Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 21, 2026

BUYA Publishing Inc. ("we", "our", or "us") operates the Sous Chef Fresh mobile application. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly when creating an account and using the app:

Account information: email address, display name
Kitchen data: recipes, meal plans, inventory items, shopping lists, prep tasks
Household data: household membership, shared content between household members
Preferences: app settings, dietary preferences, optimization choices
Usage patterns: prep task completion times, cooking frequency, recipe preferences — used by our on-device learning algorithms to personalize your experience

2. On-Device Machine Learning

Sous Chef Fresh uses on-device machine learning algorithms to improve your experience over time. These include:

Smart Prep Learning: tracks how long prep tasks actually take you vs. estimates, so future time predictions become more accurate for your personal cooking speed
Smart Menu Selection: analyzes your recipe preferences, cuisine diversity, and ingredient usage patterns to generate more varied and personalized meal plans
Kitchen Strategy Optimization: learns your time/cost preferences to better balance shopping and prep recommendations
Inventory Depletion Estimation: tracks ingredient usage when you mark meals as cooked to predict when items will run low

Learning data is stored in your household's Firebase (Google Cloud) collection. The personalization algorithms run within the app using this stored data. Your learning data is never shared with third parties, sold, or used to train external AI/ML models. Firebase Cloud Functions may process your data server-side for notifications, reminders, and engagement analysis — this processing occurs within our secured Google Cloud project and is governed by Google's data processing terms.

3. Voice Data

Sous Chef Fresh includes an optional voice assistant feature ("Hey Chef"). All voice processing occurs entirely on your device using an offline speech recognition model. No audio data is recorded, stored, transmitted, or sent to any external server. Voice data never leaves your phone.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Provide and maintain the app's core features
Sync your data across devices via Firebase
Enable household collaboration features
Generate personalized meal plans and shopping lists
Improve prep time predictions through the learning algorithm
Send push notifications you've opted into (meal reminders, expiration alerts)

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely in Google Firebase (Firestore) with encryption in transit and at rest. We use Firebase Authentication for account security. All data operations use the Firebase REST API with authenticated requests.

Household data is scoped so that only members of your household can access shared content. We implement role-based permissions within households.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

Google Firebase: authentication, data storage, push notifications, crash reporting
Open Food Facts: product lookup when scanning barcodes (public API, no personal data sent)
UPC Item DB: fallback product lookup for barcode scanning (no personal data sent)
RevenueCat: subscription management (processes purchase data per their privacy policy)

7. Barcode Scanning and Product Contributions

When you scan a barcode for a product not found in our database and choose to add it manually, the product information (name, brand, category — not your personal data) may be contributed to the Open Food Facts open database to help other users. This contribution is associated with an anonymous identifier, not your personal account.

8. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We share data only:

With other members of your household (data you've chosen to share)
With Firebase/Google for infrastructure services
With RevenueCat for subscription management
When required by law or to protect our rights

9. Your Rights (GDPR / CCPA)

You have the right to:

Access your personal data (available via Data Export in the app)
Correct inaccurate data
Request deletion of your account and data
Export your data in a portable format
Opt out of analytics and crash reporting
Withdraw consent for data collection at any time

10. Children's Privacy

Sous Chef Fresh is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the app or by email. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at:
support@buyapublishing.com

BUYA Publishing Inc.