CookMind Privacy Policy

Spoonful Software LLC (“Spoonful Software,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) built CookMind (the “App”) to help you plan meals, manage your kitchen inventory, and cook with more confidence. This Privacy Policy explains what information the App collects, how it’s used, and the choices you have. Please read it carefully before using the App.

By downloading, installing, or using CookMind, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.

1. Summary (in plain language)

• CookMind stores your recipes, kitchen inventory, grocery lists, and preferences locally on your device, encrypted at rest. We do not operate a server that stores your personal recipe, inventory, or grocery data, and we cannot see it.
• The App does not require an account, login, or sign-up.
• Some optional features contact outside services to work — recipe import from a URL, food recall alerts, sending us a diagnostic report after a crash, and sending us feedback. Each is described in detail below, and each is either something you actively trigger or something you can turn off.
• The App shows ads (Android and iOS, via Google AdMob), which involves some automatic data collection by Google for ad delivery. See Section 6.
• We do not sell your personal information.

The rest of this policy fills in the details.

2. Information You Provide Directly

When you use CookMind, you may choose to enter:

• Recipes — names, ingredients, instructions, photos, notes, tags, nutrition estimates, and source links you save or import.
• Kitchen inventory — items you’re tracking, quantities, categories, storage location, purchase and expiration dates.
• Grocery lists and meal plans — what you’re planning to buy or cook.
• Profile information — an optional nickname, dietary preferences, a “Neurospicy” profile (ADHD / AuDHD / Autistic / None) used only to adjust reminder and interface behavior, and app settings like theme, text size, and units.
• Medications (optional, off by default) — if you turn this feature on in Settings, you can record medication names and refill reminder schedules. See Section 8 for important limitations.
• An optional location (country and postal code) — used only to determine which food recalls are relevant to show you. See Section 5.
• Optional free-text fields — such as “what were you doing when it happened” or a contact email, if you choose to fill those in when sending a diagnostic report or feedback (Section 7).
• Favorite websites, ingredient nicknames, and inventory clean-up reminders — recipe sites you save for quick access, alternate names you’ve taught the App for an ingredient (e.g. so it recognizes “tree blood” means “maple syrup” in your own inventory), and any recurring reminders you set to review your kitchen inventory.

All of the information in this section is stored locally on your device, in a database encrypted at rest (SQLCipher, with a device-generated encryption key held in your device’s secure hardware-backed keystore — Android Keystore or iOS Keychain). We do not transmit this information to Spoonful Software’s own servers, because we don’t operate a server for it — there isn’t one.

If you use your device’s own backup features (Android’s Auto Backup to your Google Account, or iOS’s iCloud backup), some App data may be included in your own Google Account or iCloud backup — see Section 9 for what that does and doesn’t include.

3. Information Collected Automatically

CookMind keeps a short local log of your recent activity in the App — which screens you visit and certain actions you take, such as adding or removing an inventory item, substituting or skipping an ingredient while cooking, checking off a grocery item, or adding a recipe to your meal plan. This is not analytics or tracking in the usual sense: it’s not sent anywhere automatically, it isn’t tied to an account or advertising identifier, and it’s stored only on your device, where it’s automatically cleared once you’ve been away from the App for a while and start a new session. It leaves your device only if you choose to send a diagnostic report (Section 7), which includes its contents at that time. Beyond that, we do not run background analytics on how you use the App.

4. Recipe Import

If you choose to import a recipe from a website or video URL, the App will make a request to that URL (and, for some sites, to images or other resources the page itself references) to retrieve the recipe content. This means the website or service you’re importing from will see a request coming from your device, the same as if you visited it in a browser. Spoonful Software does not see or store the content of that request beyond what’s needed to complete the import, and the imported recipe is then stored locally on your device as described in Section 2.

The App applies technical safeguards to this feature to avoid making requests to non-public / internal network addresses.

5. Food Recall Alerts

CookMind can show you food recall information sourced from public U.S. government feeds (the FDA’s openFDA enforcement data and, for meat/poultry recalls, the USDA FSIS API), plus, when you tap to view a specific recall’s official source, a lookup against FDA.gov’s own public search. These are one-way, public-data fetches — no personal information about you is sent to the FDA or USDA. If you’ve entered an optional country/postal code (Section 2), it is used only locally on your device to decide which recalls to show you; it is never transmitted anywhere.

