Privacy policy

Last updated: October 13, 2026

This policy explains, in plain language, what personal information this website collects, why, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do about it. It is written to meet Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, as amended by Law 25.

1. Who we are

This website is operated by Cooking with Raffaella.

This policy and anything arising from it are governed by the laws of Quebec and the federal laws of Canada that apply in Quebec.

2. What we collect

This is a recipe website. There is no account to create, no newsletter to join, no online ordering and no payment taken here. We collect very little, and we would rather tell you exactly what it is than describe it vaguely.

What you type into the search box

The search box at the top of every page is the only form on this site. When you use it, the words you searched for are sent to us as part of the web address so we can show you matching recipes. It asks only for a search term — it does not ask for your name, your email address or anything else about you.

Technical information our server records

Like any website, ours keeps standard server logs. These record your IP address, which browser and device you are using, which pages you asked for, and the date and time. We need these to serve the pages, keep the site available and protect it from abuse.

Your cookie choice

When you answer the cookie banner, your answer is stored on your own device so we do not ask you again on every page.

Measurement information, only if you agree to it

If — and only if — you turn on Analytics in the cookie banner, Google Analytics collects information about your visit: pages viewed, roughly how long you stayed, the approximate region you are visiting from, your device type, and which site referred you. If you do not turn it on, none of this is collected.

We do not ask for, and have no interest in, sensitive information. We do not build profiles about you, and no decision about you is made automatically by this website.

3. Why we collect each piece

• Your search terms — to find and show you the recipes you asked for. Nothing else.
• Server logs — to deliver the pages you request, to find and fix errors, and to detect abuse such as attacks or scraping.
• Your cookie choice — to remember whether you said yes or no, which is also our proof that we respected your answer.
• Analytics information — to understand which recipes people enjoy and how visitors move around the site, so Raffaella can write more of what you like. We look at this as totals and trends, never to identify you personally.

4. Our legal basis

Under Law 25 we must be able to point to a reason for every use of your information. Ours are:

• Your consent — for anything that measures your visit. The Analytics cookies described above are set only after you opt in, and you can withdraw that consent at any time.
• Our legitimate need to run the site — for the search box and the server logs. These are the minimum needed to deliver a page you asked for and to keep the site safe and working.
• Legal obligation — where a law, a court order or a regulator requires us to keep or hand over information.

5. How long we keep it

When a retention period ends, the information is deleted or anonymized so it can no longer be linked back to you.

6. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not trade or rent it to anyone. We use a small number of service providers to run the site. Each one may only use the information to do the job we hired it for.

We may also disclose information without your consent where the law requires it — for example, in response to a valid court order, or to protect someone's safety.

7. Transfers outside Quebec

This website and its server logs are hosted in Quebec, Canada. Your information stays in Quebec for everything the site does by itself.

There is one exception, and it only applies if you choose it. If you turn on Analytics, Google processes that measurement information on its own infrastructure, which includes servers outside Quebec and outside Canada, notably in the United States. Laws in those countries may allow local authorities to access data. Before enabling Analytics we assessed this, and we limit it to visit measurement only; if you prefer to keep everything in Quebec, simply leave Analytics switched off — the site works exactly the same.

8. Cookies and tracking

The first time you visit, a banner asks what you allow. Nothing that measures your visit runs before you answer. We have checked the site as it is served, and no analytics or advertising request is made until consent is given.

Two categories exist:

• Strictly necessary (always on, cannot be switched off) — this is just the small record of your cookie answer. Without it we would have to ask you on every single page.
• Analytics (off until you turn it on) — Google Analytics 4, as described above. Turning it off stops it; turning it back on starts it.

You can change your mind whenever you like using the cookie preferences button on the site, and you can delete cookies at any time in your browser's settings. We do not use advertising or marketing cookies on this site.

9. Your rights

Quebec law gives you real control over your personal information. You may ask us to:

• Access it — get a copy of what we hold about you;
• Correct it — fix anything inaccurate, incomplete or out of date;
• Delete it — have it erased, or stop it being circulated, where the law allows;
• Receive it in a portable form — get computerized information in a structured, commonly used technology format, or have it sent to someone else you name;
• Withdraw your consent — switch Analytics off at any time, with no effect on your use of the site.

To make a request, write to Raffaella DiNardo at raffaella0624@gmail.com. We may need to confirm who you are before we answer, so that we do not hand your information to someone else. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request, as Law 25 requires. Our answer is free of charge; we may charge a reasonable fee for transcription or reproduction, and we will tell you the amount before we do.

10. If there is a privacy breach

If personal information we hold is lost, accessed or disclosed without authorization, we will look into it immediately and take steps to limit the harm. Where the incident presents a risk of serious injury, we will notify the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (CAI) within 72 hours of confirming the breach, notify the people affected, and record the incident in our register of confidentiality incidents as the law requires.

11. How to complain

Please come to us first — write to Raffaella DiNardo at raffaella0624@gmail.com and we will do our best to put it right.

If you are not satisfied with how we handled your request or your complaint, you have the right to bring it to Quebec's privacy regulator:

12. Children under 14

This site is written for home cooks and is not aimed at children, and there is nothing here for a child to sign up for: no account, no newsletter, no ordering and no payment. We never ask any visitor for a name, an age or an email address.

We would rather be straightforward than reassuring: the little we do collect, we collect from every visitor, a child included. As section 2 explains, our server keeps standard logs — IP address, browser and device, pages requested, date and time — and, only if Analytics has been switched on in the cookie banner, Google Analytics measures the visit. A child’s visit is logged, and measured, exactly like anyone else’s.

Under Quebec law, consent for a person under 14 has to be given by the parent or by the person having parental authority. So the Analytics choice is not a child’s to make — it belongs to their parent or guardian, and until someone turns it on, no measurement information is collected at all. It can be switched off again at any time. Server logs are a different matter: they do not rest on consent but on our need to serve and secure the pages (sections 3 and 4), and they are kept only as long as hosting requires, then overwritten.

A parent or guardian may exercise a child’s rights on their behalf. You can ask us to show you, correct or delete the information this site holds about your child, or withdraw consent to measurement, by writing to Raffaella DiNardo at raffaella0624@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days, on the terms set out in section 9. Because server logs identify a device rather than a person, please tell us as much as you can — the approximate dates, and the device or connection used — so we can find the right records. If we cannot reliably tie them to your child, we will tell you that plainly rather than guess.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle personal information, we will update this page and change the date below. Where a change is significant, we will say so clearly on the site.

Last updated: October 13, 2026