Privacy Policy

Adapted from Basecamp's open-source policies under CC BY 4.0.

The privacy of your data — and it is your data, not ours! — is a big deal to us. In this policy, we lay out: what data we collect and why; how your data is handled; and your rights with respect to your data. We promise we never sell your data: never have, never will.

This policy applies to SaltPaper, the iOS app built and maintained by SaltPaper ("Company", "we", "us"). When we say "Services", we mean the SaltPaper iOS app and the saltpaper.app website. When we say "you", we mean you — the person or organization using our Services.

What we collect and why

Our guiding principle is to collect only what we need. Here's what that means in practice:

Identity and access

When you sign up for SaltPaper, you sign in with your Apple ID using Sign in with Apple. We receive a unique Apple identifier and, if you choose to share it, your name and email address. That's so you can personalize your account and so we can send you essential product information. We'll never sell your personal information to third parties, and we won't use your name in marketing statements without your permission either.

Billing information

SaltPaper Pro subscriptions are handled entirely through Apple's App Store and StoreKit. We never receive, process, or store your credit card information or payment details. Apple handles all billing. We only know whether you have an active subscription so we can provide the appropriate level of service.

Content you create

We store on our servers the content that you create in SaltPaper. This includes recipes (titles, ingredients, steps, notes, source URLs), recipe photos you upload, cookbooks, meal plans, grocery lists, comments, and ratings. This is so you can use the app as intended. We keep this content as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we'll delete the content within 60 days.

AI recipe processing

When you use the AI-powered recipe saving feature, the text, image, or URL you provide is sent to Anthropic's Claude API for processing. Anthropic acts as a data sub-processor. This data is used solely to parse your recipe into a structured format. Data sent to Anthropic's API is processed in real-time and is not stored by Anthropic beyond the duration needed to complete the request, per their API data usage policy. Anthropic does not use your data for model training. We track the number of AI parses you've used for free tier limits.

Analytics

We use TelemetryDeck, a privacy-first analytics service, to understand how people use SaltPaper in aggregate. TelemetryDeck does not collect personally identifiable information, does not use cookies, and does not track individual users. Aggregated analytics data is retained by TelemetryDeck per their data retention policy. We use this data to improve the app. That's it.

Voluntary correspondence

When you email us with a question or to ask for help, we keep that correspondence, including your email address, so that we have a history of past correspondence to reference if you reach out in the future. We retain support correspondence for up to 3 years, or until you request its deletion.

Mobile app permissions

SaltPaper may request access to your device's camera (to photograph recipes) and photo library (to select recipe images). These permissions are always optional and the app will function without them, though some features may be unavailable. We also request permission to send push notifications to let you know about activity in shared cookbooks.

What we don't collect

• Advertising identifiers or ad tracking of any kind
• Location data
• Contacts or address book
• Browsing history
• Device identifiers for cross-app tracking
• Cookies (neither our app nor our website use cookies)
• Any data we don't need to provide the service to you

Shared cookbooks and family features

SaltPaper lets you share cookbooks with other users in your household or groups. When you share a cookbook, other members of that cookbook can see the recipes, photos, and notes within it. You control what content you share. If you leave a shared cookbook, your contributed recipes remain accessible to other members unless you delete them before leaving. Household administrators can see the names of household members but cannot access other members' private (unshared) recipes or data.

When we access or disclose your information

To provide products or services you've requested. We use third-party services to help run SaltPaper and provide the Services to you:

• Convex — backend database and file storage (privacy policy)
• Anthropic Claude API — AI recipe parsing, acting as data sub-processor (privacy policy)
• Apple — authentication (Sign in with Apple) and subscription management (StoreKit)
• TelemetryDeck — privacy-first analytics (privacy policy)

No SaltPaper human looks at your content except for limited purposes with your express permission, for example, if an error occurs that stops an automated process from working and requires manual intervention to fix. These are rare cases, and when they happen, we look for root cause solutions as much as possible to avoid them recurring.

When required under applicable law. SaltPaper is a U.S. company. Our policy is to not respond to government requests for user data unless we are compelled by legal process or in limited circumstances in the event of an emergency request. If we are compelled to disclose data, it is our policy to notify affected users before we do so, unless we are legally prohibited.

If SaltPaper is acquired by or merges with another company — we don't plan on that, but if it happens — we'll notify you well before any of your personal information is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Your rights with respect to your information

We strive to apply the same data rights to all customers, regardless of their location. These rights include:

• Right to Know. You have the right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared or sold. We outline both the categories and specific bits of data we collect, as well as how they are used, in this privacy policy.
• Right of Access. This includes your right to access the personal information we gather about you, and your right to obtain information about the sharing, storage, security and processing of that information.
• Right to Correction. You have the right to request correction of your personal information.
• Right to Erasure / "To Be Forgotten". This is your right to request, subject to certain limitations under applicable law, that your personal information be erased from our possession and, by extension, from all of our service providers. Fulfillment of some data deletion requests may prevent you from using SaltPaper because the app may then no longer work. In such cases, a data deletion request may result in closing your account.
• Right to Portability. You have the right to receive the personal information we have about you and the right to transmit it to another party.
• Right to Non-Discrimination. We do not and will not charge you a different amount to use our products, offer you different discounts, or give you a lower level of customer service because you have exercised your data privacy rights.

If you have questions about exercising these rights or need assistance, please contact us at [email protected].

Legal basis for processing (EEA users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), we process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Contract performance: account data, content you create, AI recipe processing — necessary to provide the Services you signed up for.
• Legitimate interest: anonymous analytics (TelemetryDeck), support correspondence, security monitoring — necessary for improving and protecting the Services.
• Consent: push notifications, optional camera/photo library access — you can withdraw consent at any time via your device settings.

If you are located in the EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

Data retention

• Account data and content: retained as long as your account is active. Deleted within 60 days of account deletion.
• AI processing data: text, images, and URLs sent to Anthropic are processed in real-time and not retained by Anthropic beyond the API request.
• Analytics: TelemetryDeck retains aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data per their retention policy.
• Support correspondence: retained for up to 3 years, or until you request deletion.
• Subscription status: retained as long as your account is active. We do not retain Apple billing details.

How we secure your data

All data is encrypted via SSL/TLS when transmitted from our servers to your device. Recipe photos are stored in Convex's file storage with signed URLs. We take reasonable measures to protect your data, but no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure.

What happens when you delete content

You can delete individual recipes, cookbooks, and other content at any time within the app. Deleted content is removed from our active systems promptly. You can also delete your entire account and all associated data directly within the app under Profile > Settings, or by contacting us at [email protected]. All content will be permanently deleted within 60 days of account deletion.

Children's privacy

SaltPaper is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

Location of site and data

Our Services are operated in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you provide to us will be transferred to and stored in the United States. Where our third-party processors (Convex, Anthropic) offer Standard Contractual Clauses or other transfer safeguards approved by the European Commission, we rely on those mechanisms for international data transfers. By creating an account, you acknowledge that your data will be processed in the United States.

California residents

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), we are required to make certain disclosures. We do not sell or share your personal information as defined by the CCPA. In the preceding 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (Apple ID, name, email), commercial information (subscription status), user-generated content (recipes, photos, cookbooks), and internet activity (anonymous analytics). For questions about your California privacy rights, contact [email protected].

Changes and questions

We may update this policy as needed to comply with relevant regulations and reflect any new practices. Whenever we make a significant change to our policies, we will refresh the date at the top of this page and take any other appropriate steps to notify users.

Have any questions, comments, or concerns about this privacy policy, your data, or your rights with respect to your information? Please get in touch by emailing us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to try to answer them!