Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 26, 2026

FoodSpy (“FoodSpy,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) helps you understand food products by analyzing photos of packaging, ingredient lists, nutrition labels and barcodes.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and retain information when you use the FoodSpy mobile application and related support services.

If you have questions about this policy or how FoodSpy handles your information, please contact us through our Support page.

1. Information We Collect

Photos and analysis information

When you submit a photo for analysis, we collect the image and process the information it contains. This may include product names, brands, barcodes, ingredients, nutrition information and other visible packaging details.

We also process the resulting analysis, including scores, explanations, ingredient details, confidence indicators and timestamps. Successful analyses and reduced copies of their photos are saved in your History.

Photos may contain personal information or embedded metadata. Please photograph only the product and avoid including people, documents or other personal information.

Anonymous account and usage information

FoodSpy creates an anonymous account automatically. You do not need to provide a name, email address or password to use the core scanning features.

We use a unique account identifier to associate your scans, History, subscription status and analysis allowance with your account. “Anonymous account” means that registration does not require your identity; it does not mean that all information processed by the app is anonymous.

Purchase and subscription information

If you purchase or restore a subscription, we and our subscription service provider process information such as your app account identifier, purchased product, transaction or receipt information, subscription status and expiration date.

Payments are processed by the applicable app store. We do not receive your full payment card details.

Technical, analytics and security information

Our app and service providers process technical information needed to operate, secure and understand the service. This may include IP addresses, app and device identifiers, device and operating system information, app interactions, subscription-related events, request timestamps and error or operational logs.

We use Firebase Analytics to understand app use and subscription interactions.

We also use device and app integrity services to verify legitimate requests and reduce abuse. On supported Apple devices, DeviceCheck is used to record whether a device has already received the initial free allowance.

Support communications

If you contact us, we collect the information you provide, such as your email address, message and any attachments. Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information.

Information stored on your device

FoodSpy stores local information such as onboarding completion, cached History records, and counters and dates used to manage rating prompts. Temporary images and other cached information may also remain on your device.

2. How We Use Information

We use information to:

• Analyze food photos and provide scores and explanations.
• Identify products and retrieve relevant product information.
• Save and display your recent analyses.
• Create and maintain your anonymous account.
• Process purchases, restore access and verify subscription status.
• Manage free and paid analysis allowances.
• Detect abuse and protect the app and its infrastructure.
• Understand app use, investigate errors and improve the service.
• Respond to support and privacy requests.
• Comply with legal obligations and protect legal rights.

FoodSpy analyzes food products. It does not require you to create a personal health profile or provide medical records.

3. AI Processing and Product Lookups

AI analysis

FoodSpy sends submitted photos to our cloud infrastructure and to OpenAI through its API to analyze visible product information. Depending on the scan, processing may involve more than one AI request.

When an analysis uses a product database record, relevant product information, including ingredients and available nutrition values, may be sent to OpenAI for analysis.

Cloud AI processing is necessary for the analysis features; these features do not operate entirely on your device.

Open Food Facts

For barcode or packaging-based identification, our backend may query Open Food Facts using a decoded barcode or recognized product identity terms, such as a name, brand or variant.

These requests do not include your photo, FoodSpy account identifier or account details. Using this lookup does not submit your photos or create public contributions to the Open Food Facts database.

If you open an external product or source link, that website processes your visit under its own privacy practices.

4. How We Disclose Information

We disclose information to providers that support the service, including:

• Google Firebase and Google Cloud, for account authentication, cloud storage, databases, backend processing, analytics and app integrity checks.
• OpenAI, for AI image and text analysis.
• RevenueCat, for subscription management, purchase restoration and subscription verification.
• Apple or Google, as applicable, for app distribution, in-app payments and device or app integrity services.
• Open Food Facts, for the limited product lookup requests described above.

Providers receive information relevant to their functions. App stores and certain other providers also process information for their own purposes under their privacy policies.

We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law or legal process, investigate misuse, protect people or legal rights, or support a merger, acquisition or transfer of the service, subject to applicable safeguards.

