1. Who We Are

Whiskey Directory ("we," "our," or "us") is operated by The Whiskey Directory, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company. We operate the website at whiskeydirectory.com (the "Site"), a directory of craft distilleries offering tasting rooms and tours across major US metro areas.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit or use our Site. By using the Site, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

a. Information You Provide Directly

• Account registration: When you create an account, we collect your email address and a hashed password. We do not store your password in plain text.
• User-generated content: Reviews you submit (including text, ratings, and photos), distilleries you save to favorites, and itineraries you create are stored and associated with your account.
• Distillery listings (owners): If you claim or submit a distillery listing, we collect business information you provide including business name, address, contact details, hours, descriptions, and photos.
• Communications: If you contact us via email, we retain that correspondence.

b. Payment Information

Distillery owners who subscribe to a paid listing plan are billed through Stripe, our third-party payment processor. We do not collect, store, or have access to your credit card number, CVV, or full billing address. We store only a Stripe customer identifier and subscription identifier to manage your subscription status. Please review Stripe's Privacy Policy for details on how your payment data is handled.

c. Age Verification

Our Site is intended solely for visitors who are 21 years of age or older. When you visit the Site, we ask you to confirm your age. If you are not logged in, this confirmation is stored in your browser session (a temporary cookie that expires when you close your browser). If you are logged in, your age confirmation is associated with your account and persists between sessions so you are not repeatedly prompted.

d. Information Collected Automatically

When you use the Site, we and our third-party partners automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Browser type and version, operating system, and device type
• Pages visited, time on page, referral URLs, and clickstream data
• Search queries entered on the Site

This data is collected primarily through Google Analytics and ad network technologies. See Section 4 (Cookies) and Section 5 (Third-Party Services) for more detail.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account and authenticate your identity
• Display and operate the directory, including saving favorites and itineraries
• Publish and moderate reviews you submit (pending admin approval)
• Process and manage distillery owner subscriptions
• Enforce our age verification requirement (21+)
• Send transactional emails (account confirmations, password resets, subscription receipts)
• Send marketing emails if you have opted in (see Section 7)
• Analyze Site traffic and usage patterns to improve the Site
• Serve contextually relevant advertising through our ad network partners
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service

4. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate and improve the Site. Here is a summary of the types of cookies in use:

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling essential cookies will prevent you from staying logged in or completing age verification. Most browsers also support opt-out mechanisms for advertising cookies; you can also opt out of Google's advertising cookies at adssettings.google.com.

5. Third-Party Services

We integrate with the following third-party services that may collect or process your data:

6. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers: We share data with third-party vendors who help us operate the Site (hosting, email delivery, payment processing, analytics). These vendors are contractually restricted from using your data for any purpose other than providing services to us.
• Public content: Reviews you submit and mark for publication will be displayed publicly on the Site, associated with your display name (not your email address).
• Business transfers: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change via the email address on your account.
• Legal compliance: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, subpoena, or court order, or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

7. Marketing Communications

From time to time, we may send you marketing emails about new metro areas, featured distilleries, guides, and other content we think you'll find useful. We will only send you marketing emails if you have explicitly opted in.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link in any marketing email we send, or by contacting us. Unsubscribing from marketing emails does not affect transactional emails (such as password resets or subscription receipts), which we will continue to send as necessary to administer your account.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it by law (for example, subscription transaction records may be retained for tax and accounting purposes for up to 7 years).

Publicly published reviews may be retained after account deletion in anonymized form (no email, no account link) to preserve the integrity of the directory.

9. Your Rights & Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access & correction: You can review and update your account information at any time from your account settings page.
• Delete your account: You can request deletion of your account and associated personal data through your account settings or by contacting us. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.
• Opt out of marketing emails: See Section 7.
• Cookie controls: See Section 4.
• Data portability: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you by contacting us at the email below.

10. California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grants you additional rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to know: You may request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, and the purposes for which we use it.
• Right to delete: You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to opt out of sale: We do not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA. You therefore have no need to opt out of a sale.
• Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.

To submit a CCPA request, contact us with the subject line "CCPA Privacy Request." We will respond within 45 days.

11. Age Restrictions

Whiskey Directory is intended exclusively for individuals who are 21 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 21. By using the Site and confirming the age gate, you represent that you are at least 21 years old.

If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from someone under 21, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have collected information from a minor, please contact us immediately via our contact page.

12. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include HTTPS encryption in transit, hashed password storage, and access controls on our infrastructure.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If changes are material, we will notify registered users via email. Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact Us

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