Who we are
Local Fats is a repository of geolocations and contact details for restaurants using natural cooking oils (instead of seed oils or GMO cultured oil) worldwide.
The website address is: https://localfats.com
The contact form is located here: https://localfats.com/contact
The email address is: info@getrawmilk.com
TLDR
Data collection occurs on this website for search functionality, website analytics, listing submissions, update submissions, contact forms, and the mailing list. Local Fats does not share your information with advertisers or data brokers.
If you use the Search, the search query is collected. If you use the Near Me features, and your device location permissions are granted, your device location is collected. These features are used to select a location, then filter and display listings based on that location.
Definitions
Collecting data: Transferring data from your device to Local Fats servers, or anywhere else, counts as a “collection” of data. Collection is any time data, or any information you input into the website, is interacted with or received.
Sharing data: Sending data to a third-party.
The website: This website, the website: LocalFats.com.
Website or mobile app visitors and users: You.
Cookies: Strings of text stored in your browser by websites for later identification and use.
Listing: Database record containing information. On this website, listings are restaurants, eateries, bakeries, suppliers, and more.
IP Address: When you request a URL, the website server needs an address to respond with that information. Usually, your IP Address is an unchanging string of numbers determined by your internet provider and dedicated to your home or business address. If you are accessing websites through a virtual private network (VPN), your IP Address is hidden from those websites under normal circumstances.
Data we collect, how, and why we collect it
Introduction
Apart from experience and hunches, I seek to run this project in a data-driven way. Understanding how visitors use a website can hint towards work that needs to be done to improve the website’s performance and experience.
The standard third-party analytics provider is Google Analytics (GA). Google Analytics collects a lot of data that isn’t necessary, and the tooling does not give me the ability to moderate what Google collects and stores. It’s very simple to use, but it’s all or nothing.
Protecting your data as a website provider starts at the baseline of simply not collecting or storing data. If collecting, storing, or sharing data is useful and aligned with the project, I should do so with purpose and care. Some data is required for website functionality, like searching the map, while other data is useful for analyzing website traffic and usage.
How we protect your data
The primary method of tracking website usage is Plausible Analytics.
Plausible: GDPR, CCPA and cookie law compliant site analytics
Even though the purpose of Plausible Analytics is to track the usage of a website, this can still be done without collecting any personal data or personally identifiable information (PII), without using cookies and while respecting the privacy of the website visitors.
Here’s a closer look at our data policy, the information that we do collect, what we use it for and steps we’ve taken to comply with the cookie law and the privacy regulations such as the GDPR, CCPA and PECR.
To collect website usage data, Plausible Analytics needs to assign an identifier that follows the visitor and tracks which actions they are taking. With non privacy respecting analytics, your IP address is logged as-is and assigned to your flow of interactions, page views, etc.
With Plausible Analytics, your IP address is immediately turned into a “hash” with a daily rotating “salt.” A hash is your IP Address, or any other string of text, jumbled into a much longer string of encrypted text. A salt is a second key created to encrypt that text. A daily rotating salt means that day by day, the second key to your encrypted IP Address is destroyed.
This encryption method makes it unrealistically expensive to reverse engineer the identifier assigned to your website interactions the next day. Connecting your interactions with your IP Address a day later becomes virtually impossible. This architecture is just one way that Plausible protects your privacy.
What data is Plausible Analytics tracking?
Plausible Analytics tracks the amount of unique visitors and total visits per day, page views, visitor locations (broad, limited to the country, state, and city levels), visit durations, and other website usage metrics. You can read more about Plausible Analytics on their website.
Conversion Event Tracking
One custom feature I’ve employed with Plausible Analytics is event tracking. On any listing’s details page, you’ll see the information that’s been submitted to the map.
When you press on details such as their website, email address, phone number, and social media accounts you expect the website to route you to their website, start an email thread, call their phone number, or visit their social media account. This action tells me that you have found a farm, and that you are interested in learning more about them. This is my success. This is the only metric that matters.
One million people could visit the website in one day and that day could matter very little in the greater scheme of things. Most likely, that’s a good day for natural cooking oils, but I’m not concerned with getting a lot of attention. The objective here is to connect farmers and consumers.
If you are checking out a farm or retailer’s Instagram account, because you found them on LocalFats.com – my job was a success. Conversion tracking helps me put numbers to that success and feel real good about it.
Website Functionality
Here’s how data is collected to create the functionality of LocalFats.com.
Searching for restaurants
When you type a search query into the search for restaurants box, on the home page or elsewhere, that information is sent to the Local Fats server to request listings near your search query. These nearest listings are then presented on a map, or in a list, so that you can identify where to find restaurants nearest that search query (capped at 200 miles).
How does the search function work?
Farm and retail listings are stored with GPS coordinates. These coordinates are used to set a pin on the map and filter for proximity using another set of GPS coordinates.
