Privacy Policy - Best in City (BiC) App

1. Information We Collect

Account information: name, phone number, email, profile photo, and authentication identifiers from sign-in providers (Google, Apple, Phone OTP).

Business information (merchants only): business name, address, category, working hours, gallery photos, description, and verification details.

User-generated content: photos, videos, offers/deals you publish (merchants), reviews, ratings, replies, and reports you submit.

Activity data: deals you save, merchants you follow, deals you claim and redeem, redemption QR/manual codes (transient), search queries, and merchants you block.

Location data: approximate or precise device location (with your permission) used to surface nearby deals and order results by proximity.

Device & usage data: device identifiers, OS version, app version, IP address, push notification tokens, crash logs, and interaction logs.

2. How We Use Information

Provide, operate, and improve the BiC app (for both customers and merchants).

Show nearby and relevant deals using location and your saved/followed preferences.

Verify merchant identities/business claims and support trust labels.

Enable offer publishing, claims, redemption workflows, reviews, follows, saves, and merchant-customer engagement.

Send transactional and notification messages (push and email) — for example, redemption confirmations, offer updates, security alerts. You control notification categories from within the app.

Detect fraud, abuse, and policy violations; enforce platform terms.

Process user reports and moderation actions (reports on deals, merchants, reviews) and apply user-initiated blocks to keep the platform safe.

Comply with legal obligations and resolve disputes.

3. How We Share Information

Publicly within the app: your merchant business profile, published offers, and reviews/ratings (including your display name) are visible to other users. Private items — saved deals, followed merchants, blocked list, claim history — are visible only to you.

With authentication providers (Google, Apple, Firebase Authentication, Phone OTP services) to verify your identity at sign-in.

With service providers that help run the platform: cloud hosting and database, push-notification delivery, email delivery, crash and performance analytics, and customer support. Each is bound by contractual confidentiality and used only for service operations.

With legal authorities when required by law, legal process, or to protect rights and safety.

During corporate transactions (merger, acquisition, restructuring), subject to applicable law.

We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration. We do not use your data for cross-app targeted advertising.

4. Permissions Used by the App

Location — to surface nearby deals and sort search results by proximity. You can deny or revoke this; relevant features will be limited.

Camera — to scan redemption QR codes and capture photos for merchant profiles, gallery, or reviews.

Photo library — to select images for upload (profile, business, offers, reviews).

Notifications — to deliver deal alerts, redemption confirmations, security and account messages. You can toggle these from within the app or your device settings.

Each permission can be granted or revoked at any time from your device settings. We request permissions only when relevant features are first used.

5. Public vs. Private Information

Public by default: merchant business profile (name, address, hours, photos, categories), published offers, and ratings/reviews (with your display name).

Private to you: saved deals, followed merchants, blocked merchants, your claim and redemption history, and your in-app messages with support.

Removing a review, photo, or profile field may not always remove related responses, reposts, screenshots, or moderation records.

6. Data Retention

We retain information for as long as needed to provide services, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.

Redemption records, fraud-prevention signals, and moderation actions may be retained for longer where required by law or to enforce platform integrity.

7. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information, including encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), restricted access to production systems, and audit logging.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

8. Your Choices and Rights

Depending on applicable law, you may request access, correction, deletion, or portability of your personal information, or object/restrict certain processing.

You can manage your in-app preferences, blocking choices, and profile information directly from within the app.

To submit a privacy request, contact: support@bestincity.com.

9. Account Deletion

To request account deletion, email support@bestincity.com from your registered account email with the subject line: Account Deletion Request.

After successful verification, we will begin deleting or anonymizing your personal data within 7 business days and complete the process within 30 days, subject to technical constraints.

We may retain limited information where required by law, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, tax/accounting, or enforcement of our agreements.

After verification, we will automatically process your deletion request and complete deletion within the stated timeline.

10. Children's Privacy

The BiC app is not intended for users under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

11. Cross-Border Processing

Your information may be processed in locations outside your state/country, subject to applicable safeguards and legal requirements.

12. Third-Party Services

The app may include links or integrations with third-party services (including app stores and sign-in providers). Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.

Any third-party SDKs or processors we use are subject to contractual and legal controls, and are used only for service delivery, security, analytics, notification delivery, or support operations.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will update the Last Updated date and may provide additional notice for material changes where required.