Privacy Policy

AI recommendationsAI 点菜推荐AI 點菜推薦Recomendaciones de platos con IA

For eligible simple dish recommendations, ChefBear sends the request text, relevant dietary preferences and candidate menu text to OpenRouter, which routes them to TypeSafe AI’s Jev model to evaluate dish suitability. ChefBear does not attach account IDs, sign-in tokens or menu photos to these requests. Complex requests and unsuccessful evaluations use Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini. Content you include in request text or preferences is part of the information processed by these providers.对于适用的简单菜品推荐，ChefBear 会将请求文字、相关饮食偏好和候选菜单文字发送给 OpenRouter，再由其转发给 TypeSafe AI 的 Jev 模型评估菜品匹配度。ChefBear 不会在这些请求中附加账户 ID、登录令牌或菜单照片。复杂请求或未成功完成的评估由 Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini 处理。您在请求文字或偏好中填写的内容属于这些服务商处理的信息。對於適用的簡單菜式推薦，ChefBear 會將請求文字、相關飲食偏好和候選菜單文字傳送至 OpenRouter，再由其轉交 TypeSafe AI 的 Jev 模型評估菜式匹配程度。ChefBear 不會在這些請求中附加帳戶 ID、登入權杖或菜單照片。複雜請求或未能完成的評估由 Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini 處理。您在請求文字或偏好中填寫的內容屬於這些服務商處理的資訊。Para las recomendaciones sencillas compatibles, ChefBear envía el texto de la solicitud, las preferencias alimentarias pertinentes y el texto de los platos candidatos a OpenRouter, que los remite al modelo Jev de TypeSafe AI para evaluar su adecuación. ChefBear no adjunta identificadores de cuenta, tokens de inicio de sesión ni fotos del menú. Las solicitudes complejas o las evaluaciones fallidas se procesan con Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini. El contenido que incluya en la solicitud o las preferencias forma parte de la información procesada por estos proveedores.

OpenRouter · TypeSafe AI

1. Introduction

ChefBear ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use the ChefBear mobile application and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

Category	Data Collected	Collection Method
Account	Email address, phone number (when you choose phone sign-in), display name, profile photo (optional), authentication tokens	User-provided at registration or via phone or third-party sign-in (Apple, Google)
Device	Device model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, language & locale settings	Automatically collected
Camera	Menu images captured for scanning. For signed-in international accounts, photos are privately backed up to your account so recognition can be completed or retried later (from app version 4.4.0, location and other EXIF metadata are removed before upload); otherwise they stay on your device (see Section 7 and “Menu photos, cloud menus and sharing” below)	User-initiated camera capture
Purchase	Subscription status, purchase receipts, transaction IDs (payment details are handled entirely by the Apple App Store)	Via Apple App Store APIs
Crash & Diagnostics	Crash logs, performance metrics, error reports, stack traces	Automatically collected via crash reporting SDKs
Product Analytics	In-app usage events (for example, opening the camera, scanning a menu, seeing the paywall, starting or restoring a purchase, signing in, starring a dish, generating an AI image or a nutrition scan) with only non-sensitive category, number and yes/no properties; app version; device and operating system information; and, after sign-in, your pseudonymous ChefBear account ID. Never menu photos, menu text, dish names you type, email, name, phone number, precise location or Apple ID	Automatically collected via PostHog, subject to your choice in Settings > Share usage analytics (see Section 6); never collected in the mainland China service region
AI Interaction	Menu scan inputs, AI-generated dish descriptions and images, user feedback on AI results, prompt metadata	Generated during AI feature usage

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the collected data for the following purposes:

Purpose	Data Categories Used
Provide and maintain the Service	Account, Device, Camera, AI Interaction
Process menu scans and generate AI dish descriptions & images	Camera, AI Interaction, Device
Privately back up menu photos to your account so recognition can be completed or retried later and your menus are available on your signed-in devices	Camera, Account
Personalize your experience and recommendations	AI Interaction, Account
Process and manage subscriptions	Account, Purchase
Improve and optimize the Service	Crash & Diagnostics, AI Interaction, Product Analytics
Communicate with you (support, updates, announcements)	Account
Ensure security and prevent fraud	Device, Account, Crash & Diagnostics
Comply with legal obligations	All categories as required

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Depending on your jurisdiction, we process your personal data on one or more of the following legal bases:

• Consent: Where you have given explicit consent (e.g., camera access, or product analytics in regions where it is off by default). You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Contract: Processing necessary to perform our contract with you (e.g., providing the Service, managing your subscription).
• Legitimate Interest: Processing necessary for our legitimate interests (e.g., improving the Service, including product analytics where it is on by default and you can turn it off, security, fraud prevention), provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights.
• Legal Obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

5. AI & Automated Processing

ChefBear uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide core features including menu text recognition, dish identification, description generation, and AI-generated illustrative images of dishes.

