Privacy Policy for Rate My Ditch
Effective date: 4 October 2026
Rate My Ditch is operated by Alexander Ottolangui, operating under the app studio name Rate My Fav Apps ("we", "us", or "our"). For UK data-protection purposes, Alexander Ottolangui is the controller of personal information processed through Rate My Ditch, except where a third-party provider acts independently under its own privacy terms.
This Privacy Policy explains what information Rate My Ditch collects or receives, how it is used, when it may be shared, how visibility and social features affect who can see content, how long information is kept, and the choices and rights available to users.
Rate My Ditch is a humorous entertainment app that allows users to find, create, rate, review, and share ditch locations on a map. It is intended for users aged 18 or over and is not intended to provide safety, travel, access, or outdoor-activity advice.
For privacy questions, support, safety concerns, content reports, or account-deletion questions, contact ratemyditch@gmail.com.
The information processed depends on how you use the app and which optional features you enable.
If you create or use a registered account, we may process:
· your Firebase user identifier;
· email address;
· username or display name;
· profile image, if you choose to upload one;
· authentication provider and account-authentication information handled by Firebase Authentication;
· account creation and update timestamps; and
· account-linked privacy, notification, and marketing-permission settings.
Passwords are handled by Firebase Authentication. We do not manually store or view your password.
The app may allow guest or anonymous access. Firebase may create an anonymous authentication identifier so that app and database security rules can distinguish a guest session. Guests can browse supported content but are restricted from account-only actions such as creating ditches, uploading images, submitting reviews, saving favourites, using friendship features, or managing a registered account.
When you grant location permission, the app may use your device location while the app is open or actively being used to show your position on the map, move the map to your location, help with nearby content, and support map-based features. The app is designed for foreground location use and does not intentionally track your location in the background when the app is closed.
Your live movement is not intended to be stored as a location history. If you create a ditch, the coordinates you choose for that ditch are stored as part of the ditch record. Those coordinates may be visible to other users according to the ditch visibility setting described below.
If you use worldwide place search, the search text, place identifier, and related request data needed to complete the search may be processed through Google Places services via Rate My Ditch backend functions. This is separate from the user-created ditch data stored in Rate My Ditch.
Signed-in users may create or upload information such as:
· ditch names and descriptions;
· ditch ratings and map coordinates;
· ditch images;
· review titles, review text, and review ratings;
· review images;
· profile images and profile information; and
· favourite-location records.
User-generated content can contain personal information if you choose to include it. Do not upload sensitive, confidential, or private information about yourself or another person unless you have a lawful reason and appropriate permission to do so.
If you use social features, we may process:
· friend requests and their status;
· accepted friendship records;
· limited profile details used to identify users in friend searches and requests;
· profile-visibility and friend-request settings;
· blocked-user records; and
· references to a ditch or review where a block action was initiated, where the app records that context.
Blocking a user may also remove or disable an existing friendship or pending friend-request relationship.
For signed-in users who use notification features, we may process notification preferences, in-app notification records, read status, device push-notification registration tokens, and information needed to generate notifications. Current notification types include friend requests, accepted friend requests, and reviews on ditches you created. Device push notifications are optional.
If you submit an in-app report, we may process information such as:
· the type of item reported, such as a location, review, or user;
· identifiers for the reported content or account;
· your user identifier, email address, display name, and whether the account is anonymous, where available;
· the report reason and any details you submit;
· relevant ditch, review, or username information; and
· report status, moderation notes, actions, and timestamps.
Rate My Ditch includes an optional setting that allows you to give permission for content you submit to be reused in Rate My Ditch marketing and promotion. We may store your current choice, the version of the permission wording, and timestamps recording when permission was granted, updated, or withdrawn. Legacy content-specific marketing-permission records may also be retained while relevant.
We use Firebase Crashlytics to help diagnose app failures. Crashlytics and related Firebase services may process crash traces, installation or device identifiers, app version, operating-system information, and technical diagnostic information associated with a crash or stability event.
If you contact us by email or another support channel, we may keep your contact details, the content of your message, attachments you provide, and information needed to respond to or investigate your request.
