Privacy Policy

CouchRot ("we," "us," or "our") operates the CouchRot mobile application (the "App"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.

By using CouchRot, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your email address, username, and display name. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your name and email from those providers. We do not store your Apple or Google passwords.

App Usage Data

We collect the movie and TV show ratings you submit, your watchlist entries, optional notes you add to a watch, your streaming service preferences, the vibes you type, and your interaction history with recommendations.

This includes a product analytics log stored in our own database and tied to your account.

That log includes screens you open, recommendation actions (such as save, skip, and rate), paywall views, and up to 200 characters of a vibe you submit.

When you search the catalog, what you type is sent to our server to find titles and stays briefly in server logs. The analytics log stores only how long the query was and, if you tap a result, that title.

This data powers your personalized recommendations and contributes to the CouchRot Score community rating system.

Device Information

We may collect basic device information such as device type and operating system version to ensure the App functions correctly. We do not collect precise location data.

We do save your device's timezone name (for example, America/Chicago) so time-based notifications can arrive in your evening rather than at a UTC clock time.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, we store an Expo push token on your profile and send notifications about friend activity, Group Vibe invites, watchlist reminders, and picks we think you may want.

You can turn notifications off in the App or in iOS Settings.

We clear the token when you log out or delete your account.

Sharing, friends, and public pages

Your username, display name, and avatar are visible to other signed-in people, including when someone searches for a username.

Your profile shows other signed-in people your pinned titles, your recent ratings, and summary taste stats (how many titles you have rated, your average, a favorite genre and decade, and a rating spread).

Accepted friends also see what you rated in the last 30 days in their Discover tab and can compare taste with you (Taste Match). Friends do not see your watchlist unless you share it by link.

One switch in Profile, "Share my ratings with friends", turns rating sharing off. When it is off, nobody else sees your ratings or rating stats. Your username, display name, avatar, and pinned titles stay visible.

In a Group Vibe, the friends you invite see your display name and the vibe you submit for that session. A Group Vibe invite link opens a web page that shows your first name to anyone who holds the link, and that vibe while the session is open (up to 24 hours). Opening a friend's invite link also sends that friend a friend request from you.

Lists were retired from the App on October 2, 2026, and list data is no longer kept.

Clipboard

When you share a CouchRot card, we copy the share link to your clipboard so the message can include a way to open it.

On iOS, the first time you reach the sign-in screen after installing the App, it checks once whether your clipboard holds a web link. If it does, iOS asks your permission to paste, and the App reads the link only to see whether it is a Group Vibe invite. It keeps only the invite codes from that link, never any other clipboard content, and it does not check again on that install.

Apple ads

On iOS we collect an Apple AdServices attribution token and send it to Apple, and through RevenueCat, so we can tell whether an install came from an Apple ad.

We do not show an App Tracking Transparency prompt.

If you sign up from a referral link, we may store that referral code on your RevenueCat customer record.

Website

The CouchRot website at couchrot.app is separate from the App and uses Vercel Analytics to understand how the site is used.

If you join the Android waitlist at couchrot.app/android, we store the email address you enter and the date, and use it only to tell you when CouchRot is available on Android. To be removed, email support@couchrot.app. Short links at couchrot.app/go record which link was opened, the device type (such as iPhone or Android) and the site you came from, with no name, email or account attached.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and personalize AI-powered movie and TV show recommendations
• To maintain your vault, watchlist, and rating history
• To calculate and display the CouchRot Score (aggregated, anonymous community ratings)
• To enable social features such as friend connections, public profiles, Group Vibe, and taste comparisons
• To manage your subscription and account
• To send notifications you have allowed, and to measure which Apple ads and referrals lead to installs
• To improve the App and fix bugs
• To understand how the App is used, through an analytics log tied to your account, and to generate anonymized, aggregated insights about entertainment preferences and viewing trends (the aggregated form cannot identify individual users)

3. Third-Party Services

CouchRot uses the following third-party services to operate. Each has its own privacy policy governing data it processes:

• Supabase: Authentication and database hosting. Stores your account information, ratings, watchlist, notes, friends, notifications, analytics events, push token, and a log of the recommendation requests you make (including the vibe text), kept for up to a year.
• OpenRouter: AI recommendation engine. We send the vibe you typed, your movie and TV preferences, and your rating history to generate recommendations. We do not send your email or name.
• TMDB (The Movie Database): Provides movie and TV show metadata, posters, and streaming availability information. The App requests poster images from TMDB. We do not send your email, name, or account id to TMDB.
• Sentry: Error tracking and performance monitoring. In production we send crash and performance reports that include your account id and basic device information. When a recommendation fails, the report can include the vibe you typed and titles involved in that request. We do not attach your email, username, or password to the Sentry user.
• RevenueCat: Manages premium subscriptions and purchase validation through the Apple App Store. Processes purchase receipts but does not have access to your payment details. We identify you to RevenueCat with your CouchRot account id. RevenueCat may also receive an Apple ads attribution token and, if you used one, a referral code.
• Apple / Google Sign-In: Provides secure authentication. We receive only your name and email; we never see your password.
• Expo: Delivers the push token and checks for small App updates. Those requests include app and device information, not your vibe or your email.
• Apple: App Store purchases, Sign in with Apple, and AdServices attribution, as described above.
• Vercel Analytics: Used on the website at couchrot.app only, not inside the App.

4. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on Supabase servers with row-level security enabled. Your vault rows are readable only by you. Other signed-in people can still see the profile, friend, and Group Vibe information described in Section 1, through features built for that purpose.

We use industry-standard encryption for data in transit (HTTPS/TLS). While we take reasonable measures to protect your data, no method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We share data only as described in Section 3 (with our service providers) and when required by law.

Inside the App, other people can see the public profile, friend ratings, and Group Vibe content described in Section 1.

Aggregated, anonymized data (such as the CouchRot Score for a particular movie) may be displayed publicly within the App. This data cannot be used to identify individual users.

We may also use a separate aggregated, de-identified dataset, meaning data that has been stripped of all personally identifiable information and cannot reasonably be linked back to any individual, for research, analytics, product improvement, and to generate insights about entertainment preferences and trends. This de-identified data may be shared with third parties, including for research or commercial purposes. At no point will your personal information be included in any such dataset. The account-level analytics log in Section 1 is not that dataset.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your data: View all your ratings, watchlist items, and profile information within the App.
• Export your data: Export your vault as a CSV file from the Profile screen.
• Delete your data: Permanently delete your account and the data stored with it from the Profile screen. This action is irreversible. It removes your Supabase account and the app data linked to it (including ratings, notes, friends, notifications, analytics events, your push token, and the log of your recommendation requests). Copies already sent to Sentry and the RevenueCat subscription record are not erased by that button. Contact us at support@couchrot.app if you want those deleted too.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), California, or another jurisdiction with data protection laws, you may have additional rights. Contact us at support@couchrot.app to exercise these rights.

7. Children's Privacy

CouchRot is not directed at children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such data, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@couchrot.app.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Effective Date" at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

support@couchrot.app