Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2, 2026

PlateMate ("we", "our", or "the app") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following information when you use the app:

• Account Information: Username, email address (required at registration), and a securely hashed password. We do not store your password in plain text.
• Meal Data: Meals you create, including names, ingredients, serving sizes, cooking instructions, tags, and recipe books.
• Planning Data: Your weekly meal plans, grocery lists, and meal plan templates.
• Social Data: Friend connections and shared recipes/meal plans between users.
• Push Notification Tokens: If you enable push notifications, we store your device's push notification token to deliver notifications about friend requests and shared content. You can disable notifications at any time through your device settings.
• Local Device Data: The app caches your meal and planning data on your device for offline access. This data is stored locally and synced with our servers when you are online.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain the app's core features (meal planning, grocery lists, recipe storage)
• To verify your email address and secure your account
• To send password recovery emails when you request a password reset
• To enable social features (sharing recipes and meal plans with friends)
• To send push notifications about friend requests and shared content (when enabled)

3. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in a secure PostgreSQL database. Passwords are hashed using bcrypt. We use HTTPS for all data transmission. Session data is stored server-side and linked to your device via a secure cookie. Locally cached data on your device is stored using standard platform storage mechanisms.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• Expo Push Notifications: To deliver push notifications to your device. Expo processes your device token to route notifications. See Expo's Privacy Policy.
• Resend: To send transactional emails for email verification and password recovery.

5. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your data: Export all your data from the app settings.
• Delete your data: Clear all your meal data from the app settings, or permanently delete your entire account.
• Data portability: Export your data in a standard format.

6. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, all associated data is permanently removed from our servers. Locally cached data can be cleared by uninstalling the app.

To keep the service running efficiently, certain data is automatically cleaned up:

• Planned Meals: Meal plans older than 90 days are automatically removed. Your saved recipes in your meal library are not affected.
• Security Tokens: Expired password reset and email verification tokens are periodically purged from the system.
• Shared Messages: Messages in your inbox older than 30 days are automatically removed.

7. Children's Privacy

The app is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of any material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at takedabeats@gmail.com.