Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains what information Chefless ("Chefless", "we", "our") collects when you use the Chefless mobile app, how we use it, and the choices you have. Chefless is operated by Sahab LLC (Indiana, USA).
1. Information we collect
Information you provide
- Account: email address, full name, and (optionally) a profile picture, phone number, short bio, and signature image.
- Preferences: dietary preferences and favorite cuisines you select during onboarding.
- Content you create: recipes (titles, stories, ingredients, steps, photos), cooked-it posts (photos and captions), comments, ratings, kitchen schedule entries, and follow / block / report actions.
- Reports and moderation: if you report content or another user, we record the report, the target, and your description.
Information collected automatically
- Device push token: a Firebase Cloud Messaging token so we can send notifications you've opted into.
- Crash diagnostics (release builds only): stack traces and error reports via Firebase Crashlytics.
- Time zone offset: used so AI Recipe Helper daily limits reset at your local midnight.
- Subscription status: whether you have an active Chefless Pro entitlement, plan type, and expiration date (provided to us by RevenueCat).
- AI usage counters: how many AI Recipe Helper calls you've made (used solely to enforce daily limits).
Information we do not collect
We do not collect your precise or approximate location, contacts, calendar, microphone audio, health data, or payment card details. Apple and Google handle payment information; we never see your card.
2. How we use your information
- To create and maintain your account and authenticate sign-in.
- To display recipes, kitchens, follows, and other social features you choose to participate in.
- To send push notifications you've enabled (you can disable each type in Settings).
- To process and verify subscription entitlements through RevenueCat, Apple, and Google.
- To enforce the daily limit on AI Recipe Helper usage.
- To detect, investigate, and respond to reports, abuse, and policy violations.
- To diagnose crashes and improve reliability.
3. How sharing works inside Chefless
Chefless is built around two privacy layers you control:
- Account privacy: a public account is discoverable and followable by anyone; a private account requires you to approve follow requests.
- Recipe privacy: each recipe can be marked private (visible only to you) or shared (visible to people permitted by your account and kitchen settings).
If you fork a recipe, the original author's name and signature image remain attached as attribution, even if the original recipe or account is later deleted.
4. Third-party services
We use the following providers to operate Chefless. Each receives only the data it needs for its function.
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Firebase Auth (Google) | Sign-in and account identity | Email, name, profile photo, Firebase user ID |
| Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) | Push notifications | Device push token |
| Firebase Crashlytics (Google) | Crash reporting (release builds only) | Stack traces, device model, OS version |
| MongoDB Atlas | Database hosting (Oregon, USA) | All app data described above |
| Cloudinary | Image hosting and delivery | Recipe photos, profile pictures, signatures, cooked-it photos |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management | User ID, purchase receipts, entitlement status |
| Apple / Google | In-app purchases and Sign in with Apple / Google | Purchase receipts; sign-in identity tokens |
| Anthropic (Claude) | AI Recipe Helper (Pro users only) | The text prompt you send to the helper |
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.
5. Data retention and deletion
We keep your account data for as long as your account exists. You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Account. When you delete your account:
- Your profile, recipes, photos, ratings, comments, follows, blocks, kitchen invites, and shares are removed.
- Your kitchen membership ends; if you were the kitchen lead, leadership is transferred to the longest-tenured remaining member, or the kitchen is removed if you were the last member.
- If others have forked your recipes, the fork itself stays with the person who created it; only your name remains attached as the original author for attribution.
- Crash reports and subscription receipts held by Firebase, RevenueCat, Apple, and Google follow each provider's own retention policy.
To request deletion of an account you no longer have access to, email admin@chefless.org from the address on the account.
6. Your rights and choices
- Access and correction: view and edit your profile and content directly in the app.
- Deletion: delete individual recipes or your entire account from Settings.
- Notifications: turn off any category of push notifications in Settings → Notifications, or in your iOS settings.
- Privacy controls: switch your account to private and mark individual recipes as private.
- Block and report: block any user from your profile, and report content or users that violate our rules.
If you are in the EEA, UK, California, or another jurisdiction with applicable privacy laws, you may also have rights to a copy of your data, to object to certain processing, and to lodge a complaint with your local regulator. To exercise these rights, contact admin@chefless.org.
7. Children
Chefless is intended for users 13 years of age and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
8. Security
All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS). Authentication is handled by Firebase Auth. We restrict access to production data to authorized personnel. No system is perfectly secure; if we ever discover a breach affecting your data, we will notify you as required by applicable law.
9. International data transfers
Chefless is operated from the United States and our database is hosted in the U.S. (Oregon). If you use Chefless from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Continued use of Chefless after a change means you accept the updated policy.
11. Contact
Sahab LLC · Indiana, USA · admin@chefless.org