How we collect, use, and protect your information.
Overview
Rate My City ("we," "us," or "our") operates the ratemycity.com website. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices regarding your data. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our practices.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide
-Reviews and ratings: When you submit a review, we collect the display name (pseudonym) you choose, your ratings across all life aspects, and your written pros and cons.
-Contact information: If you contact us via email, we collect your email address and message content to respond to your inquiry.
Information Collected Automatically
-Usage data: We collect standard web server logs including your IP address, browser type, pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URLs.
-Cookies: We use essential cookies to ensure the website functions properly. We do not use tracking cookies or sell cookie data to third parties.
-Analytics: We may use privacy-friendly analytics tools to understand aggregate usage patterns (e.g., which pages are most popular). These tools do not track individual users across websites.
How We Use Your Information
Display your reviews and ratings on city and neighborhood pages
Calculate and display aggregate scores for cities and neighborhoods
Moderate content to ensure it meets our community guidelines
Improve the website's functionality and user experience
Respond to your questions or feedback when you contact us
Detect and prevent spam, abuse, or fraudulent activity
Generate anonymized, aggregate statistics about city ratings
What We Don't Do
We do not sell your personal information to third parties
We do not share your data with advertisers
We do not use tracking pixels or cross-site tracking
We do not require account creation to browse the site
We do not collect sensitive personal data (financial, health, etc.)
Data Retention
Published reviews are retained indefinitely as part of the public record of city ratings. Rejected reviews are deleted within 90 days of rejection. Server logs are retained for up to 12 months for security and operational purposes, then automatically deleted.
Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
-Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
-Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal data.
-Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data, including published reviews.
-Portability: Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@ratemycity.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services to operate the website:
-Hosting: Our website is hosted on Vercel. Their privacy policy governs server-side data processing.
-Database: We use Neon for database hosting. Data is stored securely with encryption at rest.
-Maps: We use OpenStreetMap and CARTO for map tiles. Map tile requests are sent directly to their servers.
Children's Privacy
Rate My City 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 personal data from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the bottom of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.