Privacy policy
Version 8 · 4 November 2026
In short
- You can read getwine without signing in. We don't know who you are unless you sign in or write to us.
- If you sign in with Google, we keep your email, name, photo and what you save.
- We count visits with Google Analytics to see which pages help readers; it doesn't tell us your name.
- One account works on all getwine sites and apps where sign-in is available.
- We don't sell data, show ads or build interest profiles.
- You can delete your account yourself at any time.
Who we are
getwine is run by an individual entrepreneur registered in Georgia, identification number 306355832. It is the controller of your data under the GDPR on all getwine sites and apps.
For questions about your data, use the form at /contact.
What data we use and why
Reading the site
Our server logs each request: page, time, browser and a shortened IP address that does not identify you.
Purpose: to keep the site running and secure. Basis: legitimate interest. Kept: up to 90 days.
Visit statistics (Google Analytics)
We count which pages are opened, where visitors come from, their device, approximate location and key actions, such as following a link to a shop. We never send Google your name, email, saved items or ratings.
Purpose: to learn which pages help readers. Basis: depends on the site, see below. Kept: up to 14 months, by Google.
- getwine.md, getwine.at, getwine.ro and getwine.rs: statistics run only after you click "Accept" in the banner. Basis: consent. You can change your choice at any time via "Cookie settings" at the bottom of the page.
- getwine.ge and getwine.am: statistics run by default. Basis: legitimate interest; we collect the minimum and show no ads. You can object by blocking cookies or Google Analytics in your browser, or by writing to us via /contact.
Your account
You need an account only to save entries and keep "My wines", or to link yourself to a winery, venue or author page. You sign in with Google only. We keep your email, name, profile photo and Google account ID, the domain of a work account (to check claims), your site language and sign-in dates. We have no passwords and no access to your mail, contacts or files. Only you see your photo; you can replace or remove it.
If you are not signed in, Google may offer a sign-in window (on getwine.md and getwine.rs, only on the account page; getwine.at and getwine.ro have no sign-in). Your browser then connects to Google under its policy: policies.google.com/privacy. We receive nothing until you continue.
One sign-in works on every getwine site and app except getwine.at and getwine.ro. When you sign in, getwine.me remembers it in its own cookie. When you open another getwine site, your browser may briefly check with getwine.me, and the site receives only your account ID so it can recognise you. On getwine.md and getwine.rs this happens only when you select “Sign in”. If you haven't signed in anywhere, the site learns only that and keeps no record about you. “Sign out” on any site signs you out of every getwine site in this browser, and the site where you signed out stops checking on its own until you sign in again.
An account cannot be created without an email address.
Purpose: to provide the service you asked for. Basis: contract. Kept: until you delete the account.
Saved items and My wines
We keep what you saved and when, and in "My wines" the list ("Want to try" or "Tried"), your rating from 1 to 5, the vintage, when you drank it, your note, and the price and place of purchase if you add them. Only you see them: we don't publish or average ratings or use them to rank anything.
You can import your wines from another service. From a Vivino data export we read only your wine list, wishlist, prices and label scans: wines, your ratings, reviews and notes, scan dates, places of purchase and prices, links to your label photos, and Vivino's wine ID so a repeated import doesn't create duplicates. We don't take where or on which device your scans were made, don't open the other files in the export (profile, contacts, logins, devices, linked accounts) and don't keep the uploaded file. While you review the import, the parsed list is kept for up to 24 hours. Imported reviews become your private notes here.
While you review an import, you can show your label photos: your browser loads them directly from Vivino's image server, so Vivino receives your IP address, just as when you open the links yourself. We don't tell Vivino which page you are on.
Your label photos are imported too, unless you untick "Bring over scan photos" — including scans Vivino didn't link to any wine. To do this, our server downloads each photo once from Vivino using the links in your export, so Vivino will see that getwine requested it. We remove embedded data such as the location and keep only the picture. Only you see your photos: they are under "Scans", where "Download scan photos" gives you a copy.
When you remove a wine from My wines on the site, its rating, note, price and place of purchase are erased at once, and its label photos stay under "Scans". Photos are erased at once if you delete a photo ("Delete photo"), remove its wine on the scan page ("Remove wine"), undo the import or delete your account.
Purpose: to keep your lists for you. Basis: contract. Kept: until you remove them or delete your account.
Claims to a winery, venue or author page
Wineries, venues and wine writers can claim their page. We keep the page, your position if given, the status and the decision. If your work account's domain matches the website on the page, we record the match (email, domain, website) as evidence. A program checks the domain; a person decides.
Purpose: to know who really represents a winery, venue or author. Basis: contract and our legitimate interest in an accurate directory. Kept: while your account exists.
Messages through /contact
We keep your name, email, organisation, the entry you write about, who you are (reader, winery, shop, press), the topic, text, site and language. We don't publish messages.
Purpose: to reply and check facts. Basis: legitimate interest, or our legal obligation when you exercise your rights. Kept: name, email and organisation are erased 12 months after receipt; the text stays without them.
