Privacy Policy

In summary

As a customer of Butter, you are trusting us with information about your business, your team, and your guests. We take that seriously. This policy explains, in plain language, what we collect, why, which third parties (including AI model providers) touch it, where it lives, how we protect it, and how you can get it deleted.

• You own your data. We use it to run Butter for you. We do not sell it, and we do not use it to build products for anyone else.
• We use AI from OpenAI and Anthropic (Claude). We send those providers only what is needed to answer your question or produce your report, and under our agreements with them your data is not used to train their models. Details are in the AI section below.
• Your data is stored in the United States on Amazon Web Services, encrypted in transit and at rest.
• You can delete it. Close your account or email us and we will delete or de-identify your data on the timeline described under Data retention and deletion.

1. Who this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to butterme.ai, the Butter web application, the Butter mobile apps, Butter’s SMS service, and any related services (together, the “Services”). The terms “Butter,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to ButterMe, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Palo Alto, California, the provider of the Services (including services operated under the Metristo name). “You” and “your” refer to the restaurant, restaurant group, or individual using the Services.

Butter handles two kinds of data, and our role is different for each:

• Account and website data. Information about you and your team members as users of Butter (names, emails, phone numbers, billing details, usage data). Butter decides how this data is used and is the “controller” or “business” for it under privacy laws.
• Customer Data. Business information you connect to or upload into Butter, such as point-of-sale (POS) sales and labor data, menus, reviews, and the questions you ask Butter. Some of this may include personal information about your employees (for example, names, hours, and sales performance) or, in limited cases, your guests. For Customer Data, Butter acts on your instructions as a “processor” or “service provider.” You are responsible for having the right to share it with us, and we process it only to provide the Services to you.

This policy is incorporated into our Terms of Use. If there is a conflict, the Terms of Use control.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Account details: first and last name, email address, mobile phone number, restaurant name and address, job role, and the plan you select.
• Billing details: handled by Stripe. Butter does not store full payment card numbers. We keep a record of your plan, invoices, and the last four digits and card type Stripe shares with us.
• Messages and questions: anything you send Butter by SMS, in the mobile app, in the web app, or by email, including follow-up questions about reports.
• Menus: menu items and prices you enter, upload, or that we retrieve from your public website or ordering pages when you request a menu analysis.

2.2 Customer Data from systems you connect

When you connect an integration, Butter retrieves data from that system on an ongoing basis so it can produce forecasts, briefings, and answers. What we retrieve depends on the integration and your plan:

• Point of sale (currently Toast): orders and checks, sales and revenue, guest counts, menu items and modifiers, discounts, and payment totals; employee records (names, roles, wage rates), time entries (hours, overtime, tips), and shift data; reservation data where available. We do not retrieve payment card numbers. Connections are made through the POS provider’s partner or marketplace program. Butter never asks for your POS username or password, and you can revoke access from the POS provider at any time.
• Review platforms (Google and Yelp): public business details, star ratings, and the text of public reviews about your locations, including the reviewer’s public display name as shown on that platform.
• Context data: weather forecasts and local sports and event schedules for your location. This data is about your area, not about individuals.

2.3 Information collected automatically

• Usage and device data: pages viewed, features used, app version, device type, operating system, browser, IP address, approximate location derived from IP, and timestamps.
• Server logs: requests to our servers, errors, and performance data used to keep the Services running and secure.
• Cookies and analytics: see Cookies and analytics below.

2.4 Information from third parties

When you look up your restaurant during signup or install Butter from a POS marketplace, we receive business details (name, address, hours, phone, website, categories, photos, and public reviews) from Google, Yelp, or the POS provider so we can set up your account.

3. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Services, including forecasts, briefings, alerts, and chat.
• Generate AI-assisted insights and recommendations for your locations (see the next section).
• Set up and maintain your integrations and keep your data in sync.
• Verify your identity when you sign in, and send security and service notifications.
• Bill you, process payments, and manage your subscription.
• Respond to support requests and communicate with you about your account.
• Monitor, secure, and improve the Services, including debugging and measuring how features are used.
• Send product updates and marketing communications about Butter, which you can opt out of at any time.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.

Aggregated and de-identified data. We may create statistics and benchmarks that combine data across many restaurants (for example, average labor cost as a percentage of revenue for a type of restaurant in a region). This data cannot reasonably be used to identify you, your employees, or your guests, and we may use it to improve and describe the Services.

