. A restaurant cannot pay to rank higher, appear in your recommendations, or be featured. This is the entire premise of the product, and taking that money would end it.
- We do not track you across other apps or websites.
- We do not store your location. See above.
Who can see what
You control this in the app under privacy settings. Each is a separate switch:
- Whether your profile is public
- Whether your followers list is visible
- Whether your reviews are public
- Whether you appear in search
- Whether anyone can message you, or only people you follow
Reviews you post publicly are visible to other members and contribute to restaurant scores. Your numeric ratings also feed the taste-matching that connects you to people with similar palates — that matching uses your ratings, never your identity or location.
Third parties
- Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage. They process data on our instructions.
- Sentry — crash and error reporting, so we can fix what breaks. Reports may include your user ID and the screen you were on.
- Apple and Google — only if you choose to sign in with them, and only to verify who you are. We receive your email and, sometimes, your name.
That is the complete list. There are no advertising or analytics networks.
Deleting your account
Deletion is built into the app and it is real. Settings → Account → Delete account. It removes your profile, ratings, reviews, photos, saves, lists, visit history, messages, and follow relationships, and it cannot be undone.
Public reviews you wrote are removed along with everything else. Aggregate restaurant scores may retain the statistical effect of past ratings, but nothing that identifies you remains.
You can also email us and we will do it for you.
Your rights
Because your data is held in the European Union, you can ask us to give you a copy of what we hold, correct it, or delete it. Saudi residents have comparable rights under the Personal Data Protection Law. Write to us and we will respond.
Children
Thawq is not intended for anyone under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that affects what we collect or who sees it, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top always reflects the current version.
Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints: hello@thawq.me