Privacy policy

1. Who operates the app

RecipeAIssistant is operated by Jan van Rhijn, trading as RecipeAIssistant, a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak) registered in the Netherlands. In this policy, “we” and “us” refer to that operator. Where we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data, we are the data controller.

For privacy questions or requests, contact info@recipeaissistant.com.

2. Information you use in the app

RecipeAIssistant is a local-first recipe, meal-planning, and shopping-list app for Apple devices. You may add recipes, notes, ingredients, photos, meal plans, shopping lists, household information, and preferences. The app stores this information on your device to provide its features. Some information you enter, such as dietary restrictions, may be personal or sensitive. Only enter information you want to store or share.

When you use the system photo picker, the app receives the photos you select; this does not require access to your entire photo library. Photos saved to recipes become part of your app data.

You do not need a separate RecipeAIssistant account. We do not operate a backend for storing your recipes or household data.

3. iCloud sync and household sharing

The app uses Apple’s CloudKit service to sync household data with your iCloud account when iCloud is available. Synced content can include recipes, saved photos, meal plans, shopping lists, and household settings. Not all device-specific preferences are synced.

If you share a household, invited participants can access its associated content through Apple’s iCloud sharing service. Their permissions determine whether they can view or change shared content. Apple manages invitations and participant identity through its sharing interfaces. Sharing may make your identity visible to other participants.

Household owners can stop sharing or permanently delete a household using the app’s data controls. Stopping sharing leaves the owner’s copy in place, while deleting the household removes it for everyone, including participants. A participant can leave a shared household; leaving removes their local copy and their own participation but leaves the owner’s data intact. Stopping sharing or leaving does not remove copies that participants previously exported or saved outside the app. Do not share information about other people unless you have the right to do so.

Apple’s processing, storage, and international handling of iCloud data are subject to Apple’s applicable terms and Privacy Policy.

4. On-device AI

Smart recipe features use Apple’s on-device Foundation Models when supported and enabled on your device. Processing for these features takes place on your device; we do not send your recipe content to a hosted AI service. Saved results may subsequently sync through iCloud or be visible to household participants, like other saved app content.

5. Recipe websites and remote images

Importing a recipe from a URL, opening a source link, or displaying a remote image causes your device to contact the relevant website or image host. These services may receive your IP address, requested URL, request headers, and other information associated with normal web requests. Their own privacy policies apply to their handling of that information. Opening a website may also expose you to that website’s cookies or tracking technologies.

Imported text and downloaded images can be saved locally and synced or shared as described above. If an image remains a remote URL, displaying it may cause further requests to its host.

6. Purchases and subscriptions

Apple processes Premium subscriptions through the App Store. The app uses verified purchase and subscription information to unlock features and restore purchases. We do not receive your full payment-card details through the app. Apple’s terms and privacy practices apply to payment processing and its purchase records.

7. Advertising, analytics, and support

We do not sell your personal data, use it for targeted advertising, or include third-party advertising or analytics SDKs in the app. We do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites. Apple may process App Store and diagnostic information under its own settings and policies.

If you email us, we receive your email address, message, and any attachments you provide. We use this information to respond and resolve your request. Our email provider processes correspondence to deliver this service. Please do not send sensitive information unless necessary.

8. Purposes and legal bases

Where the GDPR applies to personal data we process, we rely on the following legal bases, as applicable:

• Providing the service: processing necessary to perform our agreement with you, including providing requested app features and managing access to Premium.
• Support: our legitimate interest in answering questions and resolving problems, balanced against your privacy rights, or performance of our agreement where the request concerns that service.
• Legal obligations: retaining or disclosing information where required by applicable law.
• Consent: where required for a particular processing activity. You may withdraw consent without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

Operating-system permissions and choices to use optional features are not, by themselves, a statement that every processing activity relies on GDPR consent. If you do not provide information needed for a feature, that feature may not be available. The app does not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

9. Retention and deletion

Local app content is retained while it remains in the app’s storage. Removing an item from the app does not necessarily immediately erase every underlying record or backup. Synced data may remain in iCloud; uninstalling the app does not, by itself, delete iCloud data or cancel a subscription. Backups and Apple’s retention practices can also affect how long copies remain available.

You can remove individual content through the available app controls and manage household sharing in Settings. Settings also provides data-management controls. Reset this device removes the app’s content and preferences from this device only. It does not delete anything from iCloud, so synced content can download again when sync resumes; a local reset is not permanent deletion. Delete household data is available to a household owner and permanently deletes that household and its associated content from the device and from iCloud through Apple’s CloudKit service, including for anyone it was shared with. Deletion may remain pending while iCloud is unavailable or individual records cannot be verified. Pending status and a retry control remain available after reopening the app. Retry using the original iCloud account; device reset is blocked while deletion is unconfirmed. A participant cannot delete the owner’s household; instead, Leave household removes that participant’s local copy and their own participation, leaving the owner’s data intact.

These controls cannot remove copies other people exported or saved outside the app, or copies retained in backups, and they do not cancel a subscription or revoke a valid purchase. Manage or cancel a subscription through your Apple Account. We do not operate a separate recipe database and cannot directly access or erase your private iCloud content through a support email.

Support correspondence is kept only as long as needed to resolve the request and address related issues, unless a longer period is required by law. Exported files, recipients’ independently saved copies, and backups are outside the app’s deletion controls.

10. Your privacy rights

Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a portable copy of your personal data; restrict processing; object to processing based on legitimate interests; and withdraw consent where processing relies on consent. These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions.

Contact info@recipeaissistant.com to exercise your rights regarding information we process. Because your recipe data is stored on your device and in iCloud rather than on our servers, we may provide instructions instead of accessing it ourselves. We may request proportionate information to verify a request where needed.

You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the Netherlands, this is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

11. Security

The app uses Apple’s platform facilities for local storage, iCloud, and purchases. Protect your device and Apple Account, and review household sharing permissions carefully. No storage or transmission method can be guaranteed completely secure.

12. This policy website

This page does not include analytics scripts, advertising, or embedded third-party content, and does not itself set cookies. When accessed as a website, the hosting service may process technical request information, including IP addresses, requested URLs, and request headers, to deliver and secure the page. This is separate from the storage of your recipes and household data in the app and iCloud.

13. Changes and contact

We may update this policy when the app or its data practices change. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice where required by law.

Jan van Rhijn, trading as RecipeAIssistant, Netherlands. Email info@recipeaissistant.com.