Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 13, 2026

Zap Cooking LLC ("Zap Cooking," "we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy and is committed to transparency about how information is handled when you use our website, mobile applications, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

Zap Cooking is built on decentralized technology and is designed to minimize the collection and retention of personal data. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide or Publish

Zap Cooking does not require or collect email addresses, real names, phone numbers, or traditional account credentials for general use of the Service.

Users interact with the Service using decentralized identifiers and cryptographic key pairs provided by the Nostr protocol. Any content you choose to publish — including recipes, comments, images, profile information, marketplace listings, and product descriptions — is user-generated and controlled by you.

Zap Cooking does not collect or retain this content on centralized servers operated by us. Content is transmitted between the user's device and decentralized Nostr relays, which may include relays operated by Zap Cooking and relays operated by independent third parties.

If you contact us directly (for example, via email to support@zap.cooking), we may receive and retain your email address, name, and the content of your communication for the purpose of responding to your inquiry.

1.2 Payment Information

If you purchase a membership, boost, sponsorship, promoted listing, or other paid feature, your payment is processed by a third-party payment provider. Currently, we use:

  • Stripe for credit card and subscription billing
  • Lightning payment services for Bitcoin/Lightning transactions

Zap Cooking does not directly collect or store your full credit card number, bank account number, or wallet private keys. Stripe may collect billing information, including your name, email address, card details, and billing address, in accordance with Stripe's own privacy policy. Lightning payments are processed through third-party wallets and payment infrastructure that Zap Cooking does not control.

We may receive limited transaction-related information from payment providers, such as confirmation of payment, transaction identifiers, payment method type, billing country, and subscription status, as necessary to confirm payment, fulfill features, maintain records, prevent fraud, and operate the Service.

1.3 Marketplace Activity

If you use The Market to create listings or communicate with other users about potential transactions, the following applies:

  • Listings are published via the Nostr protocol and are publicly accessible on decentralized relays. Listing content (product descriptions, images, pricing) is user-generated and is not stored on centralized servers operated by Zap Cooking.
  • Messaging between buyers and sellers uses Nostr direct messages, which are encrypted and routed through Nostr relays. Zap Cooking does not read, store, or have access to the content of your direct messages.
  • Payments between users are conducted directly between parties using third-party wallets and payment tools. Zap Cooking does not process, hold, or have visibility into user-to-user payments.

If you are required to provide documentation to Zap Cooking in connection with marketplace participation (such as identification, permits, or compliance documentation as described in our Terms of Service), we will retain that documentation only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

1.4 Technical and Analytics Information

Zap Cooking uses Cloudflare for hosting, content delivery, and analytics.

Cloudflare may process limited technical information in connection with delivering the Service, including IP addresses, browser type, device type, pages visited, referring URLs, and approximate geographic location. This information is used in aggregate for performance monitoring, security, and analytics purposes.

Zap Cooking does not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party advertising networks. We do not build user profiles for targeted advertising.

Cloudflare may set limited technical cookies necessary for security and performance (such as bot detection and DDoS protection). For more information, see Cloudflare's privacy policy.

1.5 Local Storage

The Service may use local storage on your device (such as browser local storage or application state) to maintain session preferences, theme settings, relay configurations, wallet connection state, and other user preferences. This data is stored locally on your device and is not transmitted to Zap Cooking servers.

2. How We Use Information

Information is used only to:

  • Provide, operate, and maintain the Service
  • Process payments and fulfill paid features, memberships, sponsorships, and promoted listings
  • Enable community interaction, content sharing, and marketplace features
  • Maintain performance, reliability, security, and fraud prevention
  • Respond to user inquiries and support requests
  • Enforce our Terms of Service and other policies
  • Comply with applicable legal obligations
  • Improve the Service based on aggregated, non-identifying usage data

Zap Cooking does not sell personal data. We do not use personal data for targeted advertising, behavioral profiling, or user tracking across third-party websites or services.

3. Decentralized Data and Public Content

Zap Cooking leverages the Nostr protocol, which means:

  • Content you choose to publish — including recipes, comments, profile information, and marketplace listings — may be publicly accessible on decentralized relays operated by Zap Cooking and by independent third parties.
  • Once published to decentralized infrastructure, content may be copied, cached, indexed, archived, or retained by third-party relays, clients, search engines, and other systems beyond Zap Cooking's control. Complete deletion may not be possible.
  • Marketplace listings are inherently public and commercial in nature. Product descriptions, images, and pricing published via the Nostr protocol may be indexed or cached by third-party services.
  • Zap Cooking does not control third-party relays or their data retention, moderation, or privacy practices.

You are responsible for managing your cryptographic keys and for the content you choose to make public.

