TipAfter Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 18, 2026

TipAfter (tipafter.com) is run by Tip After LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (“TipAfter,” “we,” “us”), 5226 Alum Spring Rd, Pulaski, VA 24301. This policy explains what information the TipAfter app and website collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

The short version

Accounts are optional. You can browse the restaurant directory and place an order without an account. If you create one, we keep your email, name, optional phone number, a scrambled (hashed) version of your password, and your order history.

To place an order, the restaurant needs your name and phone number. We store each order on our servers so the restaurant can prepare it and you can check its status. Your name, phone number, and any note are encrypted before they are stored.

We never see or store your card number. Card payments are handled by Stripe. Card details go straight from your device to Stripe.

You choose the tip after pickup or delivery, and a tip is only charged if you tap one. 100% of tips go to staff.

Emails are opt-in only. Local deals emails, waitlist launch news, and “this restaurant now takes orders” notices are each sent only if you tick the box for them. Restaurants never receive your email or any other customer list. Every marketing email has a one-click unsubscribe link.

The Top Tippers board is opt-in. If you turn it on, only your nickname and a whole-number tip percent are shown.

We use a few cookies to keep you signed in. We do not use advertising cookies, analytics tools, or tracking pixels, and we do not sell your information.

Right now, tipafter.com runs in demo mode. No real money moves. Some features in this policy are available only in test versions of the site, as noted below.

Demo mode and test versions

Today, tipafter.com is a working prototype in demo mode. Orders, payments, refunds, and tips on the site are simulated. Demo mode makes no real charges, collects no card details, and makes no calls to Stripe. Some test versions of the app use Stripe’s test mode with test cards, which also involves no real money.

Customer accounts, the Top Tippers board, the waitlist, and the free restaurant directory are available on tipafter.com. Some other features described here (stored order records and local deals) are available first in test (preview) versions of the site. Test versions store real information you type in (for example, your name and email) even though no real money moves. This policy covers both, so it stays accurate as these features reach tipafter.com.

Information we collect

1. If you create a customer account (diners)

What you give us: your email address, your name, a password, and, if you choose, a 10-digit phone number. We use your saved name and phone to fill in the order form for you.

How we store it: your email, name, and phone are encrypted (AES-256-GCM) before they are stored. Your password is never stored as typed. We keep only a one-way hash of it (scrypt). We also keep the date the account was created and updated.

Order history: we keep a list of the orders you placed while signed in, so you can see them on your account page.

Sign-in protection: we count failed sign-in attempts to block password guessing. After too many failures, sign-in is paused for 15 minutes.

Closing your account: there is not yet a button to delete your account. Email hello@tipafter.com with the subject “Privacy request” and we will delete it.

2. When you order food (customers)

Order details: the restaurant, the menu items and quantities, pickup or delivery, the order status and its timestamps, prices, fees, and tax.

Your contact details for the order: your name and phone number (required, so the restaurant can call your name and reach you about the order) and an optional note for the restaurant (up to 200 characters).

Your tip choice: the tip amount, or that you chose Skip or Tip later.

Private kitchen notes: if you choose “Private note for kitchen,” the text you type (up to 280 characters). Only that restaurant sees it, and it is never shown publicly.

We do not ask for a delivery address in the current version.

Where order details live: in test versions with live ordering, each order is stored as a record on our servers, in private storage that is not reachable from the public website. Your name, phone number, and note are encrypted before they are stored. The restaurant you order from sees them on its kitchen screen. The order status page you see does not show them. You can view an order with the private link you get when you place it, or from your account if you were signed in. In demo mode, the demo app instead seals each order into an encrypted token (AES-256-GCM) that is designed to detect tampering and is kept in your browser’s local storage.

When you pay by card (when card payments are on): card payments are handled by Stripe. The card form on the pay screen is Stripe’s. Your card number, expiration date, and security code go directly to Stripe. TipAfter never receives or stores them.

When you pay, Stripe creates a customer record and saves your card with Stripe so you can tip after you get your food. The pay screen asks for your consent first. The saved card is used only for the food payment at checkout and, if you tap a tip, that tip, and never more than 24 hours after pickup or delivery is confirmed. It is not used for anything else.

From Stripe we receive payment references (payment IDs, amounts, status, and refund status), not your full card details.

