Effective October 27, 2026

Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Recipe Goblin collects, why we use it, and the choices available to members. Recipe Goblin is operated by CS Idea Labs LLC.

Information we collect

We collect the information you provide when you join or participate, including your email address, username, display name, profile text, recipes, photographs, ratings, reviews, comments, cook notes, friend requests, friendships, invitations, and messages you send to support.

We also store profile preferences and avatars, saved recipes, collections and their visibility settings, private meal plans, notifications, blocks, invitation attribution, achievements, earned titles, quest claims, and experience history. Account protection uses limited request counters and hashed identifiers to reduce repeated abuse.

We also collect ordinary technical information needed to operate and secure the service, such as IP address, browser and device information, request times, login and security events, error records, and moderation results.

What other members can see

Your username or display name, profile, friend count, experience level, approved recipes, photographs, ratings, reviews, comments, and cook notes may be visible to other members and, where the site permits public browsing, to anyone visiting the site. Accepted friends can see your approved recipe posts and cooking updates on their wall. Your account email address and pending friend requests are not displayed publicly.

Earned achievements and your selected title are public. Saved recipes and collections are private by default. A collection becomes public only when you choose that setting. Meal plans, notification inboxes, blocked-member lists, and referral details are private. Blocking hides member content and contact requests between logged-in accounts; it does not prevent access to otherwise public pages while logged out.

How we use information

• Provide registration, email verification, accounts, invitations, friendships, recipe publishing, comments, ratings, and experience points.
• Review content for spam, explicit material, abuse, fraud, security threats, and violations of our rules.
• Send account activation, password reset, invitation, moderation, and service messages.
• Protect members, investigate problems, maintain backups, and improve reliability.
• Comply with law and respond to valid legal requests.

Automated moderation and service providers

Submitted text and images may be sent to OpenAI for automated safety classification. Automated results are treated as signals and may be reviewed by a person before content is approved or removed.

We may use companies that provide hosting, email delivery, storage, security, moderation, and backup services. They receive only the information reasonably needed to perform those services and are expected to handle it under appropriate contractual and security obligations. We do not sell personal information and do not currently use behavioral advertising.

Cookies

Recipe Goblin uses essential cookies for login sessions, security, and form protection. We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies.

Retention and deletion

We keep account and community content while your account is active and as reasonably needed to operate the service, resolve disputes, enforce rules, and meet legal obligations. Routine backups may retain deleted information for a limited period before being overwritten.

Members can permanently delete their account and community content from their profile. You may also request deletion, a copy of your information, or correction of account information by emailing support@recipegoblin.com. Some records may be retained when required for security, legal compliance, fraud prevention, or dispute resolution. Removing an account does not require us to remove content that has been lawfully anonymized or information another member independently provided.

Account settings include a downloadable JSON copy of account records. Uploaded images are resized and re-encoded to reduce size and remove embedded camera metadata. Artist reference packages contain site artwork, not member uploads or private account data.

Age requirement

Recipe Goblin is for people age 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a minor has created an account or submitted personal information, contact us so we can investigate and remove it.

Security and international access

We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards, but no internet service can guarantee absolute security. The service is operated in the United States. If you access it elsewhere, your information may be processed in the United States.

Changes and contact

We may update this policy as the service changes. Material updates will be posted here with a new effective date and, when appropriate, announced to members.

Questions and privacy requests may be sent to support@recipegoblin.com.