Who We Are?
ChefGather is an independently operated recipe and cooking platform. It allows people to discover recipes, create an account, build a public contributor profile and share recipes and cooking knowledge with the community.
ChefGather determines how personal information submitted through the website is collected and used.
For privacy questions or requests, contact:
Email: legal@chefgather.com
For general enquiries, contact:
Email: contact@chefgather.com
Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on how you use ChefGather.
Account information
When you create an account, we may collect:
• Your full name;
• Your email address;
• Your password in protected, encrypted or hashed form;
• Your chosen username, nickname or public display name;
• Your account preferences;
• Your communication and newsletter preferences; and
• Information connected to the creation, verification and security of your account.
Your full name may be kept privately for account administration. You may use a nickname or chosen display name on your public profile.
Optional profile information
You may choose to provide:
• A profile photograph;
• A short biography;
• Your location at a general level;
• Links to your website or professional profile;
• Links to social-media accounts such as Instagram or Facebook; and
• Other information you choose to display on your contributor profile.
Optional profile information may be visible publicly. You should only publish information that you are comfortable sharing with other visitors.
Recipes and community contributions
When you submit or interact with content, we may collect:
• Recipe titles and descriptions;
• Ingredients, quantities and preparation instructions;
• Cooking times, serving information and dietary classifications;
• Recipe photographs and other uploaded media;
• Notes, tips and information about the origin or background of a recipe;
• Comments, ratings, favourites and other interactions;
• Content-editing and revision history;
• Reports, correction requests and moderation information; and
• Information showing the contributor responsible for a submission.
Recipes, photographs, comments and other content submitted for publication may be visible publicly together with your chosen display name.
Contact and support information
When you contact ChefGather, we may collect:
• Your name;
• Your email address;
• The subject and category of your enquiry;
• The content of your message;
• Any recipe title or page address included in your enquiry; and
• Any additional information you voluntarily provide.
Newsletter information
If you choose to subscribe to the ChefGather newsletter, we may collect:
• Your name;
• Your email address;
• Your subscription status;
• Your communication preferences;
• The date and method of your consent; and
• Information about newsletter delivery and engagement where permitted.
Creating a ChefGather account does not automatically subscribe you to marketing communications.
Technical and usage information
When you visit or use ChefGather, certain information may be collected automatically, including:
• Your Internet Protocol address;
• Browser and device type;
• Operating system;
• Language and general location settings;
• Pages viewed and links selected;
• Date, time and duration of visits;
• Referring and exit pages;
• Cookie and similar identifiers;
• Login, security and activity logs; and
• Information used to detect errors, spam, fraud or misuse.
We do not collect telephone numbers for ordinary account registration or password recovery.
Sensitive information
ChefGather does not intentionally request sensitive personal information such as identification documents, financial account details, medical records or passwords for other services.
Please do not include sensitive or unnecessary personal information in recipes, photographs, profile descriptions, comments or contact messages.
How We Use Information
We may use personal information to:
• Create, verify and administer user accounts;
• Provide login, password-recovery and account-security functions;
• Display contributor profiles and published content;
• Receive, organise, review and publish recipes;
• Allow users to comment, rate, save or otherwise interact with content;
• Respond to questions, correction requests and support enquiries;
• Review submitted content for quality, safety, originality and compliance with ChefGather’s publishing standards;
• Detect spam, fraud, malicious activity and misuse;
• Protect ChefGather, its users and its technical systems;
• Send essential account, security and service communications;
• Send newsletters or marketing communications when separate consent has been provided;
• Understand how visitors use the website;
• Improve website performance, accessibility, content and user experience;
• Measure advertising and affiliate activity when permitted by your consent;
• Comply with applicable legal obligations;
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and
• Enforce ChefGather’s Terms and Conditions and community standards.
AI-assisted content review
ChefGather may use artificial-intelligence-assisted services to help review submitted recipes, photographs, descriptions and other community content.
These tools may help identify spam, duplication, unsafe material, missing information or content that may not follow ChefGather’s publishing standards. Only information reasonably necessary for the review should be provided to the relevant service.
Important moderation, publication and account decisions are not made solely by an automated system. A person will review decisions that could materially affect a contributor, their account or their published content.
ChefGather does not use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects for users.
Legal Bases
Depending on the activity, ChefGather processes personal information using one or more of the following legal bases.