Stripe may collect device and usage information to prevent fraud when its card form loads. Stripe’s handling of your information is covered by the Stripe Privacy Policy.

3. If you join the Top Tippers board (diners, opt-in)

The Top Tippers board is a daily list of diners who chose to be on it. It is off unless you turn it on in your account, and you choose a nickname.

What is shown publicly: your nickname, your rank and badge, and your best tip that day as a whole-number percent of the food total. We never show your real name, email, the restaurant, or any dollar amount. Nicknames that match your own name or email are not allowed.

What we keep: your nickname, whether the board is on, and one daily record per day you are on the board (your account ID, the day, and your best tip percent). Only picked-up orders with at least $10 of food count.

Turning it off: removes you from today’s board right away. Records for earlier days are kept with your account and are deleted when your account is closed, or sooner if you ask us.

The board is for bragging rights only. There is nothing to win, and tipping is always up to you.

4. When a restaurant signs up (restaurants)

The restaurant sign-up form at /restaurants/join asks for the restaurant name, the contact person’s name, email, phone number, city and state, whether the restaurant offers pickup and/or delivery, and which register (point-of-sale system) it uses.

In demo mode (production today): our server checks that the form is filled in correctly, and the answers are saved in the restaurant’s own browser. They are not stored by TipAfter and not sent to Stripe. If you tap “Email us to join the pilot,” your email app opens with your answers filled in, and nothing is sent unless you send that email yourself.

In test and pilot versions: when you finish step 2, we save a sign-up record in private storage so we can review and approve your restaurant. The record holds the restaurant name, city and state, whether you offer pickup and/or delivery, which register you use, your Stripe account ID (a reference such as acct_…, not a bank or card number), your listing status (pending, approved, or rejected), and the dates. Your contact name, email address, and phone number are encrypted before they are stored, and only an authorized TipAfter administrator can read them, using a password-protected page. We use them only to review your sign-up and to contact you about it. Until a restaurant is approved, its ordering page shows only a “getting ready” notice. Once approved, its name, city, state, and pickup/delivery options appear publicly in the restaurant list and on its own page.

Restaurant logins and menus: an approved restaurant gets its own login (restaurant ID and password; we store only a hash of the password) to manage its menu, see its orders on a live kitchen screen, and use its settings.

Claiming a directory listing: if you claim a free listing, the claim fills in the same sign-up form, and the listing changes only after a TipAfter administrator approves it.

When payouts are on: we send these details to Stripe to create the restaurant’s Stripe Connect Express account and prefill Stripe’s setup. Stripe collects and verifies identity and bank information (for example, ID, tax ID, date of birth, and bank account) directly. TipAfter does not see or store those details. From Stripe we receive account status, such as whether setup is finished and whether payouts are enabled.

Register connections: if a restaurant chooses to connect its register (for example, Square), the restaurant authorizes the connection with the register provider. We then exchange the menu, orders, and order status with that system as needed to run orders. Tips are never sent to the register.

5. The free restaurant directory

The directory at /eat lists local restaurants in separate regions (Savannah, Georgia and Southwest Virginia). Restaurants marked “Not on TipAfter yet” have not joined. Their listings show only public business facts (name, address, area, type of food, and business phone number) taken from public sources. Southwest Virginia listing data comes from OpenStreetMap (copyright OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). These are business listings, not information about diners. A restaurant owner can ask us to correct or remove a listing at hello@tipafter.com.

If you ask a restaurant to start online ordering (directory notices): on a listing that is not on TipAfter yet, you can tap “Tell them you want online ordering.” By default this is anonymous. We record only which listing was tapped and when. We do not record your name, IP address, or device for this.

Optional email: only if you type your email and tick the box (“Email me once when this restaurant starts taking online orders on TipAfter”), we store your email, encrypted, and use it only to send you that one notice. We do not sell or share it. Your browser also remembers which listings you tapped, so the button shows as already sent.

6. If you opt in to local deals emails (diners)

Some versions of TipAfter offer an optional weekly email of specials and coupons from TipAfter restaurants near you. It is not turned on at tipafter.com yet, and no deals emails are being sent. When it is available, this is how it works:

Opt-in only. You get deals emails only if you check the box asking for them. The box is never pre-checked, and ordering never requires it. Deals emails are separate from order receipts and order updates.

