Privacy Policy

Effective 17 August 2026

Third Wave is a curated guide to third-wave coffee shops, published by GudBud Enterprises LLC. This policy describes what the app collects, what it doesn't, and why. It is deliberately short, because the app does very little with your data.

The short version

You don't need an account, and we never ask for your name or email.
Your location never leaves your device.
We store what you choose to write: ratings, comments, and shop suggestions.
There is no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind.
We don't sell or share your data with anyone.

Your location

If you allow it, the app uses your approximate location to sort shops by distance, to filter by how far away they are, and to centre the map.

All of that happens on your device. Your location is never transmitted to us, never stored on our servers, and never shared with anyone. If you decline the permission, everything else in the app works; you just lose distance sorting and the "Near Me" filter.

Your account

The app signs you in anonymously the first time you open it. That account is a random identifier — it contains no personal information, and we cannot use it to identify you.

You may optionally Sign in with Apple so your ratings and comments survive deleting and reinstalling the app. If you do, Apple gives us an identifier for your account and, if you choose to share it, your name. We never receive your Apple ID password. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we never see your real address — and we don't ask for your email in any case.

What you write

When you rate a shop, leave a comment, suggest a new shop, or report a comment, we store what you submitted along with your account identifier and the time. Ratings and comments are visible to other people using the app. Comments are shown without your name.

Shop suggestions and reports go to the guide's curator, not to other users.

Moderation

Comments can be reported by anyone, and reported comments are reviewed by the curator, who may remove them. You can also block another person, which hides their comments from you. Blocking is stored only on your device.

Where the data lives

Ratings, comments, suggestions, and reports are stored using Google Firebase (Authentication and Cloud Firestore) on Google's servers in the United States. Google processes this data on our behalf as our service provider. Their privacy information is at https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

Map search and geocoding use Apple's MapKit. When you search for a shop to suggest, that search text is sent to Apple to return results. Apple's policy is at https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.

What we don't do

No analytics or usage tracking of any kind
No advertising, and no advertising identifiers
No third-party trackers
No selling or sharing of your data
No profiling, and no automated decisions about you

Keeping and deleting your data

Ratings, comments, and suggestions are kept as long as the guide is running, because they're part of it. You can delete your own comments in the app.

To delete your account and everything attached to it, email the address below from the device you use, and we'll remove it. If you only signed in anonymously, deleting the app also disconnects you from that account permanently — we'd have no way to identify which records were yours.

Children

Third Wave isn't directed at children and we don't knowingly collect anything from anyone under 13.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your data, or to object to its processing. Email us and we'll help. We won't treat you differently for asking.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, we'll update the date at the top and note the change in the app's release notes.

Contact

GudBud Enterprises LLC Email: support@gudbudenterprises.com