Privacy Policy
App: DishDNA · Last updated: 2026-06-28
DishDNA ("the App") respects your privacy. This policy explains what information the App processes and how.
1. Information We Process
| Item | How it is handled | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Food/ingredient photos (camera or gallery) | Sent to a third-party AI service (Google Gemini API) for analysis. Not stored on our servers. | Recognize food/ingredients and generate recipes |
| Face photo (only if you photograph a face instead of food) | If a photo you take for analysis happens to be a person's face, it is sent to the AI service (Google Gemini API) only to produce a playful food look-alike, then discarded. Not stored on our servers. No facial recognition, biometric identification, or profiling is performed. | Fun, entertainment-only "which food do you resemble" result |
| Allergy information you enter (including custom entries) | Stored locally on your device. May be included in AI requests to generate recipes. | Exclude allergens from recipes |
| Saved recipes (favorites), searches, language/settings, usage count | Stored locally on your device. | Provide app features |
| Anonymous authentication identifier | A random identifier issued without login. Used to manage free usage limits. | Daily usage limits, abuse prevention |
| Shared recipes (when you tap "Share as link") | Recipe text is stored at a public link readable by anyone with the URL. | Recipe link sharing |
| Community posts (only if you publish one) | The photo, the AI-generated recipe text, your chosen tags and the posting language are stored in Google Firebase (Firestore & Cloud Storage) and are publicly readable by anyone using the App. Posting requires a Google or Apple account. | Show your recipe in the community feed |
| Community display name | Generated automatically from a word list plus a number (for example SpicyRaccoon#48213) and stored as indexes so it renders in each reader's own language. It is not derived from your name or email, and your email address is never shown to other users. | Attribute posts without revealing identity |
| Reports you submit | Stored with your account identifier against the reported post, so one account cannot report the same post twice. | Moderation and abuse prevention |
| Authors you block | Stored on your device and, when signed in, privately under your own account so the list survives reinstalling. | Hide posts from authors you blocked |
| Account email & identifier (only if you enable Backup with Google/Apple) | When you choose to back up, we receive your email address and a user identifier from Google or Apple to create your account. Sign-in is entirely optional. | Identify your account so backups can be restored on another device |
| Backed-up favorites, their photos & settings (only if Backup is enabled) | Your saved recipes, the photos attached to them, and your settings (language & allergies) are stored privately in Google Firebase (Firestore + Cloud Storage), readable only by your account. | Restore your saved recipes, photos and settings after reinstalling or switching devices |
The App does not collect directly identifying personal information such as name, phone number, precise location, or contacts. Account sign-in is optional and used solely for backup; the App works fully without it.
2. Third-Party (AI) Processing of Photos
Photos you capture or select are sent to and processed by Google's Gemini API for analysis. The App does not retain these photos on its own servers. Google's handling of data is governed by Google's privacy policy.
As a light-hearted "Food Twin" easter egg, if the photo you submit for analysis is a person's face rather than food, the AI returns a playful food resemblance instead. This is for entertainment only; the face photo is not stored or reused, and the App performs no facial recognition, biometric matching, or identification of individuals.
3. Account Backup (Optional)
You may optionally sign in with Google or Apple to back up your saved recipes. When enabled:
- We receive your email address and a user identifier from the sign-in provider to create and identify your account.
- Your saved recipes, their attached photos, and your settings (language & allergies) are uploaded to Google Firebase (Firestore & Cloud Storage) and stored privately under your account. Only your authenticated account can read them. Photos are compressed before upload.
- This data is kept in your account so it stays available across your devices and reinstalls, until you delete it or delete your account.
- Inactivity: if you do not open the app for over 1 year, your backup (recipes, photos and settings) is automatically and permanently deleted.
- Backed-up photos in this feature are your stored copies and are separate from the temporary AI analysis described above.
If you never enable Backup, none of this data leaves your device beyond the AI analysis described above.
4. Community Posts (Optional)
Publishing to the community feed is entirely optional; the App works fully without it. Treat anything you post as public.
- Public by design. A published post — its photo, recipe text, your short note and tags — can be read by anyone using the App. Do not post photos containing faces, documents, addresses, or anything else you would not want to be public.
- Automatic screening. Submitted photos are sent to Google's Gemini API to confirm they show food before the post is published, together with the note you added, which is screened in the same request. Photos not recognised as food, and notes that breach the rules, are rejected and never published.
- Pseudonymous. Posts are attributed to an automatically generated display name. Your email address and sign-in identity are never shown to other users.
- Retention. Community posts are kept for as long as they remain published, and are stored separately from your private backup.
- Removal. You can delete any of your own posts from the post itself, which permanently removes its photo, recipe, likes, reports and cached translations. Deleting your account also deletes every post you published. A post is additionally hidden automatically once enough users report it, and immediately when reported as illegal.
5. Data Storage & Retention
- Allergies, favorites, and settings are stored on your device.
- Daily usage, the anonymous identifier, and shared recipes are stored in Google Firebase (cloud).
- Backed-up recipes, photos and settings are stored in your account and kept until you delete them (individually, by deleting the account, or by request), or until your account is inactive for over 1 year (then deleted automatically). They sync across your devices while you are signed in.
- Deleting the App removes data stored on your device (cloud backups are kept until deleted as above).
6. Data & Account Deletion
- Local data is removed by uninstalling the App.
- If you enabled Backup, open Backup & Restore in the App and tap "Delete account & backup" to permanently delete your account and all backed-up recipes and photos.
- You can also request deletion of any cloud data (including data linked to your anonymous identifier, shared recipes, or community posts) by emailing us at the address below.
- Community posts can be deleted individually from each post, and are all deleted automatically when you delete your account.
7. Permissions
- Camera: capture and analyze food/ingredients
- Photos/Media: analyze gallery photos, save recipe cards
8. Children's Privacy
The App is not directed to children under 14 and does not knowingly collect their personal information.
9. Changes
This policy may be updated; changes will be posted on this page.
10. Contact
Privacy inquiries: apps.daon@gmail.com