Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 5, 2026

SmartChefPH ("we", "our", "the app") is an AI-powered Filipino recipe assistant. This policy explains what information the app collects, why, and how it's handled. We built SmartChefPH to work without requiring an account or personal sign-in, so we collect the minimum needed to make the app function.

Information We Collect

Photos and Camera

When you use the "Scan Ingredients" feature, a photo you take or select from your library is sent to our backend and processed by a third-party AI service provider to identify ingredients and suggest recipes. The photo itself is not stored after the request completes — we keep only the resulting recipe text (name, ingredients list, steps), not the image.

Device Identifier

On first launch, the app generates a random identifier stored only on your device. It is sent with each request so we can scope your favorites, apply fair-use rate limits, and keep basic usage analytics (e.g. which dishes are trending). This identifier is not linked to your name, email, or Apple ID, and it cannot be used to identify you personally. It resets if you delete and reinstall the app.

Recipe Activity

We store the dishes you search for or generate, and which recipes you favorite, so the app can show your saved recipes and so we can compute aggregate "trending dishes" across all users. This data is tied to your device identifier, not to you personally.

Notifications

If you use cooking timers, the app schedules local notifications on your device (e.g. "Timer Done!"). These are generated and delivered entirely on-device — we don't receive or store anything about your timers on our servers.

Device Integrity Check

To keep the service reliable and prevent abuse (e.g. automated scripts impersonating the app), we use Apple's built-in device attestation capabilities. This lets our server confirm a request came from a genuine, unmodified install of SmartChefPH on a real Apple device. It relies on a hardware-backed cryptographic signal and does not identify you or your device beyond confirming app authenticity.

Advertising (Non-Personalized)

SmartChefPH shows contextual ads through Google AdMob and its configured Mediation partners to help cover the cost of the AI features. Every ad request is sent as a non-personalizedad request — we do not use Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA), do not show an App Tracking Transparency prompt, and do not build an interest or behavioral profile of you for ad targeting. AdMob and its Mediation partners may still collect limited technical data (such as coarse, IP-derived location and device/app diagnostic data) needed to serve and measure non-personalized ads and to detect invalid traffic; this is governed by Google's own policies at Google's Partner Sites policy.

What We Don't Collect

  • No account, email, or phone number is required or requested.
  • No location data.
  • No contacts, health, or financial data.
  • No behavioral/interest-based ad tracking, and no App Tracking Transparency prompt.
  • No data is sold or shared for advertising purposes.

Third-Party Services

Photos and dish descriptions you submit are processed by a third-party AI service provider to generate recipes and ingredient suggestions, under that provider's own privacy terms. Our backend runs on standard cloud infrastructure. We also use Google AdMob (and the Mediation partners configured through it) to show non-personalized ads; see the "Advertising (Non-Personalized)" section above for what that involves.

Data Retention & Deletion

Generated recipes are cached temporarily to speed up repeat requests and are cleared automatically. Since the app doesn't use accounts, there's no login to delete — uninstalling the app removes your local device identifier and any locally stored data (favorites, onboarding state) from your device. To request removal of server-side data tied to a specific device identifier, contact us using the details below.

Children's Privacy

SmartChefPH is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

If we change what data we collect or how we use it, we'll update this page and change the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Email capistranoken@gmail.com.