We use personal information only where we have a reason to do so. Depending on the activity, the principal purposes and lawful bases are:
We process account, content, location, friendship, visibility, notification, sharing, and preference information as necessary to provide Rate My Ditch features and perform our Terms of Use with you. This includes creating and maintaining accounts, showing accessible ditches, storing reviews and images, managing friendships, applying privacy settings, delivering notifications, and processing account deletion.
Where consent or a user-controlled permission is the appropriate basis, we rely on your choice. Examples include optional marketing use of your submitted content and device permissions such as location or push notifications where the operating system asks you to allow them. You can withdraw or change these choices through the app or your device settings, subject to the limits described in this policy.
We may process information where necessary for legitimate interests such as keeping the service secure, preventing spam and abuse, moderating content, enforcing access controls, investigating reports, maintaining app integrity, diagnosing failures, protecting users and the service, and improving reliability. We seek to use information in a proportionate way and take account of users' privacy interests.
We may process or retain information where necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to valid legal requests, protect legal rights, or handle data-protection requests.
The lawful basis that applies can vary by feature and context. If you ask us about a specific use of your information, you can contact us using the details at the end of this policy.
Ditch visibility is controlled separately from profile visibility.
A ditch marked Public can be found and viewed by users who are allowed to browse public ditch content, including guest users where guest access is supported. Public ditch content may include the ditch name, description, ratings, images, map marker, coordinates, reviews, and creator or reviewer information that the app displays.
A ditch marked Friends only is intended to be discoverable and viewable only by its creator and accepted friends of that creator. The app and Firebase access controls are used to enforce this restriction.
Changing a ditch from Public to Friends only restricts future access through the app. Changing it from Friends only to Public makes it available through the public access path. Ditches created before visibility controls were introduced may be treated as Public unless their creator changes the visibility setting.
You should choose the visibility setting carefully. Even with Friends-only access, do not upload content that would create a serious privacy or safety risk if another authorised user copied or disclosed it.
Registered users can control profile visibility separately from ditch visibility. Current profile options are:
· Public - signed-in users can find and view the profile;
· Friends only - the profile owner and accepted friends can view the protected profile; and
· Private - only the profile owner can view the protected profile.
Friend-request discoverability is controlled separately. If you enable friend requests, signed-in users may be able to find enough limited profile information to send you a request even when your profile is Friends only or Private. Protected profile content remains subject to the profile visibility rules.
Friend requests may include limited profile information such as usernames or display names and profile images where available, so the recipient can identify who sent the request.
Rate My Ditch can use your device's native sharing interface to let you send ditch information through third-party apps such as messaging or social-media services that you choose.
A Public ditch share may include the ditch name, displayed rating, a shortened description, Rate My Ditch attribution, and a link back to the ditch.
A Friends-only ditch can also be shared, but the external share text is designed to be privacy-preserving. It uses a generic Friends-only message and the ditch link rather than including the protected ditch name, rating, description, or coordinates.
A Friends-only link is not an access token. Opening or forwarding the URL does not grant permission to view the ditch. The recipient must still be the creator or an accepted friend when the app checks access. A non-friend should not receive the protected ditch content.
When you choose a third-party app from the device share sheet, the information you choose to share is provided to that app or service. Its own privacy terms and practices then apply. Rate My Ditch cannot control further use or forwarding of information once you intentionally send it outside the app.
Rate My Ditch may ask registered users for an optional account-level permission to reuse content they submit in Rate My Ditch marketing and promotion. The in-app explanation currently covers content such as ditch listings, reviews, ratings, photos, and videos where supported, and possible use on Rate My Ditch websites, social media, app-store pages, and similar promotional material.
Marketing permission is optional. Leaving it off does not limit normal use of the app. You can change the setting later in Marketing Permissions.
Turning the setting off withdraws permission for future marketing use. It does not automatically remove material that was already published or distributed while permission was active. If you want to ask about previously published material, contact us at the email address below.
Marketing permission is separate from whether content is Public or Friends only inside the app. We will not treat the existence of a Public ditch as a substitute for the optional marketing permission.
Signed-in users can receive in-app notifications for enabled events. If you separately enable push notifications and grant device permission, Rate My Ditch stores a Firebase Cloud Messaging registration token associated with your account so enabled notifications can also be delivered to that device when appropriate.
