Privacy policy

Last updated 27 August 2026

Quarantine Cravings is a recipe site and a small iPhone app, run by two people. This page says exactly what we collect, why, and how to get rid of it. It is not written to protect us — it is written so you can tell what happens to your information.

Who we are

Quarantine Cravings is run by Jaiveer and Raisa Talwar. For the purposes of the UK GDPR we are the data controller for the information described here. You can reach us at hello@quarantinecravings.com.

What we collect, and why

If you never sign in

Your device generates a random identifier the first time you use the scanner or the recipe adapter. It is a random string — it is not linked to your name, your email, your phone or any advertising identifier, and we cannot use it to work out who you are. It exists so that your scan history and your adapted recipes are still there when you come back.

Your saved recipes, shopping list, cooking notes and app settings are stored on your own device and are never sent to us at all.

If you create an account

Your email address

So you can sign back in, and so we can send a password reset if you ask for one. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your address, we only ever see Apple's private relay address — which is the point of that feature, and it works fine here.

Your name

Only if your sign-in provider gives it to us. It is used to address you in the app and nowhere else.

Your allergen and dietary profile

The allergens you have asked us to watch for, how severe each one is, and your dietary preferences. This is health-related information, so we treat it as sensitive: it is used to produce your scan verdicts and your recipe adaptations, and for nothing else. It is never sold, never shared with advertisers, and never used to profile you.

Your scan history and adapted recipes

The products you have scanned and the recipes you have adapted, so they follow you between the app and the website.

When you adapt a recipe

The link you paste is fetched by our server, and the recipe found on that page — its ingredients, method, title and photo — together with the allergens and notes you entered are sent to Google's Gemini API to produce the adaptation. We send the recipe and your requirements. We do not send your email address, your name or your device identifier.

We keep a copy of the recipe's photograph so that our pages and the app do not have to load images from the original site. The original creator is credited, and linked, wherever that photograph or adaptation appears.

Every adaptation is added to the community page as it is made. This is not optional, and the form tells you so before you press the button. What appears there is the adapted recipe, the allergens and dietary preferences it was adapted for, and the original creator's credit — never your name, your email address or your device identifier. Nothing links a published adaptation back to you in public.

If you would rather a particular adaptation were not on the community page, delete it. Deleting removes it from the community page and from us at the same time; there is no separate "unpublish".

What we do not do

• We do not sell your information, or share it with data brokers.
• We do not run advertising, or any advertising or cross-app tracking SDK.
• We do not use your allergen profile for anything except telling you whether a food or a recipe suits it.
• We do not ask for your contacts, your photos, your precise location, or your health records.

The camera

NutriScan uses your camera to read a barcode. The video is processed on your device as it happens; frames are never uploaded, recorded or stored. Only the barcode number leaves your phone, and only in order to look the product up.

Who we share it with

Only the services that make the product work, and only what each of them needs:

• Google Firebase Authentication — holds your sign-in credentials so we never have to store a password ourselves.
• Google Gemini — receives the recipe and your dietary requirements to produce an adaptation, as described above.
• Google Cloud Firestore — the database holding your profile, scan history and adaptations.
• Amazon Web Services (S3, Frankfurt) — stores recipe photographs.
• Vercel — serves the website and the API.
• Open Food Facts — receives a barcode when you scan one, in order to return the product. It is a not-for-profit open database.

We will also disclose information if we are legally required to. If that ever happens and we are allowed to tell you, we will.

Where it is kept, and for how long

Recipe photographs are stored in the European Union (Amazon S3, Frankfurt), and our Firestore database is hosted in the region we selected when we created it. Some of the services above are US companies, so information may be processed in the United States under the appropriate safeguards.

We keep your account data until you delete your account. Anonymous, signed-out scan history is kept for up to two years and then removed. Deleting your account removes everything immediately.

Deleting your account

In the app: Settings → Account → Delete my account. It is permanent and it takes effect immediately — your account, your adapted recipes (including the copies on the community page), your allergen profile, your scan history and any passkey you created are all erased. Nothing is deactivated and held in reserve.

If you would rather we did it, email hello@quarantinecravings.com from the address on the account and we will do it within 30 days.

Your rights

Under UK and EU data protection law you can ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, ask us to restrict how we use it, or object to our using it. Email us and we will answer within a month. If you are not happy with how we have handled it, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Children

The app is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, tell us and we will delete it.

Cookies

The website sets one cookie, and only once you sign in: it holds your session so you stay signed in. There are no analytics or advertising cookies on this site.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. If a change materially affects what we do with your information, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.