Privacy Policy for Shelfze

Last Updated: December 24, 2025

Introduction

Welcome to Shelfze ("we," "our," or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our mobile application (the "App"). We are committed to protecting your privacy while helping you reduce food waste through intelligent inventory management.

By downloading or using Shelfze, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: If you create an account, we collect your email address. If you use social login (Google/Apple), we collect your basic profile information provided by that service.
• Inventory Data: Food items, expiration dates, quantities, categories, and notes you manually enter or scan.
• Images and Video: Photos and video frames of food items/labels captured via the camera for analysis.
• Preferences: Language settings, app configuration, and dietary preferences (e.g., "Vegetarian," "Gluten-Free").
• Household Data: If you create or join a Household, we collect household membership information, including household name, member IDs, invite codes, and shared pantry data.
• Nickname: You may set a display nickname (up to 20 characters) to identify yourself to other household members. This nickname is stored with your account and visible to household members.

Note on Dietary Data: By voluntarily providing dietary preferences, you consent to our processing of this data solely to filter recipes and organize your pantry.

1.2 Automatically Collected Information

• Device Data: Model, OS version, unique device identifiers (e.g., IDFV), and app version.
• Usage Analytics: Feature usage, scan success rates, recipe generation frequency, and interaction logs.
• Diagnostics: Crash reports, error logs, and performance metrics.
• Authentication Data: Anonymous User IDs assigned by Firebase Authentication to sync your data.
• Purchase History: Subscription status, transaction receipts, and renewal information (processed via RevenueCat).
• Attribution IDs: We may collect advertising identifiers (such as IDFA or Google Advertising ID) via our partners (RevenueCat, Firebase) solely for the purpose of attributing install sources and measuring campaign performance.

1.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

We do not collect:

• Financial Information: All payments are processed directly by Apple (App Store) or Google (Play Store). We do not access or store credit card numbers or bank account details.
• Precise Location Data: We do not track your GPS location.
• Clinical Health Data: We do not collect medical records, biometric data (FaceID/Fingerprint), or clinical health information.

2. How We Use Your Information

2.1 Core Functionality

We use your data to:

• Process images to identify food and expiration dates via AI.
• Sync your pantry inventory across your devices via the Cloud.
• Generate relevant recipes based strictly on your available ingredients.
• Manage your premium subscription status and entitlements via RevenueCat.
• Send push notifications for expiring items (if enabled).
• Enable Household sharing so family members can access a shared pantry and credits.

2.2 AI Improvement & Data Analysis

We utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) services provided by Google.

Service Improvement: Aggregated, anonymized data (such as scan success rates and detected food labels) may be used to improve the accuracy of our food recognition algorithms.

Google's Use: Data sent to Google Cloud Vision and Gemini AI is processed according to Google’s Data Processing Terms. While we send data for the purpose of analysis, Google may use anonymized payloads to improve their own models depending on their current policies.

2.3 Analytics

We use tools like Firebase Analytics to understand how the App is used, detect crash patterns, and improve user experience.

3. Data Sharing

3.1 Household Sharing

If you create or join a Household:

• Your pantry items are shared with all household members.
• Your shopping list is shared with all household members.
• Your saved recipes are shared with all household members.
• Your usage credits (scans, recipes) are pooled with the household.
• Other household members can see items you add to the shared pantry, shopping list, and saved recipes.
• Your nickname is visible to other household members.
• Household members cannot see your personal account details (email, password).

3.2 Third-Party Service Providers

We share data only with the specific third-party services required to operate the App.

• Google Firebase: Authentication, Database, Hosting, Analytics (Google Privacy)
• Google Cloud Vision: OCR & Image Recognition (Google Cloud Data)
• Google Gemini (Vertex AI): AI Food Detection & Recipe Generation (Vertex AI Data)
• RevenueCat: Subscription Management & Purchase Validation (RevenueCat Privacy)

We do not sell your personal data to advertisers or data brokers.

4. Camera and Microphone Usage

The App requests permissions to:

• Camera: To capture images of food packaging and read expiration dates via OCR.
• Microphone: Required by the system when recording video clips for scanning. Note: We do not analyze or transcribe audio from these clips; the microphone is accessed only because it is part of the standard video recording format.

Data Retention for Images: Images and video frames are transmitted securely to our cloud processors for immediate analysis. We do not permanently store your raw photos or videos on our servers. Once the analysis (JSON data) is extracted, the visual media is discarded.

5. Data Retention & Security

Storage: Data is stored securely on Google Cloud Platform (Firestore).

Retention: We retain your inventory data as long as your account is active.

Security: We use HTTPS (TLS) encryption for all data in transit and industry-standard security rules for database access.

Anonymous Accounts: If you use the App without signing in, your data is tied to an anonymous ID. If you delete the App or clear your device storage without linking an email, this data will be permanently lost.

6. Your Rights and Choices

6.1 Account & Data Deletion

You have the right to delete your data at any time.

• In-App Deletion: Go to Settings > Delete Account. This will permanently wipe your inventory and user record from our database.
• Manual Request: Contact support@shelfze.com.

6.2 Permissions

You can revoke Camera, Microphone, or Notification permissions at any time via your device settings. Note that revoking permissions will disable scanning features.

6.3 European Users (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict the processing of your personal data. To exercise these rights, contact us at the email below. Our legal basis for processing is Contractual Necessity (to provide the service) and Legitimate Interest (to improve security and features). By providing dietary preferences, you explicitly consent to their processing.

6.4 California Users (CCPA)

We do not "sell" or "share" personal information as defined by the CCPA. You have the right to know what data we collect and request deletion.

7. Children's Privacy

Shelfze is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or 16 in certain jurisdictions). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we discover such data, we will delete it immediately.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices. We will notify you of any material changes via an in-app update or notification. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy indicates the latest revision.