What we keep: your email address, your 5-digit ZIP code, the date and time you opted in, where you opted in (when creating an account, on your account page, or at checkout), the exact consent wording you agreed to, and a short history of subscribe and unsubscribe actions. Your email address is encrypted before it is stored.

How we use your ZIP code: only to pick which deals to send you. We match your ZIP code to the approximate center of that ZIP code and include deals from restaurants within a 15-mile radius. We do not track your device’s location.

Deal activity: for each deal we count how many times it was viewed and redeemed, and keep the order numbers of redemptions so a deal is not counted twice. We keep deal activity data for one year after the deal expires.

Restaurants never receive customer data. A restaurant that posts a deal never sees, receives, or can export your name, email address, ZIP code, or any other customer detail. Restaurants see totals only, such as about how many opted-in diners are near them, how many times their deal was viewed, and how many times it was redeemed.

At most one email a week, from Tip After LLC (hello@tipafter.com), with an honest subject line.

Unsubscribe anytime. Every deals email has a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can also reply “unsubscribe” or email hello@tipafter.com. We stop deals emails right away and keep only a record that you unsubscribed so we do not email you again. Unsubscribing does not affect your orders or receipts.

Our physical mailing address appears in every deals email: Tip After LLC, 5226 Alum Spring Rd, Pulaski, VA 24301.

When sending is turned on, we may use an email delivery provider to send these emails on our behalf. It may use your email address only to deliver our messages.

7. If you join the waitlist (diners and restaurant owners)

TipAfter has a waitlist page (/waitlist) for people who want TipAfter in their area. It is available at tipafter.com. This is how it works:

What we keep: whether you joined as a diner or a restaurant owner, your name, your email address, your 5-digit ZIP code, and, for owners, your restaurant’s name, plus the dates you joined or updated your record. Your name, email address, and restaurant name are encrypted before they are stored, in private storage that is not reachable from the public website. We do not ask for a phone number and we do not send text messages.

Email is opt-in only. The box asking for launch news and updates is never pre-checked, and joining does not require it. If you check it, we record the date and time and the exact consent wording you agreed to. If you leave it unchecked, we keep your spot on the list and use your ZIP code to count interest in your area, but we do not send you marketing email.

How we use it: to see where diners and restaurants want TipAfter, to plan where we open (Savannah first), and, only if you opted in, to email you launch news. Every such email comes from Tip After LLC (hello@tipafter.com), has a one-click unsubscribe link, and includes our mailing address: Tip After LLC, 5226 Alum Spring Rd, Pulaski, VA 24301. We do not send these emails yet.

Restaurants never receive the customer list. We do not sell or share the waitlist.

Information collected automatically

Server logs. Our hosting provider (Vercel) receives standard request information, such as IP address, browser type, the page or address requested, and the time, to deliver and secure the site. These logs are kept for a limited time under the provider’s practices.

No analytics or advertising trackers. TipAfter does not use analytics tools, advertising pixels, or third-party tracking scripts.

Cookies, local storage, and offline use

Sign-in cookies. TipAfter sets cookies only to keep you signed in:

1. Customer accounts: a cookie named tipafter_cust keeps you signed in for up to 30 days, or until you sign out. It holds your account ID and an expiry time, signed so it cannot be changed.
2. Restaurant and administrator logins: similar signed cookies keep a restaurant signed in to its kitchen tools (up to 12 hours) and a TipAfter administrator signed in (up to 8 hours).

These cookies are marked HttpOnly (page scripts cannot read them) and are sent only over secure connections on the live site. They are needed for sign-in to work. We do not use cookies for advertising or analytics.

Local storage: the app saves your cart, your order tokens, and your Eat / Kitchen / Driver screen choice in your browser’s local storage. The restaurant sign-up page saves your form answers and setup progress the same way, and the directory remembers which listings you asked to start online ordering. This information stays on your device until you clear your browser’s site data.

Service worker: the app installs a service worker that keeps a copy of the app’s pages, styles, and code on your device, so it opens quickly and works when your signal drops. It does not store order data or payment data. API requests always go to the network.

Stripe may set its own cookies when its card form or setup pages load.

