Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

chef'd ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application.

By using chef'd, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use the App.

2. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

Email address – Used for account authentication and communication
Username – Your unique identifier on the platform (3-30 characters)
Display name – Optional name shown on your profile
Profile picture – Optional avatar image you upload
Bio – Optional description about yourself

Content You Create

When you use the App, we collect content you voluntarily provide:

Meal posts – Including titles, captions, recipes, categories (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, Dessert, Baked Goods, Drinks, Appetizer), and tags
Photos and videos – Images of meals you upload (up to 3 per post) and videos up to 60 seconds in length
Recipes – Standalone recipes you create or import, including title, description, ingredients, steps, prep time, cook time, servings, notes, thumbnail images, source URL, and source type (e.g., YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, website, or user-created). Recipes may be set to public or private visibility
Saved recipes – Recipes from other users that you save to your collection
Comments – Comments you leave on other users' meals

Social Interactions

We collect information about your interactions on the platform:

Likes – Meals you have liked
Bookmarks – Meals you have saved for later
Follows – Users you follow and users who follow you
Collaborations – When you tag another user as a collaborator on a meal, or when another user tags you. Collaboration requests have a status of pending, accepted, or declined

Authentication Data

If you sign in using Apple Sign-In, we receive basic profile information from Apple (email and name) as permitted by your Apple ID settings. Apple may provide a private relay email address if you choose to hide your email. We do not receive or store your Apple password.

Device Permissions

The App may request access to the following device capabilities:

Camera – To take photos of dishes for meal posts, record short cooking videos (up to 60 seconds), or capture a profile picture
Photo library – To select existing photos or videos from your device for meal posts, recipe images, or your profile picture
Microphone – To capture audio when you record cooking videos for meal posts

You can manage these permissions at any time through your device's settings.

Photo and Video Metadata

Photos and videos you upload may contain metadata (such as EXIF data), which can include location information, device model, and timestamps. We do not currently strip this metadata from uploaded files. If you wish to remove metadata before uploading, you may do so using your device's built-in tools or a third-party app.

Local Device Storage

The App stores certain data locally on your device for performance and security purposes. Sensitive data such as authentication tokens is stored in your device's secure storage (Keychain on iOS). Non-sensitive data such as cached preferences and notification timestamps may be stored in the App's local storage. This data remains on your device and is removed when you uninstall the App.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Create and manage your account
Display your profile and content to other users
Personalize your feed based on who you follow
Enable social features (likes, comments, follows, bookmarks, collaborations)
Track your cooking activity over time (calendar heatmap)
Extract recipe information from URLs you provide, using AI-powered analysis
Send push notifications about likes, comments, follows, and collaboration requests based on your notification preferences
Enforce usage limits (such as the number of AI recipe extractions per month)
Improve and optimize the App
Enforce our Terms of Service
Respond to your inquiries and support requests

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Public Information

The following information is publicly visible to all chef'd users:

Your username, display name, profile picture, and bio
Your meal posts, photos, videos, and recipes
Standalone recipes you have set to public visibility
Your follower and following counts
Your comments on other users' meals
Your cooking activity (meal count)

We Do Not Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Third-Party Service Providers

We share data with the following third-party service providers who process data on our behalf:

Supabase – Provides authentication, database storage, and file storage (photos, videos, profile images). Your data is stored securely on Supabase's infrastructure in accordance with their privacy policy
OpenAI – Powers our AI recipe extraction feature. When you submit a URL for recipe extraction, the webpage content or video metadata from that URL is sent to OpenAI's API for processing. OpenAI processes this data in accordance with their API data usage policy and does not use API inputs to train their models
Expo (Expo Application Services) – Delivers push notifications to your device. Your device push token and notification content (such as usernames and meal titles) are transmitted through Expo's push notification service
Apple – If you use Apple Sign-In, authentication is processed through Apple's identity services

Each of these providers processes your data in accordance with their respective privacy policies and our agreements with them.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely using Supabase's cloud infrastructure, which employs industry-standard security measures including:

Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS)
Encrypted data storage
Row-level security policies for database access
Secure authentication token management

While we implement reasonable security measures, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services.

When you delete your account, we will delete your profile information, posts, photos, videos, recipes, saved recipes, comments, likes, bookmarks, collaborations, and follow relationships. Some information may be retained in backups for a limited period or as required by law.

7. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your data:

Access: You can view your profile information and content within the App
Update: You can edit your profile information, posts, recipes, and comments at any time
Delete: You can delete individual posts, recipes, or your entire account through the App settings
Notification preferences: You can control push notifications for likes, comments, and follows individually within the App settings
Recipe visibility: You can set your standalone recipes to public or private at any time
Export: Contact us to request a copy of your data

8. Children's Privacy

chef'd is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete that information promptly.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: services@getchefd.io