Effective Date: December 27, 2025
Distilled Spirits Lab (“we,” “our,” or “us”), created by Distillery University, is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application (the “App”).
By using the App, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
1. Information We Collect
A. Personal Information & Authentication
To create an account and sync your data across devices, we collect the following:
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Email & Password Authentication: If you sign up via email, we collect your full name and email address. Passwords are securely hashed (using bcrypt) before storage and are never stored in plain text.
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Apple Sign-In (iOS): If you choose to sign in with Apple, we receive your unique Apple ID identifier and full name. You may choose to hide your email address via Apple’s privacy features.
B. Sensory & Evaluation Data (User-Generated Content)
The core function of the App is to record sensory evaluations using the “Buckley Method.” We store the following data you generate:
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Spirit Metadata: Spirit name, type, and bottle label photos.
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Sensory Metrics: Numerical scores for clarity, color, character, depth, bouquet, and brightness.
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Buckley Quality Scores: Specific ratings for the 9 flavor qualities (Fruity, Cereal, Winey, Woody, Alcohol, Sulphury, Feinty, Peaty, Floral).
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Notes & Summaries: Personal tasting notes and AI-generated distiller’s summaries.
C. Device Permissions
The App requires access to specific features on your device to function:
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Camera: Used to take photographs of spirit bottle labels to attach to your evaluations.
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Photo Library: Used to save bottle photos or export your “Spirit Cards” and “Passport” gallery images.
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Microphone: Used solely to record voice notes during tastings. Audio data is temporarily processed for transcription and is not permanently stored as an audio file.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the collected data for the following purposes:
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Service Provision: To store your “Passport” of past evaluations in our cloud database (hosted on Replit/Neon) so you can access them from any device.
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AI Features: To provide AI-enhanced features, such as transcribing voice notes and generating professional tasting summaries from your raw scoring data.
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Analytics & Improvement: To analyze usage trends and improve the “Buckley Method” evaluation system.
3. Data Sharing and Third Parties
We do not sell your personal data. We share information with third-party service providers solely to operate the App’s features:
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OpenAI API: We transmit text and temporary audio data to OpenAI to generate tasting summaries and transcribe voice notes.
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Google Gemini API: We may use Google Gemini as an alternative provider for AI text generation services.
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Replit (Neon PostgreSQL): All user account and evaluation data is securely hosted and stored using Replit’s database infrastructure.
4. Data Retention and Deletion
We retain your account data and evaluation history for as long as your account is active.
Your Rights: You may request the deletion of your account and all associated data at any time. To request deletion, please use the “Delete Account” option in the App settings or contact us at [Insert Support Email Address]. Upon request, all personal data will be permanently removed from our active databases within 30 days.
5. Age Restriction (Alcohol-Related Content)
This App is intended for use by adults of legal drinking age in their country of residence (e.g., 21+ in the United States). We do not knowingly collect data from individuals under the legal drinking age. If we become aware that we have collected data from a minor, we will delete it immediately.
6. Changes to This Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top.
7. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
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By email: info@distilleryuniversity.com
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By visiting our website: distilleryuniversity.com