Privacy Policy

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.

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

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).

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Contact Us

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