Food recall information is provided as a convenience only. See the “No Medical or Food Safety Warranty” disclaimer in our Terms of Service — always confirm recall information through official government sources before acting on it.

6. Advertising (Google AdMob)

CookMind shows ads through Google AdMob on both Android and iOS. AdMob may collect and use information such as your device’s advertising identifier, general location (typically derived from IP address), app usage information, and other data to serve and measure ads, including potentially personalized ads, subject to your device’s ad settings.

This data collection is performed by Google, not by Spoonful Software directly, and is governed by Google’s Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can review and adjust your ad personalization settings, and opt out of personalized advertising where supported, through your device’s ad settings (e.g., Android’s “Opt out of Ads Personalization”, or iOS’s Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking).

On iOS, the App Store’s App Tracking Transparency framework applies: the first time you open the App, iOS will ask whether CookMind may track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. If you decline (or haven’t yet responded), the App still shows ads, but they will not be personalized using your device’s advertising identifier. You can change this choice at any time in your device’s Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

Note: as of this policy’s effective date, CookMind has not yet integrated Google’s consent management tooling for users in the EEA/UK (Google’s User Messaging Platform SDK). This is a planned near-term addition; this policy will be updated to reflect it once implemented, and advertising behavior for affected users will be adjusted accordingly in the meantime.

7. Diagnostic Reports and Feedback (Optional, User-Initiated)

Sending a diagnostic report. If the App crashes, or if you visit Settings → Crash Log, you can choose to send us a diagnostic report. This is entirely your choice — nothing is ever sent automatically. If you tap “Send Diagnostic Report,” the App sends: your app version, device platform, operating system version, device model, a timestamp, the on-device technical crash log (error type/message and code-level stack trace), the short local activity log described in Section 3 (which screens you recently visited and brief descriptions of certain actions — for example an item, ingredient, or recipe name involved in adding/removing/substituting/cooking — not your full recipe text, notes, or inventory list), and, only if you choose to fill them in, free-text notes about what you were doing and an optional contact email. This is submitted directly to a private Google Form we use to collect diagnostic reports; it is not displayed back to you in the App.

Sending feedback. If you choose Settings → Send Feedback, you write your feedback and pick a category (Bug, Suggestion, or General Feedback) directly in the App. If you pick “Bug,” the App also offers to attach the same short recent-activity log described in Section 3, to help us diagnose the issue — this is on by default, but you can turn it off before sending. Your nickname (if you’ve set one), name, and contact email are all optional and can be edited or left blank. When you tap “Send Feedback,” the App sends your feedback text, category, app version, platform, and whatever optional fields you filled in directly to a private Google Form we use to collect feedback; like a diagnostic report, this happens silently in the background and the form is not opened or shown to you.

Both forms’ underlying data is handled by Google as our form-processing service provider, subject to Google’s Privacy Policy. We review submissions to improve the App and respond to feedback where appropriate.

8. Medications Feature — Important Limitations

The optional Medications feature is a personal reminder tool only. It is not a medical device, is not reviewed by any medical professional, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, pharmacist guidance, or your own attentiveness to your medication schedule. Reminder delivery depends on your device’s operating system and settings (e.g., notification permissions, battery optimization) and is not guaranteed to be reliable. Never rely solely on this feature for medications where a missed or delayed dose could cause harm. All medication information you enter is stored locally on your device, as described in Section 2 — it leaves your device only if you include it in a backup or exported file, which is on by default (so a genuine backup doesn’t silently leave anything out) but you can turn off at any time in Settings (see Section 9).

9. Backups (Save Backup / Uninstall-Safe Snapshot / Auto Backup / iCloud)

CookMind has a few different backup mechanisms, described below. All of them cover the same core categories — your recipes, kitchen inventory, grocery list, favorite websites, ingredient nicknames, and inventory clean-up reminders are always included. Two additional categories, Settings (your nickname, email, and dietary/food-issue information) and Medications, are included based on two independent choices you make in Settings → “Backup Contents” — both default to on, so a backup doesn’t silently leave anything out, but you can turn either off at any time.

