Privacy Policy

Who we are and what this covers

Ate Plates LLC (“Ate Plates,” “we,” “us”) provides the Ate Plates website and beta meal-planning app. This policy describes personal information handled through those services, including our waitlist and support. Contact us at hello@ateplates.com.

Our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy provides additional details about allergies, dietary restrictions, and other health-related information. It controls if the two policies conflict about consumer health data. Our Terms of Use explain the limitations of AI suggestions, nutrition estimates, and recipe imagery.

Information we collect

• Account and contact information: account identifiers, name and email supplied through Apple or Google sign-in, settings such as language and time zone, and waitlist answers and support messages you provide.
• Meal and planning information: meal logs, dates and meal occasions, dish names, portions, notes, photos and thumbnails, chat and setup inputs, meal plans, saved or liked recipes, and shopping selections. Information you enter about other people at your table is also processed.
• Dietary and inferred information: allergies, restrictions, preferences, and other health information you choose to provide; AI-generated dish identifications, nutrition estimates, and inferred preferences or restrictions derived from meal logs and conversations. Inferences may be wrong, even when the app calls them “learned facts.”
• Photo-related information: uploaded image content, capture time when available, meal date, and identifiers used to recognize previously processed photos. Photos can incidentally reveal people, surroundings, receipts, or other personal details.
• Technical information: network and request information such as IP address, device or browser information, operational and error logs, and notification tokens and delivery information. The website also collects visit and interaction information through Google Analytics as described below.

Photos and optional Auto-detect meals

You can manually log meals and select or take photos. Auto-detect meals (also called Auto-Scan) is optional and off by default. When you enable it and grant Photos access, the app checks newly taken photos available under that permission, starting when you enable the feature. Limited Photos access limits the available selection. Checks can run when you open the app and during background activity permitted by iOS.

Initial food classification happens on your device. Photos classified as possible food are automatically uploaded for cloud processing, including by OpenAI, to identify dishes and create meal information. There is no separate approval for each detected photo. The classifier can make mistakes and upload an image that is not food. Photos rejected by this local check are not uploaded by Auto-detect.

The app prepares resized copies and thumbnails for upload without copying the original image’s embedded metadata. It separately uses capture time to place meals in your journal and sends photo identifiers to prevent duplicate processing. Visible content in the image is still uploaded. If an original is stored in iCloud, Apple may download it to your device so the app can process it.

Turn off Auto-detect in app Settings or change Photos access in iOS Settings. Turning it off stops future scans; it does not recall uploads or cloud processing already started, or delete existing meal data. Manual logging remains available.

How we use information and AI

We use information to authenticate accounts, keep meal records, respond to chat inputs, generate and organize meal suggestions and shopping lists, estimate nutrition, personalize recommendations, and provide requested notifications and support. We also use operational information to troubleshoot problems, secure the service, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations.

OpenAI processes relevant meal text and uploaded photos, conversations, preferences, restrictions, and inferred information to produce these features. Personalization can run after your original interaction; it is not limited to the moment you submit a message. Recipe generation and image discovery can use web search, which may involve recipe-related queries derived from your requests. This is cloud processing, not solely processing on your phone. We do not promise that AI requests or responses are never retained by providers.

Who receives information

• Google Cloud and Firebase: hosting, authentication, storage, service operations, and push-notification delivery. These services process account and app data, including stored meal photos, conversations, and dietary information.
• OpenAI: the AI inputs and outputs described above, including health-related information when present. AI services may use supporting service providers to deliver features such as search.
• Apple and Google: sign-in services you select; Apple also supports iOS notification delivery and the optional Health export described below.
• Youform: the website’s linked waitlist form processes the information you submit. We use responses to manage beta invitations and communicate about Ate Plates. You can ask us to remove your waitlist entry or stop invitation emails.
• Google Analytics: website visit and interaction information, as described below.
• Instacart: when you request a grocery-shopping link, selected recipe or shopping-list information, such as ingredient names and quantities, is sent to create that link. Selections may reveal dietary preferences or restrictions. Shopping and checkout on Instacart are subject to its own terms and privacy policy.

