Cola Compass — Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 30, 2026
Cola Compass is a community app for tracking which restaurants, bars, and theaters serve Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or other beverages, based on user reports. This policy explains what data the app handles, how, and your choices.
Who runs Cola Compass
Cola Compass is published by Engeforge LLC. It is not affiliated with, authorized, endorsed by, or sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo, Inc.
Data we collect
Location. With your permission, the app uses your device's location to show venues near you and to let you submit reports about them. Location is used in the moment and is not sent to our servers as a personal record. When you submit a report, the app records whether you were within your configured search radius of the venue at submit time (a single true/false flag, not your actual coordinates), so the community can later weight reports by whether the contributor was nearby. The flag is attached to the report, not your account.
Reports you submit. When you submit a report about a venue, the app stores the brand and specific product you selected, your optional note, the venue's name and coordinates, a timestamp, and (if you've set one) the contributor handle described below. Reports are visible to every other user — that is the point of the app.
Votes on reports. When you upvote or downvote another contributor's report, your vote is recorded with the report it applies to. Votes are visible to other users in aggregate (an upvote / downvote count per report) but the list of which users voted on which reports isn't exposed; the community sees totals.
Optional contributor handle. If you choose to set a display name via More → Manage your data → Display name, the handle you pick is stored alongside your iCloud user identifier so the app can show it next to your reports. Choosing a handle is optional — reports without a handle display as anonymous. You can change or clear your handle at any time from the same screen.
Your iCloud user identifier. Cola Compass uses Apple's CloudKit to store community reports. Every record CloudKit saves is automatically stamped with your iCloud user identifier so the app can attribute reports, support flagging and blocking, count your contributions, and let you delete your own reports later. Your name, email, and Apple ID are never exposed to other users or to us; we only see the identifier.
Blocked contributors. A list of contributor identifiers you've blocked is stored locally on your device only. It never leaves your device.
Your beverage preferences. Your "What I drink" multi-select (the set of soda variants you're interested in seeing) is stored locally on your device only. It never leaves your device.
We do not collect: your name, email, contacts, photos, advertising identifier, analytics, or any data for tracking across apps or websites.
How we use it
- To show nearby venues on the map and let you find places by name and brand.
- To save and display the reports you and others submit.
- To allow the community to vote on reports so reliable observations surface more prominently in the consensus shown on each venue.
- To attribute reports to a handle when you've chosen one, while preserving the option to remain anonymous.
- To enforce the community guidelines (flag/hide objectionable content, allow you to block contributors, allow you to delete your reports, apply a daily vote cap to discourage brigading, surface a soft confirmation prompt when you submit a report far from your current location).
We do not sell or share your data with third parties for advertising or analytics.
Where it lives
Reports, votes, and contributor handles live in Apple's CloudKit public database, hosted by Apple. Cola Compass does not run any other servers. Apple's terms and privacy practices apply to CloudKit data; see apple.com/legal/privacy. Your blocked-contributors list and beverage preferences are stored locally in your device's preferences and are never uploaded.
Children
Cola Compass is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13 (or under 16 where required by local law). The app is rated 12+ in the App Store.
Your choices
- Delete your reports. Open More → Manage your data → Delete my reports to remove every report you've submitted. This is irreversible.
- Change or clear your handle. More → Manage your data → Display name lets you set, change, or clear the optional contributor handle.
- Stop sharing location. Revoke location permission in iOS Settings → Cola Compass.
- Unblock contributors. Open More → Unblock all to clear your local block list.
- Adjust your beverage preferences. More → Preferences → What I drink lets you set or clear the variants used to filter Nearby and Search.
- Request other data actions. Email the address below.
Security
Data is stored in Apple's CloudKit infrastructure. The community guidelines allow any contributor to update aggregate fields (like a venue's consensus brand and a report's flag count) so the app can self-moderate; that means anyone using the app could modify those fields. Don't put sensitive personal information in report notes.
Changes
If we change this policy in a meaningful way, we'll update the effective date at the top. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance.
Contact
Email: [email protected]