Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 11, 2026

Cooking Scientist ("we", "the app") teaches people how cooking works. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have. We keep it short because we collect little.

What we collect

• Account and progress. An anonymous account ID, your lesson progress, XP, streak and preferences from setup. If you later sign in with Apple, we store the identifier Apple gives us for you.
• Coach messages. The text you send to the coach and the replies are saved with your account so a conversation can continue. Photos you attach are resized on your device and sent once, through our servers, to OpenAI to produce a reply. We do not save the photo itself; we only save a note that a photo was attached.
• Cook with Chef Fizz. When you open a dish in the Pantry, the dish name and its ingredient list are sent through our servers to OpenAI to write the recipe. The recipe is saved on your device only.
• Recipe import (Cook tab). When you import a recipe, we send what you give us to OpenAI through our servers to turn it into a recipe: the link you pasted, the text of the page or post we fetch from that single link, or up to 4 screenshots you choose. We keep a count of your imports each day to enforce the daily limit. For public recipe pages we keep a shared cache of the parsed recipe, so the same page does not have to be read again; the cache holds the recipe, not who asked for it. If you send an import report (for example when an import looks wrong), we store the report and the link or text you chose to include with it. Your saved recipes, weekly plan, grocery list and cook history are kept on your device and backed up as described below.
• Backup and sync. So a new phone or a reinstall does not lose anything, the app backs up your progress (XP, streak, finished lessons, badges and preferences) and your Cook tab (saved recipes, weekly plan, grocery ticks and cook history) to our database (Supabase), linked to your account. Sign in with Apple to restore it on another device; a guest account's backup can only be reached from the phone that made it. Dish photos are not part of the backup and stay on your phone. The backup is deleted with your account.
• Dish photos and reminders. A photo you add to a cook check-in is kept on your phone and is not uploaded, unless you choose to publish it (next item). Cook and learning reminders are local notifications scheduled on your device; they do not use push notifications and no notification token is sent to us.
• Photos you publish to Who cooked it better? Only if you choose Publish after a check-in. The photo is made smaller on your phone, its location and camera details are removed, and it is sent to our servers, checked by OpenAI's moderation and stored with Supabase, linked to your account. Other players see it without your name. We also store the votes it gets, the votes you cast, and any photos you report or cooks you block, linked to your account. Delete a photo any time from your Inbox; everything here is deleted with your account.
• Haptics. The app uses your phone's vibration feedback for taps and results. It collects no data.
• Feedback you send. Ideas, bug reports and notes you send from Settings, Send feedback, with the optional email you choose to add, and the app version and platform. We use them to read and improve the app and to reply if you left an email. They are erased with your account.
• Sign in with Apple. If you sign in, we receive the identifier Apple gives us and, if you share it, your email address (which may be Apple's private relay address). We use it to link purchases to you and to reply to support requests.
• Purchases. Subscriptions and the one-time All Lessons purchase are handled by Apple and our subscription provider (RevenueCat). We receive what you own, not your payment details.
• Diagnostics. The app does not currently include third-party analytics or crash-reporting tools. Apple may give us anonymous crash and usage statistics if you have chosen to share them with developers in your device settings. If we add analytics or crash reporting later, we will update this page first.

We do not sell personal data. We do not use it for advertising and we do not track you across other companies' apps or sites.

How the AI features work

Coach, Cook with Chef Fizz and recipe import send your content through our servers to OpenAI, our AI provider, which writes the reply or builds the recipe: your message and optional photo, a dish name and ingredient list, or an import (a pasted link, the text of the page or post fetched from it, or up to 4 screenshots). The app asks for your agreement before the first send. We use the content only to answer your request. Text sent to the AI is checked by a content moderation filter first, and content that is flagged is not processed. When you import from a link we fetch only that one page, once, at your request. Calorie and nutrition numbers are estimates and are not medical or dietary advice. You can report any coach reply from the chat screen.

Service providers

We use Supabase (database and authentication), OpenAI (to generate coach replies, Cook with Chef Fizz recipes and imported recipes, and to check photos you publish) and RevenueCat (purchases and subscriptions) and Cloudflare Turnstile (a bot check when the app first starts a session). They process data only to provide their service to us.

Your choices

• Delete your account in the app (tap the gear at the top of the Cook tab to open Profile, then Settings, Delete account) or follow the steps on our deletion page. This erases your progress and recipe backup, streak, chats, import usage, feedback, reports, published photos and game votes from our servers, revokes your Sign in with Apple connection to the app, deletes your record with RevenueCat, and wipes the app's data on your phone (progress, saved recipes, dish photos and reminders).
• You can decline camera, photo library and notification permissions and still use the app.
• You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple ID settings.

Retention

We keep account data, the progress and recipe backup, coach chats, import usage counts, feedback, any coach or import reports you send, and your published photos, votes, photo reports and blocks until you delete your account (or, for a photo, until you delete it), which erases them. The shared cache of parsed public recipe pages is not tied to you and is not deleted with your account. Our database provider's backups roll off on its normal schedule after deletion. OpenAI handles the content we send it under its own terms and retention rules.

Children

The app is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Contact

Questions or requests: support@rideaustudio.ca.