How we use information

1. To run customer accounts, keep you signed in, and show your order history
2. To take, price, and route orders, show them to the restaurant, and confirm pickup or delivery
3. To charge for food and, if you choose, a tip after the handoff, and to issue refunds (including the undo window)
4. To show restaurants their orders, private kitchen notes, and tip counts, and to show drivers their deliveries and earnings
5. To run the opt-in Top Tippers board
6. To sign up restaurants, review listing claims, give approved restaurants their own login, and set up payouts through Stripe
7. To run the free directory, count requests for online ordering, and, if you opted in, send you the one notice you asked for
8. To run the waitlist and, if you opted in, to email you launch news
9. If you opted in, to send you weekly local deals emails based on your ZIP code, and to honor unsubscribes
10. To prevent fraud and abuse, keep the service secure, and fix problems
11. To meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations

We do not sell personal information, use it for targeted advertising, or use it for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

Who we share information with

The restaurant you order from: your order, your name and phone number for the order, and any note. On pickup orders, the restaurant sees the tip after the handoff, for its staff tip pool.

The driver on a delivery order: the order details they need for the delivery (such as the item count and distance), and the tip they receive after delivery.

Stripe, to process payments, payouts, and identity checks.

Restaurants that post deals receive totals only (for example, how many opted-in diners are nearby and how many times a deal was viewed or redeemed). They never receive your email address, ZIP code, or other customer data.

Restaurants in the directory that have not joined may be told how many people asked for online ordering. They never receive anyone’s name or email.

The public, only for the Top Tippers board if you turn it on (nickname and tip percent only).

Our service providers: Vercel, to host the site and to store our records in private storage; and, when sending is turned on, an email delivery provider. If we move our records to a managed database provider, it will hold them on our behalf under the same protections.

A restaurant’s register provider (for example, Square), only when that restaurant connects it.

When required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of our customers, restaurants, drivers, or TipAfter.

In a business transfer, such as a merger or sale of assets, subject to this policy. If TipAfter ceases operations, we will delete stored data within a reasonable time, except as required by law for tax and accounting purposes.

How long we keep information

Customer accounts: when you ask us to close your account, we delete your account details (email, name, phone, password hash, and nickname) and your Top Tippers records within 60 days. Order and payment records tied to your account are kept for three years from the order date for tax, accounting, and dispute purposes, then deleted.

Order records: three years from the order date, to cover refund and dispute windows, tax reporting, and accounting obligations.

Top Tippers records: while your account is open. Deleted within 60 days of account closure or a deletion request, whichever comes first.

Order tokens and app data in your browser: until you clear your browser’s site data.

Payment and payout records at Stripe: for as long as needed to provide the service and as required for tax, accounting, and legal purposes, under Stripe’s own retention policies.

Server logs: retained by our hosting provider under its standard practices (typically 30 days or less).

Restaurant sign-up records and restaurant logins: while the restaurant is on TipAfter, and for one year after it leaves or its application is rejected, so we can answer questions and meet accounting obligations. You can ask us to delete your record sooner.

Directory notice emails: until we send the one notice you asked for, then deleted within 30 days. If the restaurant has not joined within one year, we delete the email and notify you that the request has expired.

Waitlist records: until TipAfter opens in your area, and for up to one year after, or until you ask us to delete your record. If you opted in to email and later unsubscribe, we keep only a record of the unsubscribe so we do not email you again.

Local deals subscriptions: while you are subscribed. Within 60 days after you unsubscribe, we delete your deals record except for a record of the unsubscribe itself. Deal redemption data (view and redemption counts and order numbers) is kept for one year after the deal expires.

Emails you send us: for as long as needed to answer you, and no longer than one year unless we need them for a legal or accounting reason.

When any retention period above ends, we delete or de-identify the information. If deletion from a backup system is not immediately possible, we isolate the data and delete it when the backup is next rotated.

How we protect information

The site uses HTTPS. Our records are kept in private storage (currently private Vercel Blob storage) that is not reachable from the public website. Personal details in them (names, emails, phone numbers, notes, and restaurant contact details) are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they are stored. Passwords are stored only as one-way hashes. Sign-in cookies are signed so they cannot be altered. Order tokens are encrypted and designed to detect tampering. Card and bank details are handled by Stripe, not stored by us. The administrator page requires a secret and limits sign-in attempts.