You can switch push delivery and individual notification categories on or off in the app. Disabling push notifications removes stored device tokens where the app can do so and requests deletion of the current device token from Firebase Messaging.
The current notification system is for app activity such as friend requests, accepted requests, and reviews on your ditches. The marketing-content permission described above is separate from notification settings.
Rate My Ditch includes in-app reporting and blocking features. Reports are currently reviewed manually.
We may use report information, relevant user-generated content, account activity, relationship information, and available app records to investigate safety, abuse, harassment, illegality, privacy issues, intellectual-property complaints, spam, manipulation, or other violations of our rules.
Possible moderation action may include hiding or removing content, deleting locations or reviews, restricting features, preserving information needed for an investigation, or suspending or removing accounts. We may retain limited moderation or report information where necessary for safety, security, legal claims, fraud or abuse prevention, dispute resolution, or app integrity.
Blocking is an account-level choice. It may prevent or reduce visibility of the blocked user's content for you and may end an existing friendship or pending friend-request relationship. Blocking a user does not necessarily remove that person or their content from Rate My Ditch for everyone else.
Users can also contact ratemyditch@gmail.com about content, safety, or moderation concerns.
Rate My Ditch relies on third-party providers to operate. Personal information may be processed by these providers for the stated purposes.
Used for registered and anonymous authentication, sign-in, account identity, reauthentication, and account deletion.
Used to store application data such as profiles, locations, reviews, favourites, privacy settings, friend requests, friendships, blocks, notifications, notification preferences, reports, and marketing-permission records.
Used to store uploaded ditch, review, and profile images. Access rules differ according to the type of content and privacy setting.
Used for server-side operations including account and content deletion, access-controlled content retrieval, notification handling, username operations, place-search requests, and other backend functions.
Used to register devices and deliver push notifications when a user opts into device push delivery.
Used to collect and process crash and diagnostic information so we can identify and fix stability problems.
Used for the hosted shared-link fallback page and associated web hosting required for Rate My Ditch ditch links.
Used to display maps and support map or place-search functionality. Google may receive technical request information and, for place searches, the search or place-identification information needed to return results.
If you choose to share a ditch through another app, that app or service receives the share text or link you selected. Those third parties act under their own privacy terms.
We may also disclose information where required by law, to respond to valid legal process, or where reasonably necessary to protect users, our rights, security, or the integrity of the service.
Users may upload images for ditches, reviews, and profiles. The app applies technical restrictions such as signed-in-user requirements, file-type controls, file-size limits, and Firebase Storage security rules.
When a ditch is made Friends only, the app includes backend handling intended to secure associated location media for the restricted visibility model. Users should nevertheless avoid uploading images containing sensitive personal information, private addresses, people who have not consented, or other material that should not be shared with the intended audience.
Uploaded images may be removed when the underlying content or account is deleted, subject to technical limitations and the retention exceptions described below.
Registered users can delete their account from within the app through Privacy Settings -> Delete Account. The deletion flow may require reauthentication, such as re-entering a password, so that the app can verify the account owner.
The deletion process uses Firebase Cloud Functions and Firebase Admin tools and is designed to remove account-linked data where possible, including:
· the Firebase Authentication account;
· the private user profile and public-profile mirror;
· usernames, display names, email data stored in the app database, and profile images;
· favourites;
· ditches created by the account and associated location images;
· reviews created by the account and associated review images;
· reviews and favourites linked to ditches that are deleted as part of account deletion;
· friendship, friend-request, blocking, and related social records where applicable;
· notification tokens and in-app notification records; and
· marketing-permission records and related consent-event records.
Where deleting a user's reviews affects ratings on ditches that remain, the app may recalculate remaining review counts and average ratings.
Some information may be retained, isolated, or preserved where necessary and permitted for legal obligations, safety, security, fraud prevention, abuse prevention, moderation, dispute resolution, protection of rights, or app integrity. For example, a report or moderation record may need to be retained even if some account-linked content is deleted.
If you no longer have access to the app, you can request deletion through the public Account Deletion Page or by emailing us. Where possible, use the email address linked to the account so we can verify the request. We will not ask you to send your password by email.
Public Account Deletion Page: https://sites.google.com/view/ratemyditch/rate-my-ditch-account-deletion-page
We do not use one fixed retention period for every category of information. We keep information only for as long as reasonably needed for the purpose for which it is processed, including operating the app, maintaining account and social features, providing content, honouring settings, handling support, investigating reports, securing the service, resolving disputes, and meeting legal obligations.
In general, account-linked content and settings may remain while your account is active unless you delete or change them. Notification records, tokens, reports, moderation records, and marketing-permission records may have different lifecycles because they serve different operational, security, or evidential purposes.
When data is deleted from Rate My Ditch, third-party providers may retain limited copies for backup, security, or service-operation periods under their own documented retention practices. Where a provider publishes service-specific retention information, that provider's current documentation applies to its processing.
Rate My Ditch is operated from the United Kingdom, but Google and Firebase services use international infrastructure. Personal information may therefore be processed outside the United Kingdom.
Google states that Firebase Authentication is operated from United States data centres and that many other Firebase services may process data on global Google infrastructure. Google's Firebase Data Processing and Security Terms provide mechanisms for restricted international transfers, including applicable data-transfer frameworks and contractual safeguards.
Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we rely on the safeguards made available through the relevant provider terms and applicable law. You can contact us if you want more information about the transfer safeguards relevant to Rate My Ditch.
We use authentication, Firestore and Storage security rules, server-side functions, access-control checks, and Google/Firebase security measures to reduce unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or loss.
Friends-only access is enforced through account and friendship permissions rather than by treating the shared URL as secret. A forwarded Friends-only link should not bypass those permissions.
No system can be guaranteed completely secure. Users should not use Rate My Ditch to store highly sensitive or confidential information and should protect their account credentials and devices.
If UK data-protection law applies to you, you may have rights including:
· the right to be informed about how your personal information is used;
· the right to request access to your personal information;
· the right to ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected;
· the right to request deletion of personal information in certain circumstances;
· the right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
· the right to object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;
· the right to data portability where the legal conditions apply; and
· the right to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent, without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.
These rights are not absolute and can depend on the lawful basis, the information involved, and applicable exemptions. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
To exercise a privacy right, contact ratemyditch@gmail.com and explain what you are asking us to do.
You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your personal information has been handled unlawfully. Information about making a complaint is available at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.
Where we rely on legitimate interests to process your personal information, you may have the right to object. Tell us what processing you object to and why. We will consider the request in accordance with applicable data-protection law.
Rate My Ditch is intended for users aged 18 or over and is not directed at children. The app includes user-generated content, location content, social features, and humour around outdoor locations.
If you believe a child has provided personal information through Rate My Ditch, contact ratemyditch@gmail.com.
Rate My Ditch does not currently use solely automated decision-making that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects on users. Access-control decisions such as whether a user can open Friends-only content are technical permission checks based on account, visibility, and friendship status rather than profiling intended to make significant decisions about a person.
Rate My Ditch is a humorous entertainment app. It does not recommend, encourage, or endorse sleeping in ditches, drinking outdoors, entering unsafe locations, trespassing, entering private or restricted land, accessing hazardous roadsides, waterways, construction sites, or dangerous terrain, or putting yourself or others at risk.
The app does not guarantee that a ditch or map location is safe, legal, accessible, accurate, current, or suitable to visit. Users are responsible for their own safety and for following local laws, signs, restrictions, and safety guidance.
Rate My Ditch currently does not include advertising, in-app purchases, or subscriptions. If monetisation, advertising technology, or materially different data uses are introduced later, this Privacy Policy and relevant app-store disclosures will be updated where required.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the app, our practices, third-party services, or legal requirements.
If we make a significant change, we may provide notice in the app or by another appropriate method. The latest version will be made available through the app or the public Rate My Ditch support site, with an updated effective date.
For privacy questions, data-protection requests, content reports, safety concerns, account-deletion questions, or support requests, contact:
ratemyditch@gmail.com
Rate My Ditch is operated by Alexander Ottolangui under the app studio name Rate My Fav Apps.