Bottle Chase
Privacy Policy
Bottle Chase is a community app for finding bourbon and whiskey in stores. This policy explains what information the app collects, why, who can see it, and the choices you have. Bottle Chase is operated by Rare Find Group LLC (“we,” “us”), based in Arkansas, USA.
The short version: we don’t sell your information, we don’t use advertising networks, and we don’t use tracking or analytics tools. Your exact location stays on your phone; we keep only an approximate area (about 1 km) so we can alert you to finds nearby. Sightings you post are public, but your name is only shown to people in your hunting parties. You can delete your account in the app at any time.
Who can use Bottle Chase
Bottle Chase is about alcoholic beverages and is only for people who are 21 or older. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 21. If you believe someone under 21 is using the app, contact us and we’ll delete their information.
Information we collect
Your account
When you first open Bottle Chase, the app creates an account for you automatically, without asking for your email, phone number or name. This account is identified by a random ID. If we later offer Sign in with Apple and you choose to use it, Apple provides us an identifier and, if you allow it, your name and email (which can be a private relay address).
Your display name
If you use hunting parties, you choose a display name. Only members of your hunting parties can see it. Everyone else sees your posts as coming from “a scout.”
Sightings you post
When you report a bottle, we store the bottle, the store, the time, the status (found, how many are left, or sold out), and anything optional you add: how many bottles, the shelf price, a photo, and whether it’s a store pick (with its name and proof). We also store whether your phone was at the store when you posted (a yes/no badge), but not your actual location. Confirmations and quick updates you give on other people’s sightings are stored too.
Drops you post
If you post an upcoming allocation drop, we store the store, date and time, how it’s released, the bottles expected, and any limit, notes or link you add. If you respond to a drop (“I heard this too,” “This is wrong,” “I’m going”), we store your response. Other people see only the totals. Drop reminders you set are scheduled on your phone only.
Photos
Photos are taken with the in-app camera. Before upload, the app shrinks each photo and re-saves it, which removes its hidden data, including any GPS location. Photos on public sightings can be viewed by anyone with the app, and are stored at a web address that isn’t secret.
Stores and bottles you add
If you add a missing store, we store its name, address and map location, and that you added it. If you add a missing bottle, we store its name, brand, type, proof and age, and that you added it.
Corrections you suggest
If you suggest a correction to a bottle (for example a wrong proof), we store the bottle, what you suggested and any note, so it can be reviewed. If you delete your account, suggestions stay without any link to you.
Store ratings
If you rate a store, we store your star rating and any tags you pick (such as “Fair prices”). Other people see only the store’s average and how often each tag was picked, never who rated it.
Hunting parties and chat
We store which hunting parties you create or join, and the messages and shared sightings you post in party chats. Only members of that party can see them.
Your settings
We store your watch list, your hunting range (alert distance), and your party alert preference, so they’re the same each time you open the app.
Notifications and your approximate area
If you allow notifications, we store a device token for your phone so we can send you alerts, even when the app is closed. To send only the alerts within your hunting range, the app also sends us an approximate area whenever you open it: your location rounded to about 1 km (roughly half a mile). Our database rounds anything more precise, so your exact location is never stored. We use this area only to decide which alerts to send you, nobody else can see it, and it’s deleted with your account. If location is off, we don’t receive an area, and you’ll get alerts from your hunting parties only.
Reports
If you report a photo or message, we store which item you reported, so it can be reviewed.
Information that stays on your phone
- Your exact location. The app uses your precise location only on your phone: to show how far away sightings are and to pick the store you’re standing in. Only the rounded area described above is sent to us. When you add a store, the pin location you choose is sent, as described above.
- Your alert history and which chat messages you’ve read.
Waitlist sign-ups on our websites
If you sign up on bottlechase.app or rarefindgroup.com to hear when Bottle Chase launches, we store your email address, the phone type you picked, which site you used and when. We use it only to email you about Bottle Chase’s launch and major news about the app. We don’t sell or share it, and we delete it whenever you ask (email contact@rarefindgroup.com). It’s stored with Supabase, like the app’s data. Our websites are hosted by GitHub, load fonts from Google Fonts, and don’t set cookies or use analytics.