Performance of a contract
We process information when it is necessary to:
• Create and administer your account;
• Provide the platform’s features;
• Receive and manage your recipe submissions;
• Display your profile and contributions;
• Respond to service-related requests; and
• Apply the Terms and Conditions you accept during registration.
Consent
We rely on consent for activities such as:
• Sending optional newsletters or marketing communications;
• Using non-essential analytics, advertising or affiliate cookies;
• Displaying optional profile information you choose to publish; and
• Other activities where we specifically ask for your permission.
You may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn.
Legitimate interests
We may process information where necessary for legitimate interests such as:
• Protecting accounts and website security;
• Preventing spam, fraud and abuse;
• Moderating community content;
• Responding to enquiries and correction requests;
• Maintaining and improving ChefGather;
• Understanding general website performance; and
• Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.
We consider the effect of this processing on users and do not rely on legitimate interests where users’ rights and interests override those interests.
Legal obligations
We may process or retain information when required to comply with applicable laws, valid official requests or other legal obligations.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
ChefGather uses cookies and similar technologies to operate and protect the website and, with your permission, to understand usage and support advertising or affiliate activity.
Essential technologies
Essential technologies may be used without optional consent where necessary to:
• Keep the website functioning;
• Maintain login sessions;
• Remember security and privacy choices;
• Protect forms and accounts;
• Prevent spam and automated abuse; and
• Support core website features.
ChefGather uses Cloudflare Turnstile to help protect forms and account functions from bots and abuse.
Analytics
ChefGather may use Google Analytics to understand general website activity, such as which pages are visited, how visitors navigate the website and how the website performs.
Analytics technologies that require consent will remain disabled unless you accept them through the consent system.
Advertising and affiliate tracking
ChefGather may display advertising and may use affiliate links. When you select an affiliate link and later make a purchase, ChefGather may receive a commission without increasing the price you pay.
Advertising and affiliate partners may use cookies or similar technologies to measure visits, referrals and conversions. Technologies requiring consent will not be activated until you have made the appropriate choice.
Managing your choices
When you first visit ChefGather, the consent system allows you to accept, reject or manage non-essential technologies.
You can change or withdraw your choices through the website’s cookie settings. Rejecting non-essential technologies should not prevent access to ChefGather’s principal recipe and account functions.
Further information is available in the Cookie Policy.
Sharing Information
ChefGather does not sell personal information.
We may share limited information with service providers where necessary to operate and protect the platform.
Hosting and email services
Hostinger provides website hosting, server infrastructure and email services. Information stored or transmitted through ChefGather may therefore be processed through Hostinger’s systems and authorised subprocessors.
Newsletter delivery
Mailchimp may process subscriber information, communication preferences and newsletter-delivery information when you choose to subscribe.
Website security
Cloudflare Turnstile may process limited technical and interaction information to determine whether a form or account request is being made by a person rather than an automated system.
Analytics
Google Analytics may process website usage and device information when analytics consent has been provided.
Advertising and affiliate partners
Advertising or affiliate partners may receive information about advertisement views, link selections, referrals or resulting transactions when the relevant tracking has been permitted.
AI service providers
AI service providers may receive submitted content and limited related information where this is reasonably necessary to assist with content review, organisation, quality control or moderation.
ChefGather will review the privacy and data-processing terms of these providers and will limit the information shared to what is necessary for the relevant task.
Public information
Your chosen display name, profile photograph, biography, social links, recipes, recipe photographs, comments and other contributions may be shared publicly when you choose to publish them.
Public information may be viewed, copied or shared by other people. Avoid publishing personal information that you do not want to make public.
Professional services and authorities
Information may be disclosed to professional advisers, insurers, regulators, courts, public authorities or law-enforcement bodies where reasonably necessary and legally permitted or required.
Business or organisational changes
If responsibility for ChefGather is transferred, reorganised or incorporated into another organisation, relevant information may be transferred as part of that change. Users will be informed where required.
International Transfers
Some service providers used by ChefGather may process information in countries outside the country where you live or outside the European Economic Area.
Where required, ChefGather will use appropriate safeguards for these transfers. These may include:
• A recognised adequacy decision;
• Standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission;
• Contractual and organisational safeguards; and
• Additional technical protections where appropriate.
You may contact legal@chefgather.com to request further information about the safeguards relevant to your information.
Data Retention
ChefGather keeps personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
Account information
Account information is retained while your account remains active.
