Privacy Policy

Last updated: 9 November 2026

EthiCook ("the app", "we") is designed to be private by default. The app works entirely on your device, with no sign-up and no EthiCook account. We run no server for the app: we do not receive your pantry, your usage or any other personal data. This policy explains the only cases where data leaves your phone.

In short: your pantry lives encrypted on your phone. We show no ads and use no tracking, analytics or advertising SDKs. Your personal data only leaves your device to look up a scanned barcode on Open Food Facts and — only if you choose to — to contribute product information to Open Food Facts. Contributing is completely optional; the app works fully without it.

Who is responsible (data controller)

The controller responsible for your personal data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is Giovanni Andrea Binda (Slide Factory Apps), based in Germany. You can reach us at app_support.keenly472@passmail.com. Full contact details are in our Impressum.

1. Data stored on your device

The food items you add — name, optional brand, barcode, expiry date, quantity, and dietary/category info from lookups — and your settings are stored locally on your device, encrypted (Android EncryptedSharedPreferences). The app also keeps a local history of your actions (items added, used or wasted, recipes opened) to show statistics and achievements; it stays on your device too. None of this is sent to us or to anyone else.

2. Product lookups (Open Food Facts)

When you scan a barcode, the app sends only that barcode to the Open Food Facts API to retrieve the product's name, image, and dietary information. No personal data or location is attached beyond a standard app User-Agent and your IP address (as with any web request). Recipe suggestions are bundled in the app and need no network.

3. Contributing to Open Food Facts (optional)

Contributing is entirely optional. You never need an Open Food Facts account to use EthiCook, and nothing is sent unless you open the contribution form for a product and tap Send.

What is sent: the product details you enter (barcode, name, brand, quantity, category and dietary labels). They are sent directly from your phone to Open Food Facts over an encrypted connection — not through any EthiCook server.
Public and attributed to you: contributions are published publicly on Open Food Facts under the Open Database License (ODbL) and credited to your Open Food Facts username. Public contributions cannot be un-published by us, so do not include personal information.
Your Open Food Facts login: Open Food Facts requires an account to accept contributions. If you sign in, your username and password are stored encrypted on your device only and sent only to Open Food Facts, to verify your login and to submit your contributions. We never receive them. Logging out in Settings deletes them from your device.
Your Open Food Facts account itself is governed by the Open Food Facts privacy policy.

4. Sharing and external links

If you tap a Share button (for example to share your achievements), the app opens Android's share sheet and you choose where the message goes. We do not see what you share. Links such as Support on Ko-fi or this privacy policy open in your browser; if you choose to donate, the payment is handled by Ko-fi under its own privacy policy, and the app itself sends nothing.

5. Permissions

Camera — used only to scan barcodes and expiry dates on-device. Images are never uploaded or stored.
Notifications — used only to remind you about items nearing expiry and, if earned, achievements.

6. What we do NOT do

No advertising and no advertising identifiers.
No analytics, crash-reporting or tracking SDKs, and no data sent to us.
No EthiCook account and no EthiCook server storing your data.
No selling or renting of personal data.
No access to your contacts, location, or files.

7. Third parties

The app sends your data only to Open Food Facts (product lookups and, if you choose, contributions). Barcode and text recognition use Google ML Kit, which runs on your device: camera images are never sent anywhere, but ML Kit may send Google technical information about the API's performance and usage (such as device model and app version), as described in Google's ML Kit terms. The app is distributed through Google Play, which processes data under its own terms when you download it. This website is hosted on Google Firebase Hosting, which receives standard web-request data (such as your IP address) when you visit it; this does not apply to the app.

8. Legal bases for processing

Where the GDPR applies: product lookups are needed to provide the feature you use (Art. 6(1)(b)) and send only a barcode; contributing to Open Food Facts is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time by not contributing and logging out in Settings.

9. Data retention & your rights

You can delete any item in the app at any time. Logging out of Open Food Facts deletes your login from the device, and uninstalling the app removes all locally stored data. Because we hold no personal data about you on any server, there is no EthiCook account to delete. Contributions already published on Open Food Facts are managed by Open Food Facts.

Under the GDPR you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability, and to object to processing. To exercise any of these, email us at the address above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority — in Germany, the authority of your federal state (Land) or the one where the controller is based.

10. Children

The app is suitable for a general audience and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.

11. Changes

We may update this policy as the app evolves — for example, if we add optional online features in the future. Material changes will be reflected here with a new "last updated" date before they take effect.

12. Contact

Questions or requests: app_support.keenly472@passmail.com

EthiCook is not affiliated with Open Food Facts or Google.