Privacy Policy
What we collect and why
Photos you take or choose. When you photograph your fridge, pantry, or a receipt (or pick a photo from your library), the image is sent to our processing service and to our AI providers so they can identify your ingredients. Photos are used only to detect ingredients and are not stored on our servers after processing. If you turn on "Save to Photos," the photos you capture are also saved to your device's camera roll — that copy stays on your device.
Your profile. During onboarding you can enter your first name, and optionally details like age, height, weight, activity level, dietary goals, and allergies. Your profile is stored on your device. Your usage is tied to a random per-install identifier (not your name); we attach your first name as a label so we can read your activity in analytics. If you choose "Personalize" mode, your age, gender, activity level, and dietary goals are also attached to that analytics profile so we can understand which features different users want. Your dietary goals, allergies, and the calorie/nutrition targets calculated from your details are sent to our AI provider so recipes fit you — your name, age, height, and weight themselves are not sent to the AI (your raw height/weight/age are used only on your device to calculate those targets).
Optional email + how-you-heard. At the end of onboarding we ask for an optional email address (so we can occasionally tell you about new features) and where you heard about Aioli (for attribution). Both fields are entirely skippable. If you provide them, they're sent to our analytics provider (PostHog) as person properties tied to your analytics profile, so we can build aggregate dashboards (e.g. "how many users came from Reddit") and reach out to subscribers about new releases. We never sell the email or share it for cross-app advertising.
Your pantry, recipes, preferences, and shopping picks. This information is stored locally on your device. We don't upload or back it up to our servers.
Ingredient and dish names. To fetch food imagery, we may send ingredient or dish names (not your photos or personal details) to an image search provider.
Usage and diagnostic data. We collect app-usage events (for example, which features are used and how long actions take) and crash/performance data to understand what's working and fix problems. This data is associated with a random per-install identifier (labeled with your first name) so we can recognize returning users; we never sell it or use it for cross-app advertising. A small, sampled subset of sessions may be recorded for product analysis with all text and images masked.
Who processes this data (service providers)
We share the minimum data needed with these providers, who act on our behalf:
- Anthropic (Claude) — ingredient detection and recipe generation.
- Together AI — AI-generated food images.
- Pexels — stock food image search.
- Cloudflare — secure request routing (our backend proxy).
- PostHog — product analytics (usage events; sampled, masked session analytics).
- Sentry — crash and error reporting.
- Expo / EAS — app delivery and updates.
Each provider handles data under its own privacy terms. We do not sell or rent your data to anyone.
Data retention
- Photos: processed and discarded; not retained on our servers.
- Pantry/recipe/preference data: kept on your device until you remove it.
- Usage/diagnostic data: retained in aggregate/anonymous form for product analysis.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your data: clearing your pantry (Aioli tab → Reset Pantry) or uninstalling the app removes the data stored on your device.
- Camera/photos access: you control camera and photo-library permissions in iOS Settings.
- Save-to-Photos: off by default; you choose whether captured photos are saved to your camera roll.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access or delete personal data. Because Aioli stores your content on your device and our analytics are anonymous, most of this is in your hands directly; for anything else, contact us below.
Children's privacy
Aioli is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Security
We route AI requests through a secured backend so credentials never ship inside the app, and we use standard encryption (HTTPS) for data in transit.
Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we'll update this page and the effective date above.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email privacy@aioli.kitchen.