No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us right away at hello@tipafter.com if you think something is wrong.

Security breach notification

If we learn of a security breach that may have resulted in unauthorized access to your unencrypted personal information, we will notify affected individuals without unreasonable delay as required by Virginia law (Va. Code 18.2-186.6), and we will also notify the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia. For users in Georgia, we will provide notice in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with Georgia’s Personal Identity Protection Act (O.C.G.A. 10-1-910 through 10-1-912). In all cases, we will describe what happened, the types of information involved, and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

Children

TipAfter is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email us and we will delete it. You must be 18 or older (or the age of majority where you live) to pay for an order or to create an account.

Your privacy rights

Virginia residents (Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act)

TipAfter is a small pilot and does not yet meet the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act’s applicability thresholds (processing data of 100,000 or more Virginia consumers, or 25,000 or more Virginia consumers while deriving more than 50% of gross revenue from the sale of personal data). We voluntarily give Virginia residents these rights and will honor them as stated here:

1. Confirm whether we process your personal data and access it
2. Correct inaccuracies
3. Delete personal data you provided or that we obtained about you
4. Get a copy of your data in a portable format
5. Opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and profiling with legal or similarly significant effects. We do not do any of these.

We do not process sensitive data as defined by Virginia law. Identity and bank verification for restaurant payouts is handled by Stripe.

How to make a request: email hello@tipafter.com with the subject “Privacy request” and tell us what you are asking for. We may need to confirm your identity. We will access, correct, or delete what we store on our servers, including customer accounts, order records, Top Tippers records, waitlist and deals records, directory notice emails, and restaurant sign-up records. Information kept only in your browser (such as demo order tokens and your cart) can be removed by clearing your browser’s site data, and we will help you with this. We respond within 45 days. If we need more time, we may extend that once by another 45 days, and we will tell you why.

Appeals: if we decline your request, you can appeal by replying with the subject “Privacy appeal.” We will answer within 60 days and explain our decision. If your appeal is denied, you may contact the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia at oag.state.va.us.

We will not discriminate against you for using these rights.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

TipAfter is a small pilot and may not yet meet the size thresholds that make the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the CPRA) apply to us. We give California residents these rights anyway:

1. Know and access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have about you, and why we collect them
2. Delete personal information we collected from you, and correct inaccurate information
3. Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information (including for cross-context behavioral advertising), and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the information of anyone under 16.
4. Limit the use of sensitive personal information. We do not collect sensitive personal information for any purpose beyond providing the service. Account passwords are stored only as one-way hashes. Identity and bank verification for restaurant payouts is handled by Stripe.

Non-discrimination: we will not deny you service or charge you different prices for using these rights.

Categories we collect (past 12 months): identifiers and contact details (for customer accounts: email, name, optional phone, and account login; for orders: name and phone; for restaurants that sign up: name, email, phone, city and state; for the waitlist: name, email, ZIP, and restaurant name; for directory notices: email; for local deals: email and ZIP); commercial information (order details, order history, tip choices, and deal redemption records); Top Tippers nickname and daily tip percent, if you opt in; and internet or device information in standard server logs. We collect this directly from you. We share it only with the restaurant you order from and with service providers that run the service (for example Stripe and our hosting provider), and we do not sell it.

How to make a request: email hello@tipafter.com with the subject “California privacy request.” We may need to confirm your identity, and an authorized agent may make a request for you. We will respond within 45 days. We do not respond to the “Do Not Track” signal because we do not track you across sites. Shine the Light: we do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing.

Other states

TipAfter is piloting in Virginia. The free directory also lists restaurants in Savannah, Georgia, and the waitlist starts in Savannah. Georgia does not have a comprehensive consumer data privacy statute, but Georgia’s breach notification law (O.C.G.A. 10-1-910 through 10-1-912) applies to Georgia residents. See the “Security breach notification” section above for how we handle that.

If you live in any other state, you can make the same access, correction, and deletion requests described above, and we will honor them as the law in your state requires.

Changes to this policy

We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use information you already gave us, we will give notice before it takes effect.

Contact

Tip After LLC 5226 Alum Spring Rd, Pulaski, VA 24301 Email: hello@tipafter.com