Effective Date : December 1, 2024
Your privacy is important to us. Dine Brands Global, Inc. understands your concerns regarding how information about you may be used and shared, and we appreciate that you trust us to use and share information about you carefully and sensibly.
This Privacy Policy describes what personal information Dine Brands Global, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including International House of Pancakes, LLC (“IHOP”), Applebee’s International, Inc. (“Applebee’s”), and Fuzzy’s Taco Opportunities, LLC (“Fuzzy’s”) (collectively, “Dine”, “us”, “our”, and “we”), may collect about you, how we may collect it, how we may use it, with whom we may share it, and what choices you may have regarding it.
This Privacy Policy applies to your use of our websites including, without limitation, https://www.dinebrands.com/en, https://www.ihop.com/en, https://www.applebees.com/en, https://fuzzystacoshop.com/, https://franchise.ihop.com, https://franchise.applebees.com/en, https://franchise.ihop.com/en/applebees-co-branded-franchising, our mobile websites, our mobile apps, any other platforms that link to this Privacy Policy (each, a “Site” and collectively, the “Sites”), and any other means by which we may collect information about you, including information you may provide to us on-site at our Restaurant Support Center (“RSC”) or restaurants (collectively, the “Facilities”), as well as in connection with applying to become a franchisee.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to any websites or facilities operated by third parties. We are not responsible for, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to, the privacy practices of other companies or other websites. We encourage you to seek out and read the privacy policy of each website that you visit.
This Privacy Policy is available to consumers with disabilities. To access this Privacy Policy in an alternative downloadable format, please click here.
“Personal Information” means information that uniquely identifies, relates to, describes, or is reasonably capable of being associated with or linked to you. Dine may collect Personal Information relating to you and your use of the Sites or Facilities to provide services and features that are responsive to your needs. Dine may collect Personal Information in the following ways:
3.1 Personal Information You Provide to Us
We may collect the following information about you, including, but not limited to:
If you apply to become a franchisee, we may also collect information related to your business entity, including background information regarding your partner and business entity finances, requested region for franchise information, and operations management experience.
3.2 Personal Information We Collect From Third Party Sources
If you apply to become a franchisee, we will obtain your consent to collect Personal Information about you from third parties including individuals you provide as references, financial and other institutions, schools, credit reporting agencies, professional and academic certification organizations, law enforcement agencies, former employers, and the military for purposes of evaluating your application to become a franchisee. Such Personal Information may include information about your financial, educational, and criminal histories, as well as information concerning your character and reputation. Dine does not share this information with any third parties except its service providers and retains it for as long as necessary to evaluate your application. You may withdraw your consent at any time. To exercise any privacy rights that may be afforded to you under applicable data protection laws, including withdrawing your consent, please see the section below titled “Your Privacy Rights and How to Exercise Them.” For more information about Dine’s practices with respect to retention of your Personal Information, please see the section below titled “How Long We Retain Your Personal Information.”
3.3 Information We and Our Third-Party Service Providers May Collect
When you use our Sites, we and our third-party service providers may automatically collect information about how you access and use the Sites and information about the device you use to access the Sites. We typically collect this information through a variety of tools including cookies, web beacons, pixels, social media widgets, other tools to enable data recording and indexing, and similar technology (collectively, “tracking technologies”). We and our third-party partners may automatically collect information such as:
We may process Personal Information to provide services to you and additional services you request, as well as to respond to communications from you. The precise purposes for which your Personal Information may be processed will be determined by the request and by applicable laws, regulatory guidance, and professional standards.
We may use information we collect from you and information that we may collect automatically to manage and improve our Sites and our business. We take steps to ensure that your rights are safeguarded. For example, we may use information to:
If you apply to become a franchisee, we may also use your Personal Information to evaluate and communicate with you regarding the prospects of becoming a franchisee, including conducting interviews and performing background and reference checks.
We may disclose your Personal Information in the circumstances described below.
We offer certain choices about how we communicate with you and what Personal Information we may obtain about you and share with others.
