MealForgeJoin Beta

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 31, 2026

1. Introduction

MealForge (“we,” “our,” or “us”) is operated by Knox Technologies. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use the MealForge application and related services.

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

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of information to provide and improve MealForge:

Account Information

  • Email address — used for authentication and account recovery
  • Display name — used to personalize your experience
  • Authentication credentials — managed securely through Firebase Authentication

Meal Planning Data

  • Meal plans and calendar entries — the meals you schedule and organize
  • Recipes — recipes you save, create, or generate within the app
  • Dietary preferences and restrictions — used to personalize recipe suggestions and meal plans
  • Budget preferences — used to tailor meal plans to your financial goals

Shopping & Pantry Data

  • Shopping lists — generated from meal plans or created manually
  • Pantry inventory — items you track as currently on hand
  • Kroger integration data — product search results and pricing retrieved from the Kroger API on your behalf

Family Member Profiles

  • Names — to identify family members within your household
  • Dietary restrictions and allergies — to ensure meal plans accommodate each family member
  • Cuisine preferences — to personalize recipe recommendations
  • Health goals — to align meal plans with nutritional objectives
  • Zip code — to locate nearby grocery stores
  • Kroger store ID — to retrieve pricing and availability from your preferred store

Photos & Images

  • Shelf and pantry photos — images captured through the shelf scanner feature, processed to identify food items and update your pantry inventory

Personalization Data

  • Preparer name — the primary person preparing meals
  • Family composition — number and ages of household members
  • Cooking skill level — to match recipe complexity to your experience
  • Cooking styles — preferred methods and cuisines
  • Kitchen equipment — appliances and tools you have available
  • Dietary restrictions and allergies — to filter unsafe ingredients
  • Health goals — nutritional targets and wellness objectives
  • Lunch preferences — whether lunches should be included in meal plans
  • Picky eater flags — to avoid disliked foods and ingredients

3. How We Use Your Data

Your data is used for the following purposes:

  • App functionality — to generate meal plans, build shopping lists, manage pantry inventory, and provide recipe suggestions
  • Personalization — to tailor recommendations based on your dietary preferences, family profiles, budget, and cooking preferences
  • Account management — to authenticate your identity, sync data across devices, and maintain your account
  • Security & fraud prevention — to protect against unauthorized access, detect abuse, and maintain the integrity of our services

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising purposes.

4. Third-Party Services

MealForge integrates with the following third-party services to deliver its features. Each service receives only the minimum data necessary to perform its function.

Kroger API

Product search, pricing, and store availability for shopping list integration.

  • We share: zip code, store ID, ingredient search terms, UPC codes, quantities
  • We receive: store locations, product information, pricing (cached for 2 hours)
Google Cloud Vision

Image analysis for the shelf scanner feature to identify food items from photos.

  • We share: shelf photos sent as base64-encoded images
  • Photos are processed in real time and are not stored permanently by us
Google Gemini

AI-powered recipe generation, meal plan creation, and intelligent food identification.

  • We share: dietary preferences, restrictions, budget parameters, available ingredients
Firebase

Authentication, cloud database (Firestore), and backend infrastructure.

  • Manages user authentication and securely stores account and app data
Open Food Facts API

Barcode lookups for identifying packaged food products.

  • We share: product barcodes (UPC/EAN) scanned by the user
  • We receive: product name, nutritional data, and ingredient lists

These services are governed by their own respective privacy policies. We encourage you to review them independently.

5. Data Storage & Security

We take the security of your data seriously and employ multiple layers of protection:

  • Encryption in transit — all data transmitted between the app and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS)
  • Encrypted local storage — sensitive data stored on your device, including Kroger OAuth tokens, is encrypted using AES-256-GCM
  • Cloud Firestore — your account data and meal planning information is stored in Google Cloud Firestore with enforced security rules that restrict access to authenticated users. All Firestore data is encrypted at rest
  • Cloud backup — your data is backed up through Firebase infrastructure to prevent data loss, with redundancy across Google Cloud regions
No tracking. MealForge does not use analytics services, crash reporting tools, or device fingerprinting. We collect only the data necessary to provide the app's features.

While we implement industry-standard security measures, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we are committed to protecting your information to the best of our ability.

6. Your Rights & Data Deletion

You have the right to access, correct, export, and delete your personal data at any time.

How to Delete Your Account & Data

You can permanently delete your account and all associated data directly within the app:

Settings > Account > Delete Account

This action is irreversible. Upon deletion, all of your personal data — including your profile, meal plans, recipes, shopping lists, pantry inventory, family profiles, and preferences — will be permanently removed from our servers within 30 days.

Depending on your jurisdiction (including under GDPR and CCPA), you may also have the right to:

  • Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Object to or restrict certain processing of your data
  • File a complaint with a data protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide you with our services. Specifically:

  • Account data — retained until you delete your account
  • Meal plans, recipes, and preferences — retained until you delete your account or remove them individually
  • Shopping lists and pantry inventory — retained until you delete your account or remove them individually
  • Kroger OAuth tokens — stored locally on your device and removed when you disconnect Kroger or delete your account
  • Shelf scanner photos — processed in real time and not stored on our servers after analysis is complete
  • Usage logs — retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging purposes, then automatically purged
  • Cache data — product pricing and store data is cached for up to 2 hours, then automatically cleared

After account deletion, all personal data is permanently removed from our systems within 30 days. Some anonymized, aggregated data that cannot be used to identify you may be retained for analytical purposes.

8. Contact Us

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

We will respond to all legitimate requests within 30 days.