What we do not do. We do not sell personal information. We do not share your Customer Data with other Butter customers. We do not use your Customer Data to train our own or anyone else’s AI models. We do not make automated decisions about your employees or guests that have legal or similarly significant effects on them.

4. How Butter uses artificial intelligence

Butter is an AI restaurant advisor. Large language models (LLMs) turn your data into plain-English briefings, answers, and recommendations. We believe you should know exactly which models we use, what they see, and what happens to your data afterward.

4.1 The AI providers we use

We do not currently use Google Gemini or any other AI model provider to process Customer Data. If we add, remove, or change an AI provider, we will update this section before the change takes effect and, for material changes, notify account owners by email.

4.2 How your data is protected when it is sent to an AI provider

• Not used for training. We access OpenAI and Anthropic through their commercial APIs, which are governed by business terms under which our inputs and the models’ outputs are not used to train or improve their models.
• Data minimization. Each request contains only the information needed for that request. We do not send payment card data, POS credentials, passwords, or your full database. Where a summary is sufficient (for example, total sales by day rather than individual checks), we send the summary.
• Limited provider retention. The providers may retain API inputs and outputs for a short period (generally up to 30 days) solely to monitor for abuse and misuse, after which they are deleted. They do not use them for any other purpose.
• Encrypted in transit. All traffic to AI providers is encrypted using TLS.
• Processed in the United States. Both providers process our requests in the U.S.
• No provider access to your systems. AI providers never connect to your POS, review accounts, or Butter account. They only see the text of each request we send.

4.3 How AI output is used, and your role

• Recommendations, not decisions. Butter’s output is advisory. Staffing suggestions, pricing recommendations, and forecasts are meant to inform your judgment, not replace it. Butter does not take actions in your POS, scheduling, or payroll systems.
• You approve review replies. Suggested responses to guest reviews are drafts. Nothing is posted to Google or Yelp unless you post it.
• AI can be wrong. Language models can make mistakes, misread data, or state things confidently that are not true. We work to reduce this by grounding answers in your actual data, but you should verify any figure or recommendation before relying on it for a significant decision.
• No automated decisions about people. Butter does not use AI to make hiring, firing, discipline, scheduling, or compensation decisions about your employees, and does not profile your guests.
• Your outputs are yours. Briefings, reports, and answers generated for your account belong to you and are stored in your account so you can refer back to them.

5. Service providers and subprocessors

Like most software companies, Butter relies on a small number of specialized vendors to run the Services. Each is bound by a contract that limits how they may use your data to the service they provide to us. The list below is current as of the date at the top of this policy.

We will update this list when we add or replace a vendor that processes Customer Data. Customers with a Data Processing Addendum will be notified of subprocessor changes as described in that agreement.

6. Where your data is stored and processed

Butter is hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States (the us-east-1 region in Northern Virginia). Your account data, Customer Data, generated reports, and backups are stored there. Our vendors listed above also process data in the United States. If you use Butter from outside the U.S., you understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S., where privacy laws may differ from those in your country.

7. When we share information

Butter does not sell your information, and we do not share Customer Data with other customers. We share information only in these circumstances:

• Service providers and subprocessors listed above, to the extent needed to provide the Services.
• Your own team. Users you add to your account can see the locations and data you give them access to.
• Your integration providers. When you connect a system such as Toast, that provider knows you use Butter and may receive basic identifiers needed to establish the connection.
• Business transfers. If Butter is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
• Legal requirements. When required by law, subpoena, or court order, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Butter, our customers, or the public.
• With your direction. When you ask us to share information, for example by sharing a Menu Optimizer report with a colleague using a share link.

Your SMS opt-in consent and phone number are not shared with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing purposes.

8. How we protect your data

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include:

• Encryption in transit and at rest. All connections to Butter, to our vendors, and to your integrations use TLS. Databases, file storage, and backups are encrypted at rest using AWS-managed encryption.
• Scoped, revocable integrations. POS and review-platform connections are made through each provider’s partner program using credentials scoped to your locations. We never store your POS password, and you can revoke Butter’s access from the provider at any time.
• Access control. Users sign in with one-time codes sent to their verified phone number. Each user sees only the locations they have been granted. Within Butter, access to production systems and Customer Data is limited to staff who need it to operate or support the Services, protected by multi-factor authentication, and logged.
• Payment security. Payments are processed by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 service provider. Card numbers never touch Butter’s servers.
• Secure infrastructure. Butter runs on AWS with network isolation, managed secrets, automated backups, and monitoring and alerting for errors and unusual activity.
• Software maintenance. We keep dependencies current, review code changes before they are deployed, and fix security issues on a priority basis.
• Vendor management. We use established vendors that maintain their own security programs and certifications, and we bind them contractually to protect your data.
• Incident response. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal information or Customer Data, we will notify affected customers without undue delay and within the time required by applicable law, and tell you what happened, what data was involved, and what we are doing about it.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Multi-unit and enterprise customers can request our security overview, a Data Processing Addendum, or help completing a vendor security questionnaire by emailing privacy@butterme.ai.

9. Data retention and deletion

• While your account is active, we keep your account data and Customer Data so Butter can compare current performance to history and answer questions about past periods.
• Disconnecting an integration stops new data from syncing. You can ask us to delete the historical data from that integration at any time.
• When you close your account or ask us to delete your data, we stop all syncing and delete or de-identify your Customer Data and personal information within 30 days. Copies in encrypted backups are overwritten on a rolling basis within 90 days.
• What we may keep longer: invoices and transaction records we must retain for tax and accounting purposes; records needed to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements; SMS opt-out records so we honor your request not to be contacted; and aggregated, de-identified statistics.
• Messages you send Butter and the answers you receive are retained with your account so you can refer back to them, and are deleted with the rest of your account.

To request deletion, delete your account in the app settings or email privacy@butterme.ai from the email address on your account.

10. SMS and text messaging

Butter delivers briefings, alerts, verification codes, and chat replies by SMS. By providing your mobile number when you sign up and verifying it, you consent to receive these messages from Butter.

• Message frequency varies based on your plan and settings, and includes scheduled daily or weekly briefings, review alerts as they occur, and replies to questions you send.
• Message and data rates may apply.
• To stop, reply STOP to any message. You will receive one confirmation message and no further texts. You can re-enable texting in your account settings or by replying START.
• For help, reply HELP or email privacy@butterme.ai.
• Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Butter does not support 911 or emergency services by text.
• Your phone number and opt-in consent are used only to deliver the Services and are not shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing.

11. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and similar state laws. Regardless of where you live, Butter offers everyone the ability to:

• Access and export the personal information and Customer Data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate information by editing your profile or contacting us.
• Delete your account and data as described above.
• Opt out of marketing emails using the unsubscribe link in any message, and of SMS by replying STOP. We will still send service messages needed to operate your account.
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no need to opt out of sale or sharing. We do not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals because there is no common standard for them, but we do honor Global Privacy Control signals where required by law.

If you are an employee or guest of a Butter customer, the restaurant decides how your information is used and we process it on their behalf. Please direct requests to the restaurant. If you contact us directly, we will forward your request to them and assist as needed.

To exercise any right, email privacy@butterme.ai. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We will respond within the time required by applicable law, and in any case within 45 days.

12. Cookies and analytics

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. Butter uses strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and remember your preferences, and uses Google Analytics on butterme.ai to understand how visitors use the site (pages visited, referral source, approximate location, device type). Google Analytics data is not linked to your Butter account or Customer Data. You can block cookies in your browser settings, though some features may not work, and you can opt out of Google Analytics using Google’s browser add-on. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

13. Children

Butter is a business tool and is not intended for or directed to anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

14. Links to other sites

The Services may contain links to sites and services we do not control, including your integration providers. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, which we encourage you to read. This policy applies only to information collected by Butter.

15. Cooperation with law enforcement

Butter will cooperate with law enforcement if a customer, an agent or employee of a customer, or a user of a customer’s assigned phone number is suspected of harassment, threats, illegal activity, or other harmful behavior in their use of the Services. This may include disclosing message content and logs related to the account involved. Where legally permitted, we will notify you of requests for your data.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If a change materially reduces your rights or changes how we use Customer Data or which AI providers process it, we will notify account owners by email or in-app notice before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Services after a change becomes effective means you accept the updated policy.

17. Contacting Butter

Questions, requests, or concerns about this policy or our data practices can be sent to privacy@butterme.ai. If you believe Butter has not adhered to this Privacy Policy, contact us at the same address and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly investigate and remedy the problem.