4. Community-Managed Relays

Zap Cooking operates certain community-managed relays, including:

  • The Garden (garden.zap.cooking) — a community relay for the broader zap.cooking community
  • The Pantry (pantry.zap.cooking) — a NIP-29 group relay for public group chats

Content published to these relays is transmitted by users and stored on relay infrastructure operated or supported by Zap Cooking. This content is generally public (or group-public in the case of NIP-29 groups) and is subject to community moderation.

Zap Cooking may access, review, moderate, preserve, or remove content on relays we operate where necessary to enforce our Terms of Service, respond to reports, address safety or legal concerns, or comply with applicable law.

For relays we do not operate, we have no ability to access, moderate, or remove content.

5. Sharing of Information

Zap Cooking does not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties.

We may share limited information in the following circumstances:

  • Service providers. We use third-party service providers to operate the Service, including Cloudflare (hosting, CDN, analytics) and Stripe (payment processing). These providers receive only the information necessary to perform their services and are subject to their own privacy policies and contractual obligations.
  • Legal compliance. We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of Zap Cooking, our users, or the public.
  • Safety and enforcement. We may share information with law enforcement, regulators, or other third parties where we believe it is necessary to address fraud, abuse, safety concerns, child safety concerns, or violations of our Terms of Service.
  • Business transfers. If Zap Cooking is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice if your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

6. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the Service and the limited information we process. These measures include encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls, and security features provided by our infrastructure providers.

However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Decentralized systems rely on user-controlled cryptographic keys, and the security of your identity and content ultimately depends on how you manage your keys, devices, and wallet credentials.

7. Data Retention

Zap Cooking does not retain user-generated content on centralized servers operated by us. Content published through the Nostr protocol is stored on decentralized relays and may persist on those relays even if you stop using the Service.

For content on relays we operate (The Garden, The Pantry), we retain content in accordance with our relay operations and moderation practices. We may remove content from our relays, but we cannot remove content from third-party relays.

Payment-related records (transaction confirmations, subscription status, billing metadata) are retained for as long as reasonably necessary for accounting, fraud prevention, legal compliance, and dispute resolution purposes.

Support communications are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the inquiry and for our records.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is available to users aged 13 and older. The Market (marketplace features) is restricted to users aged 18 and older. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If we become aware that a user under 13 has accessed the Service, we will take reasonable steps to restrict that user's access to Zap Cooking-operated components and delete any personal information we may have inadvertently collected.

If you believe a child under 13 has used the Service, please contact us at support@zap.cooking.

9. Third-Party Wallets and Payment Services

The Service may integrate with or reference third-party wallet providers (such as Spark by Breez) and payment infrastructure for Bitcoin and Lightning transactions. Zap Cooking does not operate, control, or take responsibility for any third-party wallet or payment service.

Your use of any third-party wallet or payment service is governed by that provider's own terms of service and privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any wallet or payment provider you use.

Zap Cooking does not have access to your wallet private keys, seed phrases, or the content of your Lightning or Bitcoin transactions conducted through third-party tools.

10. Sponsored Placements and Boosted Content

Zap Cooking may offer paid partnerships, sponsored placements, featured listings, boosted recipes, promoted marketplace listings, and other promotional features within the Service.

These features allow creators, brands, sellers, and other participants to pay for increased visibility within Zap Cooking-operated components.

Zap Cooking does not use personal data for targeted advertising or user profiling in connection with these features. Sponsored and promoted placements are based on purchased placement, timing, platform design, content category, and other non-personal factors.

If a payment is made for a promotional feature, Zap Cooking may process limited transaction-related information necessary to confirm payment, fulfill placement, maintain records, prevent abuse, resolve disputes, and support operation of the Service.

Promotional content will be labeled with clear disclosure language such as "Promoted," "Boosted," "Sponsored," or similar wording.

Zap Cooking does not provide sponsors or advertisers with users' personal information.

11. International Use

The Service is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you do so at your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. By using the Service, you acknowledge that information may be processed and stored in the United States and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate.

We do not currently offer specific mechanisms for data subject access requests under non-U.S. privacy laws (such as GDPR), but we are committed to handling privacy inquiries in good faith. If you have a privacy-related request, contact us at support@zap.cooking.

12. Your Choices

  • Content. You control what content you publish through the Service. Once published to decentralized relays, complete deletion may not be possible.
  • Local storage. You can clear local storage and cookies through your browser or device settings.
  • Wallet connections. You can disconnect or change wallet providers at any time.
  • Memberships. You can cancel paid memberships through the account settings we provide.
  • Communications. If you contact us via email, you can request deletion of your support communications.
  • Relay connections. You can choose which relays to connect to through your Nostr client settings.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated policy and revise the "Last updated" date. We may also provide notice through the Service or by other reasonable electronic means.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

14. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or Zap Cooking's privacy practices, contact us at: