Istanbrew has no accounts and never asks for your name. This page covers the little we do collect, and why.
Who we are
Istanbrew (istanbrew.com) is a guide to speciality coffee in Istanbul, run by Filter. For personal data collected through this site, Filter is the data controller.
If you have a question about your data, email [email protected].
What we collect
There are no accounts, forms or newsletters on this site, so we never collect your name, email address or payment details unless you email us.
- Technical data: your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you request. Our hosting and content services receive this with every request, because the site can’t be delivered without it.
- Usage data: which pages you view and what you tap or click (for example opening a shop, changing a filter or asking for directions), your screen layout, language and theme, and a rough idea of your location based on your IP address. This comes from Google Analytics.
- Emails you send us, and whatever you choose to put in them.
Your location
If you tap “Show my location” and allow it in your browser, your device’s location is used in your browser to centre the map and sort shops by distance.
Your coordinates never leave your device. We don’t send them to our servers or store them, and analytics only records whether you allowed location and whether you’re in the city, not where you are. You can turn location off at any time in your browser settings.
Why we use it
- To run the site and keep it secure: delivering pages, maps and photos, and protecting the service from abuse. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing a working website.
- To understand how the guide is used, so we can decide what to improve and which shops and neighbourhoods to cover next. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in improving the site. We look at totals and trends, not at individual visitors.
- To reply to you when you email us.
We don’t sell your data, use it for advertising, or build profiles of individual visitors.
Who we share it with
We use a few services to run the site. Each one handles data on our behalf, under its own privacy terms:
- Cloudflare hosts the site and delivers it to your browser.
- Our content API (api.filter.coffee) serves the shop, roaster and guide information.
- Mapbox provides the maps. Your browser loads map tiles and images directly from Mapbox.
- Google provides Google Analytics.
Some of these providers process data outside the UK, the EU and Turkey, including in the United States. Where they do, they rely on recognised safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.
When you follow a link to a shop’s website, Instagram or a maps app, that site’s own privacy policy applies.
We may also disclose data if the law requires us to.
How long we keep it
- Google Analytics data is kept for 14 months, then deleted automatically.
- Hosting and security logs are kept by our providers for their standard periods, usually a few days to a few weeks.
- Emails are kept for as long as we need them to deal with your message.
- Settings stored in your browser stay there until you clear them.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, data protection law (including the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR and Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, KVKK) gives you the right to:
- ask what personal data we hold about you and get a copy
- have it corrected or deleted
- object to or restrict how we use it
- withdraw consent, where we rely on it
- complain to a data protection authority
To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. We’ll reply within one month. Because we don’t hold names or accounts, we may need your help to find data linked to you, for example the approximate date and time of your visit.
In the UK you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk), and in Turkey to the Personal Data Protection Authority (kvkk.gov.tr). We’d appreciate the chance to put things right first.
Children
Istanbrew is a general audience guide. It isn’t aimed at children, and we don’t knowingly collect data from anyone under 13.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle data, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant, we’ll say so on the site.