• Menu images you capture are sent to our AI processing services to extract text, identify dishes, and generate descriptions.
• AI-generated images are illustrative representations and are not photographs of actual dishes. They are clearly labeled as AI-generated within the app.
• No profiling for legal effects: We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.
• AI training: We may use aggregated, de-identified interaction data to improve our AI models. Individual menu images are not used to train third-party AI models without your explicit consent.
• You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing. Contact us if you wish to request human review of any automated decision.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may receive your data:

Service	Provider	Data Shared	Purpose	Privacy Policy
Firebase Authentication	Google LLC	Email, phone number when phone sign-in is used, account-linked authentication identifiers and tokens	User authentication	Link
Firebase Crashlytics	Google LLC	Crash logs, device info	Crash reporting & stability	Link
RevenueCat	RevenueCat, Inc.	Pseudonymous app user ID linked to your ChefBear account, purchase receipts, and subscription status; associated customer/account data is included in our deletion process	Subscription management and deletion fulfilment	Link
PostHog	PostHog, Inc. (United States)	Product Analytics data described in Section 2	Product analytics; not used for advertising or cross-app tracking	Link
Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini	Google LLC	Menu images and text, dish queries, dietary preferences needed for a request, and image-generation prompts; no account credentials are sent	AI dish recognition & image generation	Link
Google Cloud Storage & Cloud Firestore	Google LLC	Backed-up menu photos, cloud menus and generated dish images of signed-in international accounts	Private storage for photo backups and cloud menus	Link
Apple App Store	Apple Inc.	Purchase & subscription data	Payment processing	Link

These third-party services have their own privacy policies governing how they handle your data. We encourage you to review them.

RevenueCat customer/account data is included in our deletion process. Apple acts as an independent controller for App Store transactions and may retain transaction records under its own legal and accounting obligations. Deleting your ChefBear account does not cancel an active subscription; you must cancel it in the App Store.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Account data and content: Retained while your account is active. Once a deletion request is accepted, deletion is irreversible and the account and its content are immediately unavailable and unrecoverable. Only a minimal deletion-fulfilment and security tombstone is retained, normally for no more than 30 days; it cannot restore the account. If a processor deletion is still awaiting verification, the tombstone is retained only until verification completes so the request can finish and data cannot be recreated; it is then deleted.
• Camera/menu images: For signed-in international accounts, menu photos are privately backed up to your account: right after you tap Recognize when backup is available for your account, otherwise after the menu is recognized. Photos of a scan that has not been recognized are deleted 365 days after its last activity; photos of a recognized menu are kept until 365 days after the menu's last successful content change. You can delete them in the app whenever you are online, except while your connection comes from mainland China. In the mainland China service region, photos are kept only on your device; while your service region has not been determined, as a guest, while signed out or while your connection comes from mainland China, photos are not backed up. Menus scanned as a guest may be backed up after you upgrade to a full account; with app versions earlier than 4.4.0, menus scanned while your service region had not been determined, while your connection came from mainland China or while signed out may also be backed up the first time you open them while signed in to an international account from outside mainland China (see “When photos are not backed up” below). Cached images on-device are managed by the app and can be cleared at any time.
• Product analytics data: Kept in PostHog for as long as needed for product analytics, and deleted, together with your PostHog profile, when you delete your account.
• Crash logs: Under Firebase's default retention, Crashlytics data is generally kept for about 90 days before removal begins from live and backup systems; removal is not necessarily immediate.
• Purchase records: RevenueCat customer/account data enters our deletion process. Apple may retain App Store transaction records as an independent controller for periods required by law; deleting your account does not cancel the subscription.
• AI interaction data: Recognition and other AI requests are recorded with your account for up to 35 days (a fingerprint of the request, not its content, together with the AI result) so an interrupted request can be resumed or answered again without charging your quota twice; menu text attached to a cloud-photo recognition job is kept with that job for up to 37 days. Prompt/response pairs may be retained in de-identified form for up to 12 months for quality improvement. Images sent only for AI processing are deleted within 30 days of processing; menu photos backed up to your account are kept as described under Camera/menu images.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted or irreversibly anonymized.

8. International Data Transfers

Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence, including the United States and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your jurisdiction.

