Privacy Policy
In short
- The app has no accounts. It does not ask for your name, email or phone number.
- It has no advertising, no analytics and no tracking. Your data is not sold or used for advertising.
- Your scan history and edits stay on your phone.
- When you scan a barcode or photograph a nutrition table, the app sends that barcode or photo to servers so it can look up or read the product. Details are below.
1. Who is responsible
The app is developed and operated by Tiago Knoch, an individual developer (the “developer”, “I”). I am the controller of the personal data described in this policy.
Contact: tiagoknoch+nutriscore@gmail.com
2. What the app does
Nutri-Score Calc calculates an unofficial Nutri-Score grade (A to E) from the nutrition values of a packaged food or drink. It gets those values from a product database, or by reading a photo of the nutrition table.
3. What data is processed, and why
| Data | What happens to it | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode you scan | Sent to Open Food Facts to look up the product, and to my server to check whether other users have confirmed values for it. | Finding the product |
| Photo of a nutrition table | Sent to my server, then to a third-party AI service provider, which reads the values from the image. My server does not keep the photo, and the app does not keep it in your history. The provider processes it under its commercial terms: it does not use it to train its models by default, and it may keep it for a limited period (typically up to 30 days) for operating and safety purposes. | Reading the label |
| Label confirmations (barcode and nutrition values, never the photo) | When you confirm values, they are saved in a shared database together with a one-way hash of your anonymous ID. Values are shown to other users only after two different phones agree. | Building a reliable shared product database |
| Scan history, edits, settings | Stored only on your phone. | Showing your history |
| Diagnostic log | Kept on your phone. It leaves your phone only if you tap “Share diagnostic log” and choose where to send it. | Fixing problems you report |
Camera. The app asks for camera access to read barcodes and photograph nutrition tables. It does not use the camera for anything else. Photos you pick from your library are treated the same way as photos you take.
What I do not collect: your name, email address, phone number, precise location, contacts, health information, advertising identifier, or any analytics about how you use the app.
4. Artificial intelligence
The app uses an AI service for one purpose only: reading the values from a photo of a nutrition table. It is not used for recommendations, profiling or personalised content.
- What is sent: the photo you take or choose for reading. Nothing else from your phone is sent with it: no name, contacts, location or photo library.
- Who receives it: my server passes the photo to a third-party AI service provider, which returns the values it reads.
- Your permission: the app asks before the first photo is sent, and sends nothing if you decline. You can withdraw permission at any time with the switch in the app under About, and barcodes and typing values by hand keep working without it.
- When: only when you take or choose a photo for reading. Scanning a barcode alone sends no photo.
- What happens to it: my server does not keep the photo. The provider processes it under its commercial terms: it does not use it to train its models by default, and it may keep it for a limited period (typically up to 30 days) for operating and safety purposes.
- Please photograph only the nutrition table. Avoid including people, documents or anything else you don’t want processed.
- The AI’s reading can be wrong, which is why the app shows the values and lets you check them against the label and correct them.
5. Legal basis
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Serbia, I process this data on these bases (GDPR Article 6, and the equivalent provisions of Serbia’s Law on Personal Data Protection):
- Providing the service you ask for (looking up and reading products).
- Legitimate interests in keeping the service secure, preventing abuse, and keeping the shared product data accurate. I balance these against your rights; the data involved is minimal and not linked to your identity.
- Consent where you give it: allowing camera access, and allowing photos to be sent to the AI service. You can withdraw either at any time, the second with the switch in the app under About and the first in iOS Settings. Withdrawing does not affect what was done before.
6. Who receives data
- Open Food Facts receives barcodes you scan. It is an open, community-run database. Its privacy policy.
- Google (Firebase) provides the hosting and database for my servers, acting on my behalf. Google’s privacy policy.
- An AI service provider receives nutrition-table photos so its model can read the values, acting on my behalf (see section 4).
- Apple provides App Attest, which helps confirm the app is genuine.
Each of these providers is bound by terms that require protection of the data equal to what this policy and Apple’s App Store rules require. I do not sell your data and I do not share it for advertising. I may disclose data if the law requires it, to protect rights or safety, or to investigate abuse or fraud. If the app is ever transferred to someone else, this policy and your data protections would continue to apply.
7. Transfers outside your country
My servers and database run in the European Union (Belgium and the Netherlands). The providers above may process data in the United States and other countries. Where required, transfers rely on safeguards such as the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses or the providers’ certification under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.
8. How long data is kept
- Nutrition-table photos: not stored by me; used only while the values are being read. The provider’s own retention is described in section 4.
- Scan history, edits and diagnostic logs: on your phone until you delete them or delete the app.
- Label confirmations: kept in the shared database for as long as they are useful for the product record, or until removed on request.
- Technical server logs: 30 days.
9. Your rights
You can ask me for access to, correction of, or deletion of data about you, to restrict or object to its processing, and to receive it in a portable form. Your scan history is on your phone and under your control: delete items in the app at any time, or delete the app to remove everything stored on it. Uninstalling the app stops all further collection from your phone.
The app has no accounts, and the data on my servers (barcodes, nutrition values, a hashed anonymous ID and short-lived logs) does not identify you, so I may not be able to find data about a particular person. I will still do my best to help. If you believe a shared product record is wrong, or want something removed, email tiagoknoch+nutriscore@gmail.com. I will acknowledge your message within 30 days and reply fully within one month. I do not make decisions about you by automated means.
If you think I have handled your data unlawfully, you can complain to a data protection authority. In Serbia this is the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection (poverenik.rs). If you live in the EU or UK, you can also contact your local authority.
10. US residents
I do not sell or share personal information for advertising, and I do not collect the categories of information that US state privacy laws treat as sensitive. If you live in a US state with a privacy law (such as California), you can ask me to access, correct or delete personal information about you, and I will not treat you differently for doing so. Use the email above.
11. Tracking, cookies and “Do Not Track”
The app uses no cookies, advertising identifiers, analytics or tracking technologies, and does not link your activity across other apps or websites. For that reason there is nothing to opt out of, and no “Do Not Track” setting changes how the app works.
12. Children
The app is not directed at children under 13 and I do not knowingly collect personal data from them. The app collects no information that identifies a person directly.
13. Security
Connections between the app and my servers are encrypted, and the app uses App Check to block non-genuine clients. No system is perfectly secure, but I keep the data I hold to a minimum so there is little to lose. If a breach affected your personal data, I would tell the people affected and the authorities as the law requires.
14. Nutrition information
The grade shown is calculated by the app from label values. It is unofficial, may contain errors (for example from a misread photo), and is for information only. It is not medical or dietary advice.
15. Changes to this policy
If I change what the app does with data, I will update this page and the date above. If a change is significant, I will also tell you in the app. Earlier versions are available on request.
16. Contact
Tiago Knoch · tiagoknoch+nutriscore@gmail.com