1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly and information gathered automatically when you use SpiceGuyBot.

• Account information: When you create an account via Google Sign-In or email/password, we collect your email address, display name, and profile photo URL.
• Dietary preferences: Diet tags, allergies, favourite cuisines, and cooking skill level you set in your profile.
• Chat messages: The text messages you send to our AI assistant in order to generate recipe responses. Messages are processed in real time and are not permanently stored on our servers.
• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, browser type, device type, and general geographic region (country level) collected via Google Analytics.
• Fridge photos: Images you upload for ingredient scanning are sent to the OpenAI API for analysis and are not stored on our servers after processing.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and personalise the SpiceGuyBot service (e.g. injecting your dietary preferences into AI chat context).
• To create and manage your user account.
• To respond to your AI chat messages and generate recipe suggestions.
• To improve our service through aggregated, anonymised analytics.
• To send service-related communications (e.g. password reset emails).

3. Third-Party Services

We use trusted third-party services to operate SpiceGuyBot:

• Firebase (Google): Authentication and user account management. Firebase Privacy Policy.
• OpenAI: Powers the AI recipe chat assistant and fridge photo ingredient analysis. Messages are processed under OpenAI's Privacy Policy. We have opted out of OpenAI's training data usage for API requests.
• Google Analytics: Aggregated, anonymised usage analytics. Google Privacy Policy.
• Google AdSense: Serves the advertising that keeps SpiceGuyBot free to use. Google and its partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure ads. See How Google uses information from sites that use its services. SpiceGuy Pro subscribers are not served ads and the advertising script is not loaded for them.
• Polar: Merchant of record for SpiceGuy Pro subscriptions. Payment details are entered on Polar's own hosted checkout and never reach our servers. See Polar's Privacy Policy.
• Google Fonts: Font files loaded from Google's CDN. Subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
• PostgreSQL database: Stores user accounts and preferences on secure servers.

4. Cookies and Local Storage

We use browser storage technologies to improve your experience:

• Session storage: Caches trending recipe data and your preferences for the current browser session to reduce API calls.
• Firebase authentication cookies: Used to keep you signed in between sessions.
• Local storage: Stores your theme preference (dark/light mode).
• Google Analytics cookies: Anonymised usage tracking. You can opt out via Google Analytics Opt-out.
• Advertising cookies: Google and its partners use cookies and device identifiers to serve ads and measure how they perform. Where required, we ask for your consent before any advertising cookie is set, and you can change that choice at any time through the consent controls our consent management platform provides.

Advertising

SpiceGuyBot is free to use because it carries advertising. Here is exactly what that means for your data:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to SpiceGuyBot and other sites on the internet.
• You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, or opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info and Your Online Choices.
• If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we ask for your consent through a Google-certified consent management platform before any advertising or measurement cookie is set. Declining means you will see non-personalised ads or no ads at all — it never limits your access to the site.
• SpiceGuy Pro subscribers see no ads. The advertising script is not requested at all on a Pro account, so no advertising cookie is set by us while your subscription is active.
• We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share your recipes, chat messages, fridge photos or saved cookbook with advertisers.

5. Data Retention

• Account and preferences data: Retained while your account is active. You can delete your account at any time by contacting us.
• Chat messages: Not stored persistently. Processed in real time and discarded.
• Fridge photos: Not stored. Processed by OpenAI and immediately discarded.
• Analytics data: Retained per Google Analytics' standard data retention policies (up to 26 months by default).

6. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Update or correct your preferences via your profile page at /profile.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection: Object to certain types of processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected].

7. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including HTTPS encryption in transit, Firebase Authentication for secure account management, and limited access controls on our database. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Children's Privacy

SpiceGuyBot is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. International Transfers

Your data may be processed in countries other than your own (including the United States) by our third-party service providers (Google, OpenAI). These providers have appropriate safeguards in place to ensure your data is protected.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of SpiceGuyBot after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: spiceguybot.com