Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Wine Underdogs collects, how we use it, and the choices you have. This site is intended for adults of legal drinking age (21+).

What we collect

• Email address — when you join the newsletter or join the Pack.
• Newsletter preferences & engagement — taste-quiz answers and opens/clicks, used to personalize what we send you.
• Usage data — basic, mostly-anonymous analytics about how the site is used.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive information, and the site is intended for adults 21+.

How we use it

• To send the newsletter and any resources you request.
• To personalize content and recommendations.
• To understand and improve the site.

We do not sell your personal information.

Third parties

We rely on a few trusted services, each governed by its own policy:

• beehiiv — newsletter delivery.
• Vercel — hosting.
• Groq — reads a wine-list or label picture the phone can’t, and names a grape from text the app can’t place on its own.
• Upstash — stores the app’s anonymous “did it replace it?” answers.
• Analytics — measuring traffic.
• Affiliate partners — the Impact network and partners such as Naked Wines, Firstleaf, Wine.com, Coravin, and Viator, which may set attribution cookies and are governed by their own policies.

The Wine Underdogs app

The app is built so that most of what you do in it stays on your phone. Here is everything it handles, and where each piece goes.

• Camera and photos: when you scan a label or a wine list, the app reads the text on your phone. The app opens your photo library only when you choose a picture from it, and reads your clipboard only when you tap to paste a picture.
• A wine-list or label photo it can’t read on the phone: if the phone can’t read a picture of a wine list or a bottle label that you took, chose or pasted, the app sends that one picture to our site, which asks an AI service, Groq, to write out its words as text. Neither we nor the app keep the picture; only the text comes back to your phone.
• Text it can’t place: if a few lines from a label or list don’t match a wine the app knows, it may send that text to our site, which asks Groq to name the grape. We don’t keep the text, and the answer comes straight back to your phone.
• Your taste answers, cellar and notes: saved on your phone only. Deleting the app deletes them.
• “Did it replace it?” answers: when you tell the app whether an underdog replaced a famous wine, it sends that answer with a random ID made on your phone, so we can count answers without counting anyone twice. The ID isn’t tied to your name, your email or your Apple account.
• Joining the Pack: if you choose to sign up in the app, your email and taste answers go to beehiiv, exactly as they do on the site.
• Reminders: the daily reminder is scheduled on your phone. We don’t receive a push token.

The app has no advertising, no analytics tools, and no tracking across other apps or websites. It is for adults 21 and over.

Cookies

We use cookies for analytics and affiliate attribution. You can control or clear cookies through your browser settings.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe anytime using the link in any newsletter.
• Access or delete your data — email hello@wineunderdogs.com. We honor GDPR/CCPA rights where applicable.

Children

This site is not directed to anyone under the legal drinking age, or to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time; when we do, we’ll change the “last updated” date above.

Contact

Questions? Email hello@wineunderdogs.com.