Authorized personnel and service providers may access information as needed to operate, troubleshoot, secure, or support the service. We may disclose information when legally required, to protect rights or safety as permitted by law, or in connection with a business transfer subject to applicable privacy obligations. Health data remains subject to the additional restrictions in our health policy.

We do not sell meal logs, photos, conversations, or health-related information, or provide them to advertisers for targeted advertising. The website analytics arrangement is described separately below. Third-party services you visit or authorize have their own privacy practices.

Optional Apple Health export

With your permission, Ate Plates writes meal names, dates, and estimated calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat to Apple Health. This integration does not read your existing Apple Health records. Estimates come from your Ate Plates meal information and AI processing; they are not measurements or medical advice.

You can turn off future export in app Settings and manage permissions in Apple Health. Turning off export does not remove previously exported records. Review and manage those records in Apple Health; access by other apps depends on the permissions you give them.

Website analytics and local storage

Our landing and error pages load Google Analytics to measure visits and interactions. Google may receive online identifiers, page URLs, referring pages, browser and device information, and network information, and may use cookies or similar technologies. The legal pages themselves do not load analytics. We do not intentionally send app meal logs, photos, chat content, or dietary profiles to website analytics.

You can manage cookies in your browser, use browser tracking protections, or use Google’s Analytics opt-out browser add-on. See how Google uses information from partner sites. These choices do not delete information already collected. Our website does not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals. The app stores settings and working data locally, including scan progress, to operate its features.

Retention and deletion

Meal history, uploaded photos, conversations, and derived information are stored to support your account and ongoing personalization; photos are not automatically discarded immediately after AI analysis. Retention depends on the information’s purpose, whether you still use the service, deletion requests, security needs, and applicable legal obligations. Support, operational, and waitlist records may have different retention needs. We do not represent that all copies disappear immediately when you remove an item.

You can edit or delete meals using the journal controls and archive learned entries in Kitchen Notes. Archiving is not erasure. Removing a source meal does not necessarily remove previously derived information, related conversations, provider records, or stored photo copies. Signing out or uninstalling the app does not delete your account or server data.

You can delete your account in the app under Settings › Delete Account. Deletion signs you out immediately, closes the account to further use, and permanently deletes your account and associated data, including meal records, photos, conversations, learned entries and notification tokens, within 30 days. It cannot be undone. We keep a record that a deletion completed; it does not identify you or contain your content. If you cannot use the app, or for a broader deletion request, email hello@ateplates.com. Identify the account and the scope of your request; do not send passwords or unnecessary health details. We may verify your identity before acting. Applicable deletion rights extend to associated data and provider copies as required by law. Any legally permitted retention or backup delay remains subject to applicable limits; see the health policy for additional protections.

Your choices and privacy rights

You decide what to enter and whether to enable Photos access, Auto-detect, notifications, or Health export. Avoid submitting someone else’s sensitive information without appropriate authority. Cloud AI processing is part of meal recognition, chat, and personalized suggestions; avoiding it limits those features.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access or obtain a copy of information, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, withdraw consent, or object to or restrict certain processing. Send requests, including requests about inferred information, to the email above. We will respond under the requirements and time limits applicable to your request. You can appeal a refusal by replying with “Privacy appeal” and may contact your local privacy regulator. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

Security, children, and changes

We use safeguards intended to protect information, but no service can guarantee complete security. Information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our providers operate; protections may differ from those where you live.

The beta is intended for adults aged 18 or older and is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from anyone under 13. Do not create an account for a child. If you enter information about the people you cook for, including a child in your household, you are responsible for having the authority to share it, and we use it only to provide the service described in this policy. Contact us if you believe a child has supplied personal information directly, and we will delete it.

We will post updates here with a revised effective date and provide notice of material changes through the app, website, or email as appropriate. Where required, we will obtain consent before new collection, use, or sharing. A policy update does not itself constitute your consent.