Privacy Policy — Food Pal

Effective date: 20 May 2026 · Last updated: 14 June 2026

This policy explains what information the Food Pal mobile app collects, how we use it, and who we share it with. It applies to the Food Pal Android app (package com.za.foodiepedia) and the website foodiepedia.co.il. It does not apply to third-party services we link to.

1. Who we are

Food Pal (“we”, “us”, “our”) is operated by Za Marketing, based in Israel. You can reach us about anything in this policy at foodiepedias@gmail.com.

2. What this app does

Food Pal is an AI-powered calorie and nutrition tracker. You type or photograph what you ate; we send that input to an AI service (Anthropic Claude) which returns the foods it identified, with estimated calories and macronutrients. You log those entries to your daily diary, set goals, and track your weight.

3. The information we collect

We collect only what we need to make the app work.

3.1 Information you give us directly

• Account information — your email address, display name, and (if you sign in with Google) the Google account identifier returned to us by Google Sign-In. We do not receive your Google password.
• Profile information — your name, age, gender (used for calorie target calculation), height, current weight, target weight, daily calorie goal. All of this is editable in the app.
• Diary entries — what you typed about your meals, what foods the AI identified, the calories and macros it reported, the date and meal type (breakfast / lunch / dinner / snack).
• Photos you choose to attach to a meal entry — sent to the AI for food identification (see §4) and stored in your account.
• Weight log entries — weight values and dates you record.
• Messages you send to the AI Food Coach (if and when that feature is enabled in your build) — see §4.

3.2 Information collected automatically

• Device information — operating system version, device language and locale, app version, time zone. Used to localize the app and diagnose bugs.
• Usage events — which screens you visited, which features you used, approximate duration. Used to understand which parts of the app are useful and which to improve. We do not record what you typed into the AI in these events.
• Crash information — if the app crashes, we collect a technical stack trace and basic device information so we can fix the bug. We try not to log personal content in crash reports, but if a crash occurs while you are entering data, that data may incidentally be captured.
• Subscription information — if you purchase Premium, we receive a Google Play purchase token and entitlement status (active / expired) from Google Play and RevenueCat. We do not receive your credit card number.

3.3 What we do NOT collect

• We do not collect your phone’s contacts, calendar, SMS, call log, or location (the app does not request these permissions).
• We do not access your photo library — when you attach a photo to a meal, only that one photo is sent.
• We do not sell or rent your information to anyone, ever.

4. How AI processing works (please read this)

The most important thing in this policy: the text you type and the photos you attach are sent to Anthropic PBC (“Anthropic”), the maker of the Claude AI model, for processing.

• We route AI requests through our own server (a Firebase Function) which attaches our credentials and forwards the request to Anthropic. The AI reads your input, identifies the foods, and sends back the structured response that the app shows you.
• Anthropic processes this data in the United States. It is governed by Anthropic’s own privacy policy: anthropic.com/legal/privacy.
• Anthropic’s commercial API terms state that they do not train their models on data sent through the paid API (which is what we use). See anthropic.com/legal/commercial-terms.
• We do not send your name, email, weight, or any identifying information to Anthropic — only the meal text/photo and your device’s BCP-47 locale (e.g. he-IL) so the AI can respond in your language.
• If the AI Food Coach is enabled in your build, your chat messages are similarly sent to Anthropic for processing. The chat history is held only in memory on your device for the duration of the screen — we do not store coach conversations on our servers.

5. Why we use your information (legal bases under GDPR)

If you are in the EU/EEA or the UK, you can object to processing based on legitimate interest by emailing us. We will stop unless we have a compelling overriding reason.

6. Who we share information with

We share your information only with the third-party processors below, and only as needed to operate the app. Each company has its own privacy policy that governs what they do with the data we send them.

We do not share your information with advertisers. We do not allow any third party to advertise to you inside the app.

If we are ever required to disclose your information by law (court order, subpoena, etc.), we will, unless we are legally permitted to push back. If the company is ever sold or merged, this policy travels with the data.

7. Where your information is stored

• Your account, profile, diary, and weight log are stored in Google Firestore in the United States (default Firestore region for our project).
• Your AI inputs are sent to Anthropic in the United States and are not stored by us beyond what is needed to show you the resulting diary entry.
• The app keeps a local copy of your diary in the device’s secure app storage (Android Room) so it works offline. That local copy is wiped if you uninstall the app.

If you are in the EU/EEA, the UK, or other jurisdictions that restrict international data transfers, you understand and agree that your data is transferred to and processed in the United States. The third parties listed in §6 rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (or equivalent legal mechanisms) to make these transfers lawful under GDPR.

8. How long we keep it

• Account, profile, diary, weight log — kept until you delete your account in the app (Profile → Settings → Delete account) or email us a deletion request. Deletion is permanent and immediate; we cannot recover it afterwards.
• Analytics events — Firebase default of 14 months, then automatically deleted.
• Crash reports — Firebase Crashlytics default of 90 days, then automatically deleted.
• AI inputs sent to Anthropic — see Anthropic’s policy. Their paid API retains inputs for up to 30 days for abuse detection, then deletes them.

9. Your rights

You have the following rights regardless of where you live. Under GDPR (EU) and the Israeli Privacy Protection Law (5741-1981), they are legally guaranteed.

• Access — see the data we hold about you. Most of it you can see directly in the app (Profile, Diary, Weight log). For anything else, email us.
• Correction — fix it yourself in the app, or email us.
• Deletion — delete your account from Profile → Settings → Delete account. This permanently removes your profile, diary, and weight log from Firestore. Backup copies are removed within 30 days. AI inputs already sent to Anthropic are not under our control; they follow Anthropic’s retention.
• Portability — email us and we will export your diary and weight log as JSON. Free, within 30 days.
• Object / restrict processing — email us. We will comply unless we have a compelling legal reason not to.
• Withdraw consent — for any feature you opted in to (notifications, marketing email if we add it). Turn it off in Settings.
• Complain — to your local data-protection authority. In Israel that is the Privacy Protection Authority (gov.il). In the EU it’s your country’s supervisory authority.

10. Security

We protect your data with:

• TLS 1.2+ encryption in transit between the app, our Firebase Function, and Anthropic.
• Firebase Authentication for account login.
• Firestore security rules that allow each user to read/write only their own documents — no user can see another user’s data.
• The Anthropic API key is stored in Google Secret Manager and never embedded in the app. The app itself does not have direct access to that key.
• App user IDs are generated by Firebase; we do not have access to your Google password or any other credential.

No system is perfectly secure. If we discover a breach affecting your personal data we will notify you within 72 hours, as required by GDPR Article 33.

11. Children

Food Pal is intended for users aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please email us and we will delete it. Users between 13 and 18 should review this policy with a parent or guardian.

12. AI accuracy disclaimer

The AI’s nutrition estimates are not medically accurate. They are useful approximations to help you track trends, not a substitute for a registered dietitian or doctor. The app shows a persistent disclaimer to this effect. You should not rely on Food Pal for medical decisions.

The AI Food Coach, when enabled, refuses to give medical diagnoses, to set calorie targets below safe thresholds (1,200 kcal for women, 1,500 for men), or to recommend weight loss faster than 1 kg per week. If you have an eating disorder or are at risk, please contact a healthcare professional. Israeli emergency: ER”N – Emotional First Aid by Phone: 1201.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the “Last updated” date at the top and, for material changes, notify you in the app before the change takes effect. Continued use of the app after the change means you accept the new policy.

14. Contact

Email: foodiepedias@gmail.com
Postal address: Available on request.

For data-deletion requests, please send the request from the email address on file for your account, so we can verify the request.

Account & data deletion