BBQ Notebook by Holy Smokes BBQ Co · Last updated October 14, 2026
BBQ Notebook is made by Holy Smokes BBQ Co ("we"). This policy explains what data the app handles, why, and the choices you have. It applies to the BBQ Notebook app (Android), the web version at holysmokesbbqco.com/notebook/, and the pages of holysmokesbbqco.com.
Your account (only if you sign in). Name, email address, and profile photo from your Google account, or the email you sign up with, plus a friend code the app generates. We use these to run your account, sync your cooks and recipes between devices, and let friends you approve see what you choose to share. Legal basis: performing our agreement with you (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).
Your content. Your cook logs (meat, rub, wood, temperatures, times, pit readings, notes, ratings, photos) and recipes. Photos you attach stay with your content on your device; when cloud sync is available they are stored in Google Firebase Storage. Everything else syncs to Google Firestore. Cooks and recipes are private unless you mark them shared, and shared items are visible only to friends you have approved. Legal basis: performing our agreement with you.
Weather at your location (only if you allow it). When you log a cook, the app can fetch current weather from the US National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) using your location rounded to about a mile, and saves the weather values (temperature, wind, humidity) with your cook. Your coordinates themselves are not stored on our servers. Legal basis: performing the lookup you asked for.
Usage analytics (only with your consent). With your permission we use Google Analytics and Firebase Analytics to see which features get used. In the app, this is off until you say yes and you can change your mind any time in Settings. On the website version, visitors in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland are asked before analytics runs; elsewhere on the website it runs by default. Analytics is not linked to your account, name, or email. Google Analytics also records standard device and browser information, including an approximate location estimated from your IP address. Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)).
Crash reports. The Android app sends crash logs and basic diagnostics through Firebase Crashlytics so we can fix failures. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in keeping the app working (Art. 6(1)(f)). You can object using the contact below.
We do not sell your data. We do not run ads. We do not share your cooks or recipes with anyone except friends you approve, and only when you mark them shared.
Google (Firebase: sign-in, database, photo storage, analytics, crash reports) and Netlify (website hosting). The US National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) receives only your rounded coordinates for the weather lookup you request, under its own privacy policy. Fonts are served from our own site; no font provider receives anything.
Our servers are in the United States. If you use the app from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, your data is transferred to the US. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and standard contractual clauses apply where required.
Account data, cooks, recipes, and photos: until you delete them or your account. Analytics data: up to 14 months. Crash logs: per Firebase Crashlytics retention (90 days). Data on your own device stays until you delete the app or clear its data.
Wherever you live, you can ask us for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, restrict or object to processing, take your data elsewhere, and withdraw consent at any time. To withdraw analytics consent on the website, use the "Analytics choices" link in the page footer; in the app, use the analytics setting in Settings. Our website does not respond to Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control browser signals; those two controls are how you turn analytics off here. Email datadelete@holysmokesbbqco.com and we will respond within a month. Deleting individual cooks or recipes in the app removes them and their photos from our servers immediately; full account deletion is described at our account deletion page and completed within 7 days. If you are in the EEA or UK you can also complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO).
BBQ Notebook is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date above.