Section 1

Who We Are

MenuNations is a global restaurant menu guide operated by MenuNations Media Ltd, registered in England and Wales (Company No. 12345678). Our registered address is 42 Culinary Row, London EC1A 1BB, United Kingdom.

For the purposes of UK and EU data protection law, we are the data controller of the personal information described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your data is processed.

If you have any questions about this policy — or want to exercise your data rights — you can reach our Data Protection Officer at privacy@menunations.com.

Section 2

What Information We Collect

We collect only the information we genuinely need to run MenuNations and improve the experience for our readers. Here’s the full breakdown:

Section 3

How We Use Your Information

Every use of your data falls into one of these categories — and we’ve listed the legal basis for each under UK GDPR:

• To respond to your inquiries — When you submit a correction, suggestion, or contributor pitch, we use your contact details to reply. (Legal basis: legitimate interest in operating our editorial service.)
• To improve our website — Aggregated browsing data helps us understand which guides are most useful, where readers are coming from, and how to make the site faster. (Legal basis: legitimate interest in improving our product.)
• To send editorial emails — If you explicitly subscribe to a newsletter, we’ll send you updates. You can unsubscribe at any time with one click. (Legal basis: consent.)
• To maintain site security — IP addresses and server logs are monitored to detect and prevent abuse, fraud, or security incidents. (Legal basis: legitimate interest in protecting our infrastructure.)
• To comply with legal obligations — If required by law, we may process or retain data to comply with a legal request. (Legal basis: legal obligation.)

We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

Section 4

Cookies & Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser. We use them sparingly — here’s exactly what’s in use:

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Essential cookies (session_id and cookie_consent) are required for the site to function and cannot be disabled. Analytics cookies are only set if you accept them via our cookie banner.

Section 5

Third-Party Services

We use a small number of trusted third-party services to operate MenuNations. Each of these processors is contractually bound to handle your data securely and exclusively per our instructions:

• Google Analytics — For understanding how readers use the site. We’ve configured it to anonymise IP addresses and disabled data sharing with Google’s advertising products. Google’s Privacy Policy →
• Cloudflare — For content delivery and DDoS protection. Cloudflare processes IP addresses at the network edge to route traffic and block malicious requests. Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy →

We do not use advertising networks, social media tracking pixels, or data brokers on MenuNations. We have no plans to introduce them.

Section 6

How Long We Keep Data

We don’t hold onto your data indefinitely. Our retention periods are based on what’s necessary for each type of information:

• Contact form submissions and email correspondence — Retained for 24 months after your last interaction, then deleted. This allows us to refer back to previous conversations if you write to us again.
• Server logs (IP addresses, access timestamps) — Retained for 30 days, then automatically purged.
• Google Analytics data — Retained for 26 months, per Google’s default settings for anonymised data.
• Cookie consent records — Retained for 12 months, then refreshed on your next visit.

You can request earlier deletion of your data at any time — see Section 7.

Section 7

Your Rights & Choices

Depending on your location, you have specific rights over your personal data. For readers in the UK, EU, and EEA, these rights include:

• Right of access — You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — If your data is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
• Right to erasure — You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances (the “right to be forgotten”).
• Right to restrict processing — You can ask us to limit how we use your data while a concern is resolved.
• Right to data portability — You can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing (which we don’t currently do).
• Right to withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent (e.g., newsletter emails), you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@menunations.com. We’ll respond within 30 calendar days, as required by law. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.

If you’re unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or your local data protection authority.

Section 8

How We Protect Your Data

We take data security seriously and have implemented measures appropriate to the size and nature of our operation:

• All traffic to and from MenuNations is encrypted using TLS 1.3 (HTTPS).
• Our servers are hosted in ISO 27001-certified data centres within the European Economic Area.
• Access to personal data is restricted to team members who need it to perform their role — and all access is logged.
• We conduct periodic security reviews of our infrastructure and third-party dependencies.
• We have a breach notification procedure — if a data breach occurs that poses a risk to your rights, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours and inform affected users without undue delay.

Section 9

Children’s Privacy

MenuNations is a general-interest website not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at privacy@menunations.com and we will delete it promptly.

Section 10

International Transfers

MenuNations is based in the United Kingdom, and our servers are located within the European Economic Area. If you access the site from outside the EEA, your data will be transferred to and processed in the UK.

Where we use third-party services that may process data outside the EEA (such as Google Analytics, which may process data in the United States), we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — specifically, Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission and the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement where applicable.

Section 11

Changes to This Policy

We review this privacy policy at least once per calendar year. If we make material changes — for example, introducing a new data processor or changing how we use your information — we will:

• Post a prominent notice on the MenuNations homepage for at least 14 days.
• Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
• Email subscribers if the change materially affects their rights (if we hold their email address).

We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of MenuNations after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.