Privacy Policy
Last updated: 7/21/2025

1. Introduction
   RateBud (“we,” “our,” or “us”) is an AI-powered service that analyzes Amazon product reviews to help consumers assess review authenticity and make informed purchasing decisions. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our service.

Important: RateBud is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. or any of its affiliates.

1. Information We Collect
   2.1 Product Information
   Amazon product URLs you submit for analysis
   Product titles, prices, ratings, and descriptions
   Product reviews and reviewer information (publicly available)
   Seller information and ratings
   2.2 Price Alert Information
   Email addresses: Provided voluntarily for price drop notifications
   Target prices: Your specified price thresholds for alerts
   Product preferences: Amazon ASINs and product titles you want to track
   Alert settings: Frequency and notification preferences
   Verification status: Whether your email has been verified
   Alert history: Timestamps of when alerts were sent (not email content)
   2.3 Usage Information
   IP addresses: Automatically collected for security and abuse prevention (retained 30 days)
   Location data: General country/region only (derived from IP, not GPS)
   Browser information: User agent, browser type, and version for compatibility
   Usage patterns: Pages visited, time spent, and feature usage (anonymized)
   Analysis requests: Amazon URLs submitted and analysis results generated
   Performance data: Page load times and error rates for service improvement
   2.4 Cookies and Analytics
   We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience, analyze usage patterns, and provide personalized content. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings.
2. How We Use Your Information
   Provide AI-powered review authenticity analysis
   Generate trust scores and recommendations
   Send price drop notifications via email
   Verify email addresses for price alert services
   Track product prices and trigger alerts
   Improve our algorithms and service quality
   Cache analysis results to improve performance
   Detect and prevent abuse or fraudulent usage
   Comply with legal obligations
3. Third-Party Services
   4.1 AI Processing
   We use third-party LLM services to analyze review content. Review data may be processed by external AI servers for analysis purposes. We do not store personal reviewer information beyond what is publicly available on Amazon.

4.2 Email Services
Price alert notifications are sent using Resend email service. Your email address and alert preferences are securely transmitted to deliver price drop notifications. We use HMAC hashing to protect email addresses in our storage systems.

4.3 Data Storage
We use Upstash Redis for caching analysis results and storing price alert data to improve performance. Stored data includes product information, analysis results, and hashed email addresses for price alerts, but not personal user profiles.

4.4 Amazon Data
Product and review information is obtained from publicly available Amazon product pages. We do not access private Amazon accounts or non-public information.

1. Data Retention
   We retain your information only as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations:

Analysis results: Cached for up to 24 hours for performance optimization
Price alert data: Stored for up to 365 days (1 year) or until you cancel your alerts
Email addresses: Retained for up to 365 days for price alert functionality
Email verification status: Stored for up to 365 days
Usage analytics: Anonymized data retained for up to 12 months for service improvement
IP addresses: Retained for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention
Browser information: Session-based only, not permanently stored
Note: We do not store personal user accounts, profiles, or any personally identifiable information beyond what is necessary for price alerts.

1. Data Security
   We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no internet transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
2. Your Rights & Data Deletion
   Depending on your location, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including:

Access: Request a copy of your personal information
Correction: Request correction of inaccurate information
Deletion: Request deletion of your information (see below)
Objection: Object to processing of your information
Data portability: Request transfer of your data
7.1 How to Delete Your Data
To delete your price alerts and associated data, simply email us at:

support@ratebud.ai

Include “Delete My Data” in the subject line and provide the email address used for price alerts. We will delete all associated data within 30 days and confirm completion via email.

7.2 What Gets Deleted
Your email address and all price alert preferences
Email verification status and alert history
Any cached analysis results associated with your requests
Usage analytics linked to your email or IP address
7.3 GDPR & CCPA Compliance
EU residents (GDPR): You have the right to request deletion, access, correction, and portability of your data.California residents (CCPA): You have the right to know what personal information we collect, delete your information, and opt-out of sale (we do not sell personal information).

1. International Users
   Our service is operated from the United States. If you access our service from outside the US, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States.
2. Children's Privacy
   Our service is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly.
3. Changes to This Policy
   We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the “Last updated” date.
4. Contact Us
   If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Email: support@ratebud.ai

For privacy-related inquiries, we typically respond within 24-48 hours during business days.

Amazon Disclaimer
RateBud is an independent service that analyzes publicly available Amazon product information. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.