Dine may collect, use, share, transfer, and otherwise process de-identified and aggregated information that it receives or creates for any purpose at its sole discretion, in compliance with applicable laws. Dine is the sole and exclusive owner of such de-identified and aggregated information, including if Dine de-identifies Personal Information so that it is no longer considered Personal Information under applicable laws.
Dine uses Google Analytics to process Personal Information about your use of our Sites. Google sets cookies on your browser or device, and then your web browser will automatically send information to Google. Google uses this information to provide us with reports that we use to better understand and measure how users interact with our Sites.
To learn more about how Google uses data, visit Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s page on “ How Google Uses Data When You Use Our Partners’ Sites or Apps. ” You may download the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On for each web browser you use, but this does not prevent the use of other analytics tools. To learn more about Google Analytics cookies, visit here .
We use third parties and/or service providers to provide interest-based advertising services. These services may serve advertisements on our behalf that are customized based on predictions about your interests generated from your visits to websites (including our Sites) over time and across different websites. The data collected may be associated with your Personal Information. These advertisements may appear on our Sites and on other websites and may be sent to you via email.
We use Google Ads to serve ads across various websites. Google uses cookies to collect data about your visits to our Sites to generate targeted advertisements to you on other websites that you visit. To opt out of this type of advertising by Google, customize your ad preferences, or limit Google’s collection or use of such data, visit Google’s Safety Center and Google’s Ad Settings and follow Google’s Personalized Ad Opt-Out Instructions . Opting out will not affect your use of our Sites.
To change your preferences with respect to certain online ads or obtain more information about ad networks and online behavioral advertising, visit National Advertising Initiative Consumer Opt-Out Page or the Digital Advertising Alliance Self-Regulatory Program . Changing your settings with individual browsers or ad networks will not necessarily carry over to other browsers or ad networks. As a result, depending on the opt-outs you request, you may still see our ads. Opting out of targeted advertising does not opt you out of all ads, just those targeted to you.
Google Maps. Our Sites contain maps provided by third parties and/or service providers for your convenience. Dine and such other parties may collect data about how you interact with the maps. For example, Google may collect usage data on maps embedded on the Sites. Even if you do not interact with the maps, Google may still collect certain information about your interactions with our Sites if you are signed into your Google account when accessing our Sites. Please see Google's Privacy Policy for more information.
We are active on social media including, but not limited to, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn (“Social Media”). Anything you post on Social Media is public information and will not be treated confidentially. We may post (or re-post) on the Sites and our Social Media pages any comments or content that you post on our Social Media pages.
Our Sites allow you to connect and share data with Social Media platforms. These features may require us to use cookies, plug-ins, and APIs provided by such Social Media platforms to facilitate those communications and features. Our Sites may use advertising networks and services offered by Social Media platforms to deliver advertising content. Use of these services requires Social Media platforms to implement cookies or pixel tags to deliver ads to you while you access the Sites.
Our Sites are hosted and operated in the United States. However, we and our service providers may store information about individuals in the United States, or we may transfer it to, and store it within, other countries.
We will retain your Personal Information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise required by applicable laws. Criteria we will use to determine how long we will retain your Personal Information include whether we need your Personal Information to provide you with our Sites, Facilities, or other services; you have requested information from us; we have a legal right or obligation to continue to retain your Personal Information; we have an obligation to a third party that involves your Personal Information; our retention or recordkeeping policies and obligations dictate that we retain your Personal Information; or we have another business purpose for retaining your Personal Information.
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our apps. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. We urge you to read the privacy policies of other websites before submitting any information to those websites. Please be aware that to submit job application materials online to work with us, you will be redirected from our Site to a website operated by our third-party service provider. You may be required to create an account with that vendor. We encourage you to review the terms and privacy policy posted on that vendor's website since this Privacy Policy does not govern your use of that website.
Dine has implemented reasonable physical, technical, and administrative security standards to protect Personal Information from loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. We strive to protect your Personal Information against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, using security technologies and procedures, such as encryption and limited access; however, we cannot guarantee the security of Personal Information during its transmission or storage on our systems.
Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83, individual customers who reside in California and who have an existing business relationship with us may request information about our disclosure of certain categories of Personal Information to third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes, if any.
To make such a request, send an email with the subject heading “California Privacy Rights” to [email protected]. In your request, please attest to the fact that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for our response. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by these California privacy rights requirements, and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year.
This section applies to our collection and use of Personal Information if you are a resident of California, as required by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and its implementing regulations, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, “CCPA”), where “Personal Information” has the definition set forth in the CCPA.
Dine makes the following disclosures regarding the Personal Information it has collected within the 12-month period preceding the Effective Date of this Privacy Policy:
Sources of Personal Information
We collect Personal Information from the categories of sources detailed in the How We May Collect Your Personal Information section above.
Use of Personal Information
We collect Personal Information for the business and commercial purposes detailed in the How We May Use Personal Information section above.
Disclosure of Personal Information
The categories of third parties to whom we disclose Personal Information for a business or commercial purpose are detailed in the Disclosure of Personal Information section above. The categories of third parties to whom we sell or share Personal Information are summarized in the chart below. We do not knowingly sell or share the Personal Information of minors under the age of 16.
| Category of Personal Information | Third Parties to whom PI is Sold or Shared | Retention Period |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers. | We may sell and/or share this category of Personal Information with third party marketers for monetary or other valuable consideration and/or cross-context behavioral advertising. | We mostly retain this category of Personal Information for 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. However, in certain limited circumstances, such as to maintain records of guest relations issues, we retain this category of Personal Information for up to 6 years. |
| Personal Information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) | We may sell and/or share this category of Personal Information with third party marketers for monetary or other valuable consideration and/or cross-context behavioral advertising. | We mostly retain this category of Personal Information for 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. However, in certain limited circumstances, such as to maintain records of guest relations issues, we retain this category of Personal Information for up to 6 years. |
| Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
| Commercial information. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
| Internet or other similar network activity | We may sell and/or share this category of Personal Information with third party marketers for monetary or other valuable consideration and/or cross-context behavioral advertising. | Varies depending on the website and the type of cookie collecting this Personal Information, but generally no more than 2 years. One exception is a cookie associated with the Sitecore Content Management System, used for web analytics to identify repeat visits by unique users, that has a lifespan of 10 years. |
| Geolocation data. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
| Sensory data. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 60 days from the date of your last visit to our Facilities. |
| Inferences drawn from other PI. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
| Professional or employment-related information. | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
| Sensitive Personal Information | We do not sell or share this category of Personal Information. | 1 year from the date of your last interaction with us. |
This Notice of Financial Incentive is to provide you with additional information regarding financial incentives or price differences that we may provide in exchange for your Personal Information as required by the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA”) and Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”), as the foregoing laws pertain to “Financial Incentives” as defined by the CCPA or “Bona Fide Loyalty Programs” as defined by the CPA.
If you sign up for our Applebee’s, IHOP, or Fuzzy’s loyalty/marketing programs, you may receive credit for each dollar spent at participating restaurants, which can be redeemed for reward items or free food.
When you sign up for the Applebee’s marketing program at https://www.applebees.com/en/sign-up, we will ask you to submit the following Personal Information:
When you sign up for the IHOP loyalty program (International Bank of Pancakes) at https://www.ihop.com/rewards, we will ask you to submit the following Personal Information:
When you sign up for the Fuzzy’s loyalty program at https://fuzzystacoshop.com/rewards/, we will ask you to submit the following Personal Information:
No other information is necessary to sign up. We may sell or share the above Personal Information with our third party advertising partners for monetary or other valuable consideration and/or cross-context behavioral advertising, but we do not disclose any Personal Information to data brokers. We also do not utilize any “Bona Fide Loyalty Program Partners” as such term is defined under the CPA to administer our loyalty/marketing program benefits.
Participating in our loyalty/marketing programs is entirely optional, and you may opt out at any time by emailing us at [email protected] or calling (866) 926-5019.
