Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and what this covers

PracticeChef (“PracticeChef”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a culinary learning app for iPhone, operated by Brendan Smiley, a sole proprietor based in Alberta, Canada. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information when you visit practicechef.com, use the PracticeChef app, make a purchase in the app, or contact us (together, the “Service”).

Because we’re based in Canada, this policy is written to be consistent with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and we extend its core rights to everyone. If you’re in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or California, additional rights are described in Section 8.

2. The app is on-device by design

PracticeChef is a local-first app. In the current version:

• Your recipes, cook logs, reflections, photos, and skill progress are stored on your device, in the app’s local database.
• Recipe parsing and the app’s AI features run on your device. Your recipes and cooking notes are not sent to us or to any AI provider to make them work.
• The app has no account and no login, and we operate no server that holds your cooking content.
• To add a photo to a cook, the app asks permission to use your camera and to choose from your photo library. Photos you add are stored on your device with the rest of your cooking data and are never uploaded to us.
• Cookbooks you export are created on your device. Exported PDFs are stored in the app’s private storage and leave your device only when you share them through the iOS share sheet.
• The one exception to “nothing leaves the device” is purchases: the app talks to Apple and RevenueCat to sell and confirm cookbook exports. Section 3.1 lists exactly what that involves. It never includes your cooking content.
• If your device backs up to iCloud, your app data may be included in that backup under Apple’s control and privacy terms. That’s between you and Apple; we don’t receive it.

This is a deliberate design choice, not just a promise. If a future version of the app introduces features that store or sync data off your device (for example, optional cloud backup or accounts), we will update this policy and clearly disclose it before that feature collects anything.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Purchases (app)

The app uses RevenueCat to process and validate in-app purchases. Payment itself is handled entirely by Apple; we and RevenueCat never see your card or payment details. Each time the app opens, it connects to RevenueCat to confirm any purchases (this is how an interrupted purchase gets delivered). RevenueCat receives:

• An anonymous app user ID, a random identifier created by the app. It is not linked to your name, email, or Apple account, and we don’t ask for any of those.
• Basic device details, such as device type, operating system and app version, and when the app was last opened.
• Whether you’ve allowed app tracking in iOS (the app never asks, so this is normally “not determined”). We don’t collect the advertising identifier.
• If you buy something, the purchase record from Apple: what was bought, when, the price and currency, and the App Store transaction details.

As with any internet connection, RevenueCat’s servers also see your device’s IP address when the app connects. We don’t ask RevenueCat to store it as part of your record. We use this data only to deliver and confirm purchases and to see aggregate sales, not to track you or show you ads.

3.2 Website analytics

We use privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics (Cloudflare Web Analytics) to see aggregate traffic (page views, rough geography, and referrers) without cookies and without tracking you across sites. Because it sets no cookies and doesn’t fingerprint you, there’s no cookie-consent banner to click through.

3.3 Server logs

Our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes standard technical data needed to deliver and secure the website, such as IP address and request metadata. This is used to keep the site running and to block abuse, and is handled under Cloudflare’s terms.

3.4 Messages you send us

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include, and we keep it to reply and for our records.

4. How we use your information

• To deliver and confirm purchases, recover purchases that were interrupted, and prevent fraud.
• To understand, in aggregate, how many exports are sold, so we can keep improving the app.
• To respond to you and provide support.
• To keep the Service secure and to prevent abuse.
• To meet legal obligations, such as tax records.

We do not sell your personal information, and we don’t use it for third-party advertising.

5. Our basis for processing

Where the law requires a legal basis (for example, GDPR in the EEA/UK), we rely on:

• Performing our contract with you: processing and confirming the purchases you make.
• Our legitimate interests: in operating and securing the app and website, preventing fraud, and understanding aggregate sales and traffic, balanced against your privacy.
• Legal obligation: where we must retain or disclose information to comply with the law.

6. Who we share it with

We don’t sell your data. We rely on a small number of service providers (“sub-processors”) to run the Service, and share only what each needs:

• Apple: distributes the app through the App Store and processes all payments. Purchases are made under Apple’s own terms and privacy policy.
• RevenueCat: processes and validates in-app purchases on our behalf, using the data listed in Section 3.1. It acts as our service provider (data processor), not for its own advertising. See RevenueCat’s privacy policy.
• Cloudflare: hosts the website, routes our contact email, and provides cookieless analytics.
• Google: our contact address (legal@practicechef.com) forwards into a Gmail inbox, so email you send us, and any reply we send you, is processed by Google as our email provider.

We may also disclose information if required by law or valid legal process, or as part of a business transfer (such as a sale of the project), in which case we’ll require the recipient to honour this policy.

7. Where your information is processed

We’re based in Canada, and our providers may process data in Canada, the United States, and other countries. In particular, RevenueCat stores purchase data in the United States (on Amazon Web Services). Where information is transferred across borders, we rely on our providers’ safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) to protect it. By using the Service you understand your information may be processed outside your home country.

8. Your rights and choices

Subject to applicable law, you can:

• Access the personal information we hold about you. In practice that is your purchase records (held with RevenueCat under an anonymous ID) and any email you’ve sent us.
• Correct it if it’s wrong.
• Delete it: ask us, and we’ll delete our emails with you and ask RevenueCat to delete your purchase records, except where we must keep them by law (for example, tax records). Because purchase records are anonymous, we may ask you for details (such as the App Store order ID from your Apple receipt) to find yours.
• Withdraw consent where we rely on it, at any time, by contacting us.

For EEA/UK residents: you also have rights to restrict or object to processing, to data portability, and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

For California residents: we do not sell or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA, and we won’t discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

To make any request, email legal@practicechef.com. We’ll respond within the time the law requires.

9. How long we keep it

RevenueCat keeps purchase records for as long as we use its service and for up to six years after that, to resolve issues and meet legal and accounting obligations, unless you ask us to delete them sooner (see Section 8). We keep emails with you for as long as we need them to help you and for our records. Aggregate, non-identifying analytics may be kept without a fixed limit. We may retain limited records where the law requires it.

10. Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect the information we hold, including encryption in transit (HTTPS) and access controls on our providers. No system is perfectly secure, so we can’t guarantee absolute security. Still, by design we hold very little: your cooking stays on your device, and our providers hold only anonymous purchase records and the emails you send us.

11. Children

The Service is intended for people 13 and older and isn’t directed to children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we’ll delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

Our practices may change as the app grows. When they do, we’ll update this page and change the “last updated” date, and for material changes we’ll give clear notice before the new practice takes effect. If a change would involve collecting something new, we’ll ask for consent where the law requires it.

13. Contact