Every return is verified by hand
Texting a container code tells us a return is on its way. It doesn't release a reward on its own, and that's on purpose.
A code on a container can't prove the container actually came back. So it doesn't. A return only counts once the container has been physically recovered and scanned into the BringItBack system. That scan verifies the return and automatically releases your reward.
It means the numbers we report, to you, to our restaurants, and to anyone funding this work, reflect containers that genuinely came back, not taps on a screen.
A reward you earned is a container we actually have.
We barely know anything about you
There's no account to create and no app to install to use or return a BringItBack container. You can always return a container to a participating restaurant. If you choose to participate in BringItBack's rewards program, we identify you through a member ID linked to your email address and phone number. That's the whole profile. Here's the honest list of what that means:
- Your phone number, and email, so we can link your returns and send your rewards.
- Your returns and reward balance, so the program works.
- No name required, no address, no date of birth.
- No selling or renting your information. Not now, not ever.
- No third-party ad trackers, and no outside fonts or scripts loading in the background.
The less we collect, the less there is to ever lose. That's the point.
When you text us, or ask for a pickup
How text messaging works. Text messages to and from BringItBack are carried by Twilio, our messaging provider, and by your mobile carrier. Anything you text us, including a pickup address, passes through their systems and may be kept in their records under their own policies.
Pickup address. We ask for your address only when you request a pickup, and our steward uses it to collect your container. We automatically erase it from our system about two weeks after your pickup is done. We never use pickup addresses for advertising, and we never sell them to anyone. If you sent it by text, your carrier and our messaging provider, Twilio, keep their own copies under their own policies.
Entering a BIBcakes draw doesn't sign you up for anything
BIBcakes is our free sweepstakes. If you enter without being a member, we only use your contact info to let you know if you win, and entering does not create a BringItBack account.
Once that BIBcakes draw is over, a non-member's entry information is deleted. We don't fold it into a mailing list, and we don't quietly turn it into a membership. A free entry is just a free entry.
We keep our own house locked
Privacy isn't just what we collect. It's how carefully we guard it. A few of the habits behind the scenes:
- We run a security review of our systems every month, and fix what we find.
- Sensitive keys and credentials live in locked server settings, never in the code that runs your browser.
- We only ask for the information a step actually needs, and nothing extra "just in case."
- When information is no longer needed, our aim is to let it go, not hoard it.
We're a small, local pilot, and we'd rather earn your trust the plain way: by doing less with your data and being straight about it.