Privacy at Variance
Plain words, because that's how we do everything.
Who we are. Variance is run by Joel Spitse, carrying on business as Variance, in Ontario, Canada. Joel is the person responsible for your data. Reach him at joel@kitchenvariance.com or 519-466-5515.
What we collect. Your login email and restaurant name. The documents you upload — invoices, receipts, sales reports, count sheets — and the numbers we pull from them, including the AI's reading of each page and any fixes you make. The sales figures you give us. And the usual server logs, which include things like your IP address.
Why. One reason: to compute your food-cost numbers and run the service. There's a second use you can say yes to, below. We don't sell your data. We don't run ads. Nobody trains AI on your data.
Who helps us run it. These companies process data for us:
- Supabase (US) — database and file storage.
- Anthropic (US) — the AI that reads your documents. It holds data up to 30 days. It doesn't train on it.
- Stripe — payments. We never see your card number.
- Vercel (US) — hosting.
- Resend (US) — login emails.
Your data is stored and processed in the United States.
How we protect it. Every restaurant's data sits behind its own lock. Your login sees your kitchen and nothing else.
How long we keep it.
- Customers: for as long as your account is active.
- When you leave: we send your reports and data back to you, then delete your kitchen's data within 30 days. Two things stay. Our own business records — the agreement, payment records, and our emails — because the law makes us keep them for six years. And any group figures you said yes to, which can't be unbuilt.
- Free Kitchen Margin Check, no purchase: deleted within 7 days of your report.
Group numbers — only if you say yes. Your agreement has a box for this. It's your choice. If you tick it, we can add your numbers to anonymous group figures — things like "the average food cost for a restaurant like yours" or "the going price for chicken breast in your region" — and when you fix a mistake Variance made reading a document, we can use that fix to make our reading better for every kitchen. These group figures never name you, your restaurant, or your specific numbers, and we never use a group small enough that someone could pick you out. If you don't tick the box, your data stays out of all of it. Said yes and changed your mind? One email. Your numbers stop going into new group figures from that day. Either way: we never sell your data, and we never share your individual numbers with anyone.
Your rights. See it. Fix it. Take it. Delete it. One email: joel@kitchenvariance.com. We answer within 30 days.
If something goes wrong. If a data breach puts you at real risk of harm, we tell you — and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — as the law requires.
Not satisfied? You can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Changes. If this page changes in a way that matters, we say it here, plainly, with the date.
- August 26, 2026: We said which records we keep after you leave, and why. We listed the AI's page readings, your fixes, and server logs under what we collect. We added how to change a yes to a no on group figures.
- August 2, 2026: First published.
Last updated: August 26, 2026