Where required by applicable law, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for international transfers, including:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by relevant authorities
• Adequacy decisions by relevant data protection authorities
• Binding Corporate Rules where applicable
• Your explicit consent where other safeguards are not available

9. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data. We honor these rights for all users to the maximum extent practicable:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Deletion: Request that we delete your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Portability: Request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Object: Object to the processing of your personal data for certain purposes, including direct marketing.
• Restriction: Request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Automated Decisions: Not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.
• Complaint: Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at contact@awesome-bears.com. We will respond within 30 days (or sooner if required by applicable law).

10. Children's Privacy

ChefBear is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or the applicable minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at contact@awesome-bears.com, and we will take steps to delete such information promptly.

11. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest
• Access controls and authentication for internal systems
• Regular security assessments and monitoring
• Secure development practices

While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to promptly addressing any breach in accordance with applicable laws.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by other appropriate means before the changes take effect. The "Effective Date" at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.

Update effective October 5, 2026: backup right after you tap Recognize, and with it the 365-day deletion period for photos of scans that have not been recognized, applies to your account only after the ChefBear app has shown you an in-app notice about this change. Until then, your menu photos are not backed up before the menu has been recognized.

Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Menu photos, cloud menus and sharing菜单照片、云端菜单与分享

Private photo backup (international accounts). When you are signed in to an international ChefBear account and tap Recognize, ChefBear privately backs up the menu photos of that scan to your account. When backup is available for your account, it starts right after you tap Recognize, so recognition can be completed or retried later without retaking the photos, for example after a dropped connection or after you close the app; until then, photos are backed up after the menu has been recognized. The backup also lets your menus appear on your other signed-in devices. Starting with app version 4.4.0, ChefBear removes location and other EXIF metadata from menu photos before uploading them; earlier app versions may upload photos with this metadata, so keep ChefBear up to date. Backed-up photos are visible only to you and are never included in shared menu links.

照片私密备份（国际区账号）。你登录国际区 ChefBear 账号并点按识别后，ChefBear 会把本次拍摄的菜单照片私密备份到你的账号。备份功能对你的账号开放后，备份会在你点按识别后立即开始；即使网络中断或你关闭了应用，也能稍后完成或重试识别，无需重拍。在此之前，照片会在菜单识别完成后备份。借助备份，你的菜单也能在你已登录的其他设备上显示。自应用 4.4.0 版起，ChefBear 会在上传菜单照片前去除其中的拍摄位置等元数据；更早的版本可能连同这些元数据一起上传，请将 ChefBear 更新到最新版本。备份的照片仅你本人可见，也不会出现在分享的菜单链接中。

How long backed-up photos are kept. Photos of a scan that has not been recognized are deleted 365 days after that scan's last activity. Once the menu is recognized, its photos are kept with the cloud menu until 365 days after the menu's last successful content change, as described below. You can delete a scan, a cloud menu or your account in the app whenever you are online; deleting a scan or a cloud menu also deletes its backed-up photos. While your connection comes from mainland China, backed-up photos cannot be deleted; delete them after you connect from elsewhere.

备份照片的保留期。尚未识别的拍摄，其照片在该次拍摄最后一次活动后 365 天删除。菜单识别完成后，照片随云端菜单保留，直至该菜单最后一次成功修改内容后的 365 天（见下文）。联网时，你可以随时在应用内删除某次拍摄、某份云端菜单或注销账号；删除拍摄或云端菜单时，其备份照片会一并删除。网络连接来自中国大陆期间，已备份的照片无法删除，请在改用其他地区的网络连接后再删除。

When photos are not backed up. In the mainland China service region, menu photos are stored only on your device and are not backed up. Menu photos are also not backed up while ChefBear has not yet determined your service region, while you use ChefBear as a guest or signed out, or while your connection comes from mainland China. Menus you scanned as a guest, including their photos, may be backed up after you turn the guest account into a full account. If you use an app version earlier than 4.4.0, photos may also be backed up later for menus you scanned while your service region had not been determined, while your connection came from mainland China, or while signed out in any service region (such menus move to the account you sign in to next). This happens the first time you open such a menu while signed in to an international account and connected from outside mainland China, so keep ChefBear up to date. You can delete these photos in the app.