5. Data Retention

Uploaded photos

Source uploads are temporary. After a successful analysis, our backend creates and saves a reduced History image and the associated analysis record, then deletes the source upload.

Failed or abandoned uploads and incomplete History images are subject to cleanup. Cleanup may be delayed by interrupted requests or service failures; deletion is not necessarily immediate.

History

FoodSpy retains a limited number of your most recent successful analyses and their reduced images. When the configured History limit is exceeded, older records and their associated images are removed.

This is a limit on the number of records, rather than a fixed expiration period. A retained record may remain until it is displaced by newer scans or removed through account deletion.

Temporary product selections

If a scan requires you to choose between possible product matches, we temporarily store candidate information, an image hash and related scan information to validate your selection. These records expire and are removed through cleanup.

Other records

Account, usage, subscription, support, analytics and operational records are retained for the purposes described in this policy, subject to applicable legal requirements and provider retention settings.

Deleting an upload from FoodSpy storage does not necessarily delete information already processed or retained by another provider. Provider records and backups may follow separate retention and deletion schedules.

6. Your Choices and Account Deletion

Camera and photo access

You control camera and photo access through your device settings. FoodSpy receives the images you choose to submit. If you deny the relevant permission, some photo features may be unavailable.

Delete Account & Data

You can request deletion through Settings → Delete Account & Data.

This removes the current anonymous Firebase account, its associated Firestore records and uploaded images, and clears the app’s local History cache. If you continue using FoodSpy, the app creates a new anonymous account.

Account deletion does not automatically erase all independently retained provider records, analytics, operational logs or information subject to legal retention requirements. It also does not reset Apple’s device-level record that the initial free allowance has already been granted.

Deleting your account or uninstalling FoodSpy does not cancel a subscription. Manage or cancel your subscription through the app store where you purchased it.

You may also contact us through our Support page about deletion or other privacy requests. Because accounts are anonymous, we may need additional information to locate the relevant records and verify your request.

Local information

Uninstalling the app generally removes its local data, subject to your device’s backup and restoration settings. Uninstalling alone does not request deletion of cloud records.

7. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, restrict or object to certain processing, or withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.

To exercise an applicable right, please use our Support page. We may need to verify your request and will respond within the period required by applicable law.

Where applicable, you may also complain to your local data protection authority.

8. Legal Bases for Processing

Where applicable data protection law requires a legal basis, we process information:

• To perform our contract with you, including providing requested analyses and subscription access.
• For legitimate interests such as securing the service, preventing abuse, resolving technical problems and responding to support requests, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• With your consent where required, including for applicable analytics or device-storage activities.
• To comply with legal obligations.

You may withdraw consent where processing relies on consent. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

9. International Processing

We and our providers may process information in countries other than the country where you live. Those countries may have different data protection laws.

Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, we use an appropriate transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards. Contact us for information about safeguards applicable to your data.

10. Security

We use technical and organizational measures intended to protect information, including authentication, access controls, protected backend operations and app integrity checks.

No electronic storage or transmission system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children’s Privacy

FoodSpy provides general information about food ingredients and product composition. It does not require users to provide their age or date of birth, and we may therefore be unable to determine a user’s age.

The information described in this Privacy Policy—including submitted photos, anonymous account identifiers, usage information and purchase information—may be processed whenever someone uses the app. An anonymous account does not mean that no personal information is collected.

Parents and guardians should supervise children’s use of FoodSpy and help them avoid submitting photos containing people, personal documents or other personal information.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information through FoodSpy and would like to request its deletion, please contact us at email. You can also delete the current anonymous account and its associated scans through Settings → Delete Account & Data, subject to the retention limitations described in this policy.

12. External Services and Links

FoodSpy may link to app stores, subscription management pages, product sources and support websites. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.

Information about key providers is available here:

• Google Privacy Policy
• Firebase Privacy and Security
• OpenAI Privacy Policy
• RevenueCat Privacy Policy
• Apple Privacy Policy

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to the app, our practices or legal requirements. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice where required by law.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, the handling of information by FoodSpy, or a request concerning your data, please contact us through our Support page.

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