• Save Backup (manual export). Settings → “Save Backup” builds a single file (a .cookmind file) containing the categories above, per your own Backup Contents choices, and lets you save or share it anywhere you choose — for example, to your own cloud storage, or directly to another person (such as a household member setting up the same data on their own device). If you choose to share this file with someone else, they will receive whatever categories you had included at the time, potentially including Settings and/or Medications if those were turned on — this is entirely within your control, since you decide both what’s included and whether to share the file at all, and with whom. Restoring a Save Backup file that would overwrite existing Settings or Medications on the receiving device shows a confirmation screen first, so nothing is overwritten without you seeing what’s about to change.
• The optional, off-by-default “back up my data so it survives an uninstall” snapshot (Settings → Backup) is stored in an encrypted form in private, on-device storage. Its encryption key is held in your device’s hardware-backed keystore and is never itself included in any backup — so this snapshot can only ever be restored to a device that still has that same key (in practice, the same physical device, before you clear the app’s data or the OS clears the key). It cannot be meaningfully read or restored anywhere else, and it is never sent to Spoonful Software.
• Android’s Auto Backup / iOS’s device-or-iCloud backup. If you have Android’s Auto Backup enabled for CookMind (tied to your own Google Account) or use iOS’s device/iCloud backup, the on-device snapshot described above may be included in your own backup, stored by Google or Apple under your own account — not transmitted to or accessible by Spoonful Software. Recipe photos are included in plain (unencrypted) form in this kind of backup, the same as any other photo an app stores on your device. Your main recipe/inventory database itself is encrypted and, on Android, deliberately excluded from Auto Backup entirely (its key can never travel with it, so a backup of it alone would be useless).

10. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share information only:

• With Google, as described in Sections 6 and 7 (AdMob advertising; Google Forms for diagnostic reports/feedback), and, if you choose to use Android’s Auto Backup, Google Account backup storage under your control.
• With Apple, if you use iOS’s device/iCloud backup, under your control.
• With a website or service you choose to import a recipe from (Section 4).
• With anyone you choose to share a Save Backup file with (Section 9) — this only ever happens if you actively export and send that file yourself; we have no part in it and never receive a copy.
• With the FDA and USDA, only in the form of anonymous, one-way public-data requests (Section 5) — we never send them information about you.
• If required by law, to comply with a valid legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Spoonful Software, our users, or others.
• In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case this Privacy Policy would continue to apply to your information as transferred, subject to any required notice.

11. Data Retention and Deletion

Since your recipes, inventory, grocery lists, and profile data live locally on your device, you control their retention directly: deleting an item, clearing a list, or uninstalling the App removes that data from your device (subject to whatever your own device/cloud backup settings separately retain, per Section 9, which you also control).

Diagnostic report and feedback submissions (Section 7), once sent, are retained by us as needed to investigate issues, improve the App, and respond to feedback. To request deletion of a diagnostic report or feedback submission you’ve sent us, contact us using the information in Section 15 and include enough detail (approximate date/time sent, and the contact email you may have included) for us to locate it.

12. Children’s Privacy

CookMind is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us information (for example, via a diagnostic report or feedback submission), please contact us and we will delete it.

13. Your Privacy Rights

All users: You can access, edit, or delete the recipe/inventory/profile data stored on your device at any time directly within the App, since it’s stored locally under your control. You can decline to use any feature that involves data leaving your device (recipe import, food recall lookups, diagnostic reports, feedback, ads) — each is optional or user-initiated, as described above.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of personal information we hold, and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Based on the practices described in this policy, Spoonful Software does not “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under California law, beyond the ad-related data collection Google performs directly as described in Section 6. To exercise these rights regarding information you’ve sent us directly (Section 7), contact us using Section 15.

EEA/UK/other jurisdictions with data protection laws: Depending on where you’re located, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of personal information, and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. Because the large majority of your data never leaves your device, most of these rights are already exercised by you directly within the App. For anything you’ve sent us directly (Section 7), contact us using Section 15.

14. Data Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect information, including on-device encryption of your recipe/inventory database (SQLCipher) with a key held in hardware-backed secure storage (Android Keystore / iOS Keychain), and refusing to include that key in any device backup. No method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how CookMind handles information, contact us at:

Spoonful Software LLC
Email: spoonfulsoftware@gmail.com

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including as the App’s features evolve (for example, the AdMob consent-management update noted in Section 6). We’ll update the “Effective Date” above when we do. If changes are material, we’ll take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention (such as an in-app notice). Continued use of the App after a change becomes effective constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.