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Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 17, 2026

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

  • Account Information: Email address, name, and profile picture (from Google or Apple sign-in).
  • Profile Data: Age, sex, weight, height, dietary preferences, allergies, health goals, cooking preferences, and household size you provide during onboarding or in your settings.
  • Usage Data: Recipes saved, recipe ratings, meal logs, pantry items, shopping lists, meal plans, saved preferences/notes, and chat messages.
  • Device and Technical Data: Limited technical information needed to secure, operate, and diagnose the service, such as browser type, device type, request metadata, and error details. We do not collect precise location data.
  • Payment Information: Processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your credit card details.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide personalized meal recommendations, recipes, and nutrition tracking.
  • To calculate your nutritional needs based on your profile.
  • To remember your preferences, pantry items, and meal history.
  • To process payments and manage your subscription.
  • To send important service updates, support communications, and (with your consent) marketing emails.
  • To improve the service based on how features are used.

3. AI and Your Data

MealThinker uses third-party AI service providers to generate meal plans, recipes, and nutritional guidance. When you use the chat or meal planning features, the following data may be sent to our AI providers:

  • Your dietary preferences, allergies, and restrictions
  • Items in your pantry
  • Your meal history and recipe ratings
  • Your nutritional goals and profile data (age, weight, activity level)
  • Text you type in the chat interface

What we do NOT send to AI providers:

  • Your email address or account credentials
  • Your payment information
  • Your name or identity

Our AI providers process this data solely to generate responses to your requests. We route AI requests primarily through providers that operate under zero-data-retention terms, meaning your inputs are used only to generate your response and are not stored by the provider. If those providers are temporarily unavailable, your request may be handled by another reputable AI provider under its standard business terms, which may involve limited temporary retention for security and abuse-prevention purposes. We do not request or authorize any AI provider to use your data to train its models, and we choose providers and service tiers intended to prevent such use. This processing may occur outside the United States (see Section 9). We may change AI providers at any time to improve the service.

4. Data Sharing

We share your data only with the following categories of service providers, solely to operate the service:

  • Stripe: For secure payment processing.
  • AI service providers: For generating meal plans and recipe recommendations (see Section 3).
  • Authentication providers: For secure sign-in (Google, Apple).
  • Email service providers: For sending authentication emails, service notifications, and marketing communications.
  • Error monitoring providers: For diagnosing application errors and reliability problems. We disable session recording and do not intentionally send health, payment, or chat content for this purpose.
  • Cloud infrastructure providers: For hosting, securing, and operating the application. Cloudflare also provides aggregate, cookie-free website traffic and performance measurement.

We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5. Data Security

  • All data is transmitted over HTTPS encryption.
  • Passwords are not stored. We use OAuth (Google, Apple) and magic link authentication.
  • Database access is restricted and secured.
  • API endpoints are protected with authentication checks and rate limiting.
  • We regularly review our security practices.

6. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information.

All users may:

  • Access: Request a copy of your data.
  • Correction: Update or correct your information through your account settings or by contacting us.
  • Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated data.
  • Export: Request your data in a portable format.
  • Opt out of marketing: Unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the link in any email.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request access to and deletion of it, and to correct it. MealThinker does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. Some information you provide, such as allergies and health goals, may be "sensitive personal information." We use it only to provide the features you request, and you may ask us to limit its use to those purposes. You will not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

European Economic Area and UK residents (GDPR): You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, object to processing, and data portability. Our lawful basis for processing most data is contract performance (to provide the service) and legitimate interest (to improve and secure the service). Some information you provide, such as food allergies, intolerances, and pregnancy or nursing status, is health-related "special category" data. Before saving this information to your profile, MealThinker asks for your separate, explicit consent in onboarding or Preferences and records the consent version and time. Because saved notes are free text and may contain sensitive information, using the saved-notes feature also requires this consent. Chat will not save allergies or free-text notes until consent is recorded. We process the information only to provide the requested personalization, and you can withdraw your consent by removing the information from your profile or deleting your account. For marketing communications, we rely on your consent, which you may withdraw at any time. You may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@mealthinker.com. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Cookies and Site Measurement

MealThinker does not use advertising cookies or product-analytics cookies. We use only cookies and browser storage needed to provide requested features:

  • Authentication and security: To keep you signed in, protect sign-in flows, enforce rate limits, and prevent abuse.
  • Preferences and requested functionality: To remember choices such as language, theme, in-progress onboarding, and dismissed interface prompts.

Most browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent you from using the service.

Cloudflare provides aggregate website traffic and performance measurements without using cookies, localStorage, or fingerprinting to track individual visitors. MealThinker does not use session replay.

8. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your data within 30 days, except where required by law (such as billing records).

9. International Data Transfers

Your account data is stored in the United States. When you use AI features, the limited data described in Section 3 may be processed by third-party AI providers operating data centers in other countries. We route these requests primarily through providers that commit to zero data retention, meaning they process your inputs only to generate a response and do not store them; if those providers are temporarily unavailable, your request may be handled by another reputable provider under its standard terms, which may involve limited temporary retention. We do not authorize these providers to use your data to train their models. By using MealThinker, you consent to this processing and to the transfer of your data to the United States and to these AI providers. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data is treated securely regardless of where it is processed.

10. Children's Privacy

MealThinker is not intended for users under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via email or through the service. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

12. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, contact us at support@mealthinker.com.