照片不备份的情形。在中国大陆服务区，菜单照片只存储在你的设备上，不会备份。此外，在 ChefBear 尚未确定你的服务区时、以游客身份或未登录状态使用时，以及你的网络连接来自中国大陆时，菜单照片也不会备份。以游客身份扫描的菜单（包括其照片），可能会在你把游客账号升级为正式账号后备份。如果你使用的应用版本早于 4.4.0，以下菜单的照片也可能在之后备份：在服务区尚未确定时扫描的菜单、网络连接来自中国大陆时扫描的菜单，以及在任何服务区未登录时扫描的菜单（这些菜单会归入你下一次登录的账号）。备份会在你登录国际区账号、并从中国大陆以外的网络首次打开该菜单时进行，因此请将 ChefBear 更新到最新版本。你可以在应用内删除这些照片。

ChefBear stores the structured text, original menu photos and generated dish images of your cloud menus, including menus you share or import, until 365 days after the last successful content change. Viewing or sharing the same content does not extend this period. Original photos are visible only to the creator. Anyone holding a public menu link can read the shared menu facts and dish images; taste profiles, allergy information, private orders and personal recommendation reasons are excluded. You can stop sharing, reset the link, delete the cloud menu or delete your account. Saved independent copies belong to their recipients and are not revoked with the original link. Content already downloaded or captured by recipients cannot be recalled.

ChefBear 会保存你的云端菜单（包括你分享或导入的菜单）的结构化文字、原始菜单照片及已生成菜品图片，保留至最后一次成功修改内容后的 365 天。浏览或重复分享不会延期。原始照片仅创建者可见。任何持有公开菜单链接的人都可查看菜单事实及菜品图片；口味档案、过敏信息、私人订单及个人推荐理由不会共享。你可以停止分享、重置链接、删除云端菜单或注销账号。接收者另存的独立副本不随原链接撤销；已下载或截图的内容无法收回。

The iOS share extension saves photos locally until you confirm recognition in ChefBear. External integrations require account authorization and use that account’s recognition quota; they create private menus with text first. Viewing a shared menu does not invoke AI. Mainland China supports shared viewing only. Failed or abandoned imports are removed from staging storage; access to expired or deleted menus is denied immediately and physical deletion follows in background cleanup.

iOS 分享扩展先将照片保存在本机，待你在 ChefBear 内确认后才识别。外部应用需经账号授权，并使用该账号的识别额度，先创建仅含文字的私人菜单。查看共享菜单不调用 AI。中国大陆仅支持共享查看。失败或放弃的导入会从临时空间清理；到期或已删除的菜单立即停止访问，并在后台清理文件。

Connected AI assistants. You can connect ChefBear to an AI assistant such as Claude. You approve each connection in the ChefBear app, and it can do only what the approval page lists: read the menus you ask about, import menu photos you provide (using your recognition allowance), and create or turn off public menu links when you ask. ChefBear receives only what the assistant sends to these tools, such as photo links, menu and import IDs and a language; it does not receive your conversations. The assistant receives the menu text and links these tools return, never your taste profile, allergy information, orders or original photos, and its provider’s privacy policy governs how it uses them. You confirm each connection with a code shown where you started it. A connection lasts until you disconnect it in the assistant or in the ChefBear app (Settings › Connected apps), ten more recently used connections to the same assistant replace it (ChefBear keeps at most ten per assistant), or you delete your ChefBear account. Until then ChefBear keeps a record of it (your account, the assistant, the permissions and when it was last used); access tokens expire after one hour. Menu photos imported from a link or file an assistant passes on are stored as provided, as that menu’s original photos: only you can see them and they are never included in shared links, but ChefBear does not yet remove location or other EXIF metadata from them.

已连接的 AI 助手。你可以把 ChefBear 连接到 Claude 等 AI 助手。每次连接都要你在 ChefBear App 内确认，且只能做确认页列出的事：读取你指定的菜单、导入你提供的菜单照片（使用你的识别额度），以及按你的要求创建或关闭菜单公开链接。ChefBear 只接收助手传给这些工具的内容，例如照片链接、菜单和导入编号及语言，不接收你的对话。助手只会收到这些工具返回的菜单文字和链接，不会收到你的口味档案、过敏信息、订单或原始照片；助手如何使用这些内容，由其提供方的隐私政策约束。确认连接时需要输入发起连接的页面上显示的验证码。连接会一直有效，直到你在助手或 ChefBear App（设置 › 已连接的应用）中断开、同一助手有 10 个更近使用的连接取代了它（每个助手最多保留 10 个），或注销 ChefBear 账号；在此期间，ChefBear 会保存这条连接的记录（你的账号、助手、权限和最近使用时间），访问令牌一小时后失效。通过助手提供的链接或文件导入的菜单照片会按原样保存为该菜单的原图：仅你本人可见，不会出现在分享链接中，但 ChefBear 目前不会去除其中的位置等 EXIF 元数据。