Applications to work with us. If you choose the topic "Working with us", we also keep the kind of cooperation you chose (winery, bar or shop, tours, press, ambassador) and, for ambassadors, your answer about working with wineries, shops or bars.
Purpose: to consider your application, reply and prepare the cooperation; for ambassadors, also to keep wines you are connected with out of any list published under your name. Basis: steps you ask us to take before an agreement, and our legitimate interest in choosing partners and keeping the directory independent. Kept: if we don't work together, the whole application is deleted 12 months after our reply; if we do, for as long as we work together and 12 months after that. We publish nothing about you without your separate consent.
Security log
We record sign-ins, account creation and deletion, claims, decisions and access changes, without IP addresses.
Purpose: to protect accounts and settle disputes about access. Basis: legitimate interest. Kept: while the account exists; after deletion, without email or name.
What we don't do
- We don't sell data, show ads or set advertising cookies.
- We don't build interest profiles or make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.
- We don't publish user ratings or counts such as "saved by N people".
- We don't link the pages you view or your searches to your account.
- We don't send newsletters or notifications; we email you only to reply to your message. Any future notifications will need your consent for each topic.
Who receives data
- Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) — hosting and encrypted backups on servers in the EU, on our instructions.
- Google — sign-in, when you choose it, and visit statistics, on our instructions.
- Vivino (Denmark) — your IP address, when you choose to show your label photos while reviewing an import; your browser loads them from Vivino.
- Public authorities — only when the law requires it.
No one else.
Transfers abroad
Our servers are in the EU. The operator works from Georgia and accesses the data from there. The EU has not recognised Georgia as providing adequate data protection. Your data is protected by Georgia's 2023 Law on Personal Data Protection and by our measures: only the operator can access the database, and connections and backups are encrypted.
Google LLC may process data in the USA under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, recognised as adequate by the European Commission.
Deleting your account
In your account, choose "Delete account" and confirm. Immediately and on all getwine sites:
- your email, name, photo, sign-in methods, saved items and ratings are erased;
- you are signed out on all devices;
- claims that did not lead to access are deleted.
What remains has no email or name: records of granted access, the security log and edits accepted into the directory. Backups are overwritten within 12 months.
Your rights
You can access and get a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict its processing, receive it in a machine-readable format, object to processing based on legitimate interest, withdraw consent at any time (without affecting earlier processing) and complain to a supervisory authority. These rights and the legal bases above come from the GDPR and the personal data laws of Georgia (2023), Armenia (No. ՀՕ-49-Ն), Moldova (No. 195/2024) and Serbia (No. 87/2018).
- In your account: "Download my data (JSON)", "Sign out on all devices", "Delete account".
- On getwine.md, getwine.at, getwine.ro and getwine.rs: "Cookie settings" at the bottom of the page.
- Anything else: the form at /contact. We reply within one month and may ask you to confirm it is you.
Supervisory authorities:
- Georgia — State Audit Office;
- Armenia — Personal Data Protection Agency of the Ministry of Justice;
- Moldova — National Center for Personal Data Protection;
- Austria — Datenschutzbehörde, dsb.gv.at;
- Romania — National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (ANSPDCP), dataprotection.ro;
- Serbia — Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, poverenik.rs;
- other EU countries — the authority where you live or work.
Cookies
| Category | Cookies and storage: purpose and duration | Consent |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | sign-in and session: gw_cabinet_session, gw_cab (up to 30 days); shared sign-in across getwine sites: __Host-gw_sso on getwine.me (30 days); while moving between sites: gw_sso_stash (10 minutes), gw_sso_bind (2 minutes); that the shared sign-in notice was shown: gw-sso-notice (in browser storage until you clear it); one-time sign-in codes: gw_cabinet_oauth, gw_onetap_nonce (10 minutes); how often the Google window was offered and that you signed out: gw_onetap_days (30 days), gw_onetap_off (up to 180 days); your cookie choice and theme: gw-consent, gw-theme (1 year); tab memory: gw_pv, gw_onetap_disabled, gw_onetap_asked, gw_gate_cancel, gw_me, gw-sso-checked (until the tab is closed) | not required |
| Statistics (Google Analytics) | telling visitors apart: _ga, _ga_* (up to 2 years) | .md, .at, .ro, .rs: only after you accept |
On getwine.md, getwine.at, getwine.ro and getwine.rs you can change your choice at any time via "Cookie settings" at the bottom of the page.
The Google sign-in window and button may set Google's own cookies under Google's policy.
Changes and language
We publish new versions here with a number and date; earlier versions are available on request. The English text is the main version: if a translation differs, the English text prevails.
Version 4 (31 October 2026) adds copying your label photos from a Vivino export.
Version 5 (31 October 2026) adds showing your Vivino label photos while you review an import.
Version 6 (31 October 2026) adds applications to work with us.
Version 7 (2 November 2026) extends the policy to getwine.ro and getwine.rs: statistics only with consent, Serbian law, the Romanian and Serbian supervisory authorities.
Version 8 (4 November 2026) opens sign-in and the account on getwine.rs.