When you put “Seattle, WA” into the search bar, the query “Seattle, WA” is collected by the website and sent to Local Fats servers. Once the query is received by LF servers, it is sent to Google Maps where it is converted into a set of GPS coordinates to compare with the database listings.
Since this communication with Google is done by the server, your IP Address is never seen by Google. In this process, Google only knows Local Fats is asking where “Seattle, WA” is positioned on the globe. In this case, the answer is [47.60357, -122.32945] (latitude, longitude of Seattle City Hall) and those coordinates are sent back to Local Fats servers.
Once the LF servers receive that set of coordinates, the server sends them to the database to gather all listings within a defined number of miles. Search and Near Me both search 25 miles. If the number of listings found is fewer than two, the server will search 100 miles, then 200 miles.
Using device location to find restaurants near you
The Near Me or similarly named buttons and links use your device’s location to search the database for restaurants near you. This is the fastest and easiest way to find restaurants by their cooking oil on the Internet.
Find Restaurants Near You works just like the Search function, except we don’t have to ask Google for coordinates. Instead, the GPS coordinates are generated by your device. If precise location is enabled, these coordinates will be your exact location. If the location is not precise, your device will generate coordinates based on its own calculations away from your exact location.
When you press the Near Me feature, LocalFats.com will ask your device for its location. If this is the first time LocalFats.com has asked for your device’s location, modern browsers may confirm that you grant permission to share your location with LocalFats.com based on your settings.
If you do not want to share your device location with this website, you can deny this permission. Since it’s not possible to select database listings without a set of coordinates, you will be routed to the Global Restaurant Directory so that you can browse countries, states, and cities for restaurants without sharing your location. Alternatively, you can view the Global Restaurant Map.
New Listing Forms
The forms to add a restaurant listing to the map and add a supplier to the map collect all information placed into the form and sends it to Local Fats. So long as I can verify or reasonably assume that the listing is legit, that information is then stored in the Listing database.
When you submit a new listing on LocalFats.com, you waive the rights to this information and are granting Local Fats the right to keep and use that information. You submit this information so that I can make it available to the public freely. My commitment to our community is simple: finding restaurants and listing restaurants will always be free and available to anyone with an internet connection.
Update Listing Form
Repeat what was stated about the New Listing Form. By using the form, that information is collected and will likely be stored. You waive the rights to this information and are granting Local Fats the right to keep and use that information.
Contact Form
When you use the contact form, all information placed in the contact form is collected and sent to Local Fats servers then emailed to LF “staff” for reading. You waive the rights to this information and grant me the right to share this information. If you need anonymity or confidence, just ask.
Newsletter Subscription
When you submit your information to sign up to the mailing list, your information is collected and stored to remember your subscription. None of this information is shared with advertisers. If I ever share the mailing list, the sharing will be aligned with the mission of this project.
Comments
There are no comments on LocalFats.com. Because I have made LF a free (free-to-find, free-to-list) and frictionless (without ads or anti-features to increase tips/ revenue) web service, I do not have the time or resources to moderate user-generated content and accounts (ie You).
Cookies
I love cookies, but this website uses none.
Payment Processing with the Tip Jar
You might notice there aren’t any ads on this website, yet websites cost money. In fact, this website costs a bit more than your average website. Instead of inserting a bunch of ads onto the website and worsening the experience, I cover the website costs and provide a method for website visitors to leave a tip.
Payments are handled securely using Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Square. Apple, Google, and Square might be tracking you on the Tip Jar page.
My general understanding is that this tracking is used to approximate your location and prevent your payment method from being used in geographic locations that you are unlikely to be located in at the time. Imagine you live in San Diego, aren’t currently traveling, and someone uses your credit card in India to tip me millions of dollars through the website. Theoretically, these protections should deprive me of your millions. Theoretically, this is a good thing.
As far as I know… Apple does not sell your data to advertisers, while Google and Square definitely do. For a full explanation of what any of these companies are doing with your data, please visit their respective websites and policies.
Embedded content from other websites
This is similar to the payment processing. Embedding a credit card form is the same as embedding a YouTube video, and the embedded website can try their best to track what they can.
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
As of April 2023, Local Fats website usage data has been shared with nobody. I’m not interested in sharing your data with advertisers or data brokers. If I stumble upon a good reason to share this data, the privacy policy page will be updated.
How long we retain your data
All data stored should be assumed to be retained indefinitely.
What rights you have over your data
I have no way to determine that any piece of data is yours. Therefore, I cannot provide you a copy or delete your data.
Contact information
Use the contact form or email info@getrawmilk.com.
Additional information
Local Fats is not affiliated with any particular farm or farming enterprise unless otherwise stated with context.
I reserve the right to update this policy without notice.
Anyways, support the Electronic Frontier Foundation‘s work to promote data privacy legislation.