What we don’t collect
- No advertising networks, no advertising identifiers, and no ad tracking. Some stores and distilleries pay to be featured in the app; these are always labeled “Sponsored.” We count how many times a sponsored item is shown and tapped, as anonymous daily totals that aren’t linked to you, and sponsors never receive any information about you.
- No third-party analytics or tracking tools.
- No access to your contacts or your photo library. The app uses the camera only when you take a shelf photo or scan a bottle’s barcode; barcode scanning happens on your phone, and only the bottle you pick is sent to us.
- We don’t sell or rent your information to anyone.
Who can see what
| Information | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| Public sightings, their photos, prices and confirmation counts | Everyone using Bottle Chase (without your name) |
| Party-only sightings | Members of that hunting party |
| Your display name | Members of your hunting parties |
| Party chat messages | Members of that hunting party |
| Stores you add | Only you, until approved; then everyone |
| Drops you post | Everyone using Bottle Chase (without your name) |
| Your responses to drops | Only you; everyone sees the totals |
| Bottles you add | Everyone using Bottle Chase (without your name) |
| Your store ratings | Only you; everyone sees each store’s averages |
| Your watch list, settings, approximate area and device token | Only you (and our systems, to send your alerts) |
How we use information
- To run the app’s features: the map, alerts and notifications, store ratings, hunting parties and chat.
- To keep the community trustworthy: showing confirmations and trust badges, and reviewing reported photos and messages.
- To keep the service secure and fix problems.
Service providers
We use a few companies to run Bottle Chase. They process information only to provide their service to us:
- Supabase hosts our database, photo storage, sign-in and live updates.
- Apple provides the maps shown in the app, turns a pin location into an address when you add a store, and delivers notifications to your phone.
- Expo provides the app platform and relays notifications to Apple. Each notification it relays contains your device token and the alert’s text (for example, the bottle and store).
Store locations come from states’ public liquor license lists and OpenStreetMap, and the bottle list from states’ public price lists (such as the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s). None of them receives any information about you.
We may also share information if required by law, or to protect the safety of our users or the public.
How long we keep information
We keep your information while your account exists. Sightings older than 90 days no longer appear in the app but remain in our records to support features such as store history. You can delete your own sightings (open one and tap “Delete this sighting”) and chat messages (press and hold one). Reported content may be kept while it’s reviewed.
When you delete your account, your sightings (including updates), confirmations and drops stay in our records anonymously: we remove any link to you, and they can no longer be connected to your account, name or phone. They remain part of each store’s history, which we use to show how often stores get bottles and, in the future, to predict releases. Photos are deleted. Stores and bottles you added also stay, without any link to you. Everything else linked to your account is deleted.
Your choices and rights
- Location, camera and notifications can be turned off at any time in your iPhone’s Settings. The app still works, with fewer features. Turning off notifications stops all alerts; turning off location stops us receiving your approximate area.
- Delete your account. In the app, go to Alerts → Your account → Delete my account. This immediately and permanently deletes your account, photos, ratings, drop responses, watch list, name, party chat messages, settings, device token and approximate area. Your sightings, confirmations and drops stay anonymously, as described above. Hunting parties you started are handed to another member. You can also email us at contact@rarefindgroup.com and we’ll do it for you.
- Access or correct your data. Email us and we’ll help.
Because accounts are created without an email or password, if you delete the app or switch phones without Sign in with Apple, your previous account can’t be recovered.
Security
Information is sent over encrypted connections. Access rules in our database make sure people can only see and change what they’re allowed to, for example only members can read a party’s chat. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.
Changes to this policy
If we make meaningful changes, we’ll update the date above and tell you in the app.
Contact
Questions or requests: contact@rarefindgroup.com
Rare Find Group LLC, Arkansas, USA