Please note that by opting out of our loyalty/marketing programs, you will no longer have access to your rewards account, if applicable, but you can otherwise continue to make in-restaurant purchases and use our Sites. All rewards you have earned until the time of withdrawal will no longer be available. If you make a request to delete your Personal Information, you may not be able to participate in our loyalty/marketing programs until you sign up again. This is because we need your Personal Information to administer the loyalty/marketing programs.
Based on our reasonable and good faith estimate, the value of Personal Information provided in connection with our loyalty/marketing programs is approximately equal to the relevant expenses related to the collection and retention of such Personal Information. Any difference in price or benefits provided to customers who participate in our loyalty/marketing programs is reasonably related to the value of the Personal Information provided.
This section provides additional information regarding Dine’s processing of Personal Information of individuals located in the European Union (“EU”), European Economic Area (“EEA”), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (“UK”) in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, and UK Data Protection Act.
Legal Basis for Processing
Our legal basis for processing Personal Information depends on the Personal Information concerned and the context in which we process it. We may process Personal Information from you where we need it to perform a contract with you, where the processing is in our legitimate interests (including the purposes described in this Privacy Policy), where the processing is necessary for us to meet our applicable legal obligations, or if we otherwise have your consent.
Special Category Data
Dine does not intend to collect any Special Category Data, which is any data that reveals your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious, moral, or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, political views, genetics, biometrics for the purpose of identifying a person, and health or a person’s sex life and/or sexual orientation. Please refrain from sending us any Special Category Data.
Automated Decision Making
Dine does not make any automated decisions on your behalf or about you without first obtaining your express, opt-in consent. In the event we secure your consent to do so, you have the right to object to the processing of Personal Information via automated decision-making at any time by contacting us at [email protected].
Transfers to Third Parties and Countries
Personal Information that we collect or receive may be transferred to and/or processed by third parties that are located outside of the EU, EEA, Switzerland, or the UK, some of which applicable authorities may not consider to have an adequate level of protection for Personal Information. Dine will only transfer Personal Information to third parties located outside of the EU, EEA, Switzerland, and the UK when it has ensured appropriate safeguards for such Personal Information through use of the standard contractual clauses or other lawful and approved methods.
Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information under applicable data protection laws:
To exercise any of the privacy rights afforded to you under applicable data protection laws, please submit a request to us by one of the following methods:
To opt out of the selling, sharing, or otherwise disclosing of your Personal Information for targeted advertising purposes, please: (1) toggle “Advertising Cookies” off through the “Your Privacy Choices” link at the footer of our Sites and (2) submit a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” request, as may be provided for under applicable law, through our Privacy Web Form. If you choose to use an Opt-Out Preference Signal (e.g., Global Privacy Control), you will need to turn it on for each supported browser or browser extension you use.
You will not be discriminated against in any way for exercising your rights listed in this Privacy Policy, which means we will not deny goods or services to you, provide different prices or rates for goods or services to you, or provide a different level or quality of goods or services to you. Only you, or an authorized agent that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a request related to your Personal Information.
We must verify your identity before fulfilling your requests, and if we cannot verify your identity, we may request additional information from you. If you are an authorized agent making a request on behalf of another person, we will also need to verify your identity, which may require proof of your written authorization or evidence of a power of attorney. We endeavor to respond to requests within the time period required by applicable law. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your requests unless they are excessive or repetitive. If we determine that a request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request. We may deny certain requests, or only fulfill some in part, as permitted or required by law. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your request and you are afforded a right to appeal such decision, you will be notified of our appeal process in our response to your request.
Our Sites are not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on the Sites. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on the Sites or on or through any of its features, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any username you may use. If we learn we have collected or received Personal Information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected].
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, and we will post any changes on this page. Each version of this Privacy Policy is identified at the top of the page by its Effective Date. If we make material changes to how we treat our users' Personal Information, we may notify you by email to the primary email address specified in your account and/or through a notice on our Sites’ home pages. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you and for periodically visiting our Sites and this Privacy Policy to check for any changes.
For any questions, or to request further information regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected]. You may also call (866) 926-5019 for telephonic assistance.