A deactivated account is retained so that it may be restored, but its profile should not remain publicly visible or searchable.
When you request permanent account deletion, personal profile information will normally be deleted or anonymised within 30 days, unless limited retention is required for security, dispute resolution, legal compliance or legal claims.
Recipes and other contributions
When closing your account, you may choose whether your published recipes and other contributions are deleted or retained.
If you choose to retain your contributions, identifying profile information connected to them will be removed or replaced with an anonymous label such as “Former Contributor.”
Where content must be retained temporarily because of an active dispute, moderation matter or legal claim, it will be restricted and retained only for as long as necessary.
Backups
Information may remain in protected backups for up to 90 days after deletion from the active system. Backup information is not used for ordinary purposes and is removed through the normal backup-overwriting cycle.
Contact messages
Contact, support and correction enquiries are normally retained for up to 12 months after the matter has been resolved, unless a longer period is needed for an ongoing dispute or legal obligation.
Newsletter information
Newsletter subscription information is retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent.
After unsubscribing, limited information may be retained for up to three years to record the request, demonstrate compliance and prevent unwanted resubscription.
Analytics information
Google Analytics information will be configured for a retention period of no more than 14 months unless a shorter period is appropriate.
Security logs
Ordinary technical and security logs are normally retained for up to 90 days. Information connected to suspected fraud, abuse or a security incident may be retained longer while the matter is investigated.
Legal and compliance records
Information necessary to demonstrate consent, comply with legal obligations or establish, exercise or defend legal claims may be retained for the applicable limitation period.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on the laws that apply to you, you may have the right to:
• Request access to your personal information;
• Receive a copy of certain information;
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• Request deletion of your information;
• Request restriction of processing;
• Object to certain processing based on legitimate interests;
• Withdraw consent at any time;
• Request data portability where applicable;
• Object to direct marketing at any time; and
• Lodge a complaint with a competent data-protection authority.
Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that was lawful before the withdrawal.
Exercising your rights
To make a privacy request, email legal@chefgather.com.
Please explain your request clearly and identify the email address connected to your ChefGather account. We may request reasonable additional information where necessary to confirm your identity and protect your account.
ChefGather will respond within the period required by applicable law. Requests are normally handled without charge, although a reasonable fee may be permitted for requests that are manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive.
Complaints
You may lodge a complaint with the data-protection authority in your country of residence, your place of work or the place where you believe a data-protection infringement occurred.
We encourage you to contact ChefGather first so that we have an opportunity to understand and address your concern.
Children’s Privacy
Visitors may browse publicly available recipes without creating an account.
You must be at least 16 years old to create an independent ChefGather account, submit recipes or provide consent for optional processing.
A person under 16 may only use account or contribution features where valid authorisation from a parent or legal guardian has been obtained and where the feature is permitted by applicable law.
If we learn that personal information was collected from a child without the required authorisation, we will take reasonable steps to delete or restrict that information.
A parent or guardian who believes that a child has provided information without appropriate permission should contact legal@chefgather.com.
Security
ChefGather uses reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information.
These measures may include:
• Secure HTTPS connections;
• Restricted administrative access;
• Account authentication and access controls;
• Protected password storage;
• Security monitoring and activity logs;
• Cloudflare Turnstile bot protection;
• Software and plugin updates;
• Backups and recovery procedures;
• Spam and malicious-content controls; and
• Review of service providers that process personal information.
No website, storage system or method of transmission can guarantee absolute security. Users should use a strong, unique password and should not share login credentials with another person.
If we become aware of a personal-data breach, we will investigate it and make any notifications required by applicable law.
Changes to This Policy
For questions about this Privacy Policy, personal-information requests or privacy concerns, contact:
Privacy enquiries
legal@chefgather.com
General enquiries
contact@chefgather.com
Contact page
https://chefgather.com/contact-us/
Please do not send passwords, payment information, identification documents or other sensitive personal information through an ordinary contact message.
Contact Us
ChefGather may update this Privacy Policy when website features, service providers, legal requirements or data-processing activities change.
The updated version will be published on this page with a revised “Last updated” date.
Where a change materially affects how personal information is used, ChefGather may also provide notice by email, through an account notification or by displaying a prominent notice on the website.
We recommend reviewing this Privacy Policy periodically to remain informed about how ChefGather handles personal information.