privacy policy

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy explains how Kuko ("Kuko", "we", "us") handles personal data when you use the Kuko mobile app for iOS and Android (the "App") and this website.

Kuko is operated by [legal name of the person or company that owns Kuko], [registered address], who is the data controller for the personal data described here. You can contact us at any time at the.kuko.app@gmail.com.

2. What we collect

2.1 Information you give us during setup and in the App

• About you: your first name (optional, to personalise the App) and your age range.
• Your goals and habits: your main goal, what gets in the way of cooking, how much time you like to spend cooking, and whether you think you could save more on groceries.
• Where and how you shop: your region and country, your currency, the supermarkets you use, your weekly food budget, your household size and the days you cook.
• Food preferences: meal moods, diet (for example vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian), food allergies (for example gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs, shellfish, sesame or soy) and the kitchen appliances you have.
• Neighbourhood location (Brazil only): if you place a pin on the map to find nearby stores, we store an approximate location rounded to about 1 km, plus the neighbourhood name. We do not store your exact address.
• How you heard about Kuko (for example Instagram, TikTok or a friend).
• Reminder settings: whether and when you want a reminder before your free trial ends.
• Feedback: if you cancel or give feedback, your reason, any note you write, and whether you accepted an offer.
• Messages to support: if you email us, your email address and the content of your message.

2.2 Information created as you use the App

• Meal plans and lists: your weekly dinner plans, meals you swap or mark as cooked, grocery list items you tick off, list totals and the savings Kuko calculates.
• Meal scans: when you scan a meal, the photo is sent to our server and to our AI provider for analysis. We keep the result you log (dish name, estimated calories, protein, carbs and fat, and the time you logged it). We do not store the photo itself.

2.3 Information collected automatically

• Anonymous user ID: when you start using Kuko, we create a random anonymous ID so your data can sync with our servers. It isn't linked to your email, phone number or name.
• Subscription information: whether your subscription is active, the product, the store (Apple or Google), the trial or billing period and its expiry date, and purchase and restore events. We receive this from our subscription provider. We never receive your card or payment details — Apple or Google handle payment.
• Usage data (analytics): which screens you open and which features you use in the App (for example onboarding steps, paywall views, scans that succeed or fail, and errors), with your anonymous ID, language, region, device type and App version. It never includes your name, diet, allergies, meals, calories, photos or location, and your IP address isn't used for location. You can turn this off at any time in the App under me → Share usage analytics.
• Technical data: like any online service, our servers and providers process technical data such as your IP address, device type and operating system version in server logs, to deliver the service and keep it secure.

2.4 What we don't collect

We don't ask for your email, phone number, password, weight, height or sex. We don't use advertising SDKs, we don't use your data for ads, we don't track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we don't collect your contacts. This website doesn't use cookies or analytics.

3. How we use your information

• To provide the App: to build meal plans that match your budget, stores, household, diet, allergies and appliances; to create and price your grocery list; to compare prices; to calculate your savings; and to analyse meal photos.
• To run your subscription: to start your free trial, unlock paid features, restore purchases on a new device and send the trial reminder you ask for.
• To support you: to answer your emails and fix problems.
• To improve Kuko: to understand, in aggregate, which answers and features matter to people (for example how people heard about us, or why they cancel) so we can make the App better.
• To keep Kuko safe: to prevent fraud and abuse, secure our systems and comply with the law.

We don't use your data for advertising, we don't sell it, and we don't make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated processing.

4. Legal bases (EEA, UK and Brazil)

Where the GDPR, UK GDPR or Brazil's LGPD applies, we rely on these legal bases:

• Performance of a contract — to provide the App and your subscription.
• Consent — for information about allergies and diet that may reveal health information or beliefs, for meal-scan photos, for location, and for notifications. You give consent by choosing to provide this information or granting the permission, and you can withdraw it at any time by removing it in the App, revoking the permission in your device settings, or deleting your data. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect processing that happened before.
• Legitimate interests — to improve Kuko, understand feedback, and keep the service secure, where these interests aren't overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation — where we must keep or disclose information by law.

5. Who we share it with

We share personal data only with service providers that help us run Kuko ("processors"). They may use it only to provide their services to us.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the rights, safety or property of Kuko, our users or others, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets (in which case this policy will continue to apply to your data).

6. International transfers

Some of our providers are based in, or process data in, countries outside your own, including the United States. Where we transfer personal data from the EEA, UK or Brazil to a country without an adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum), the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where a provider is certified, or other mechanisms permitted by law. You can contact us for more information.

7. How long we keep it

• App data (profile, plans, lists, meal logs): until you delete it in the App or ask us to delete it.
• Meal photos: not stored — they're processed only to return the analysis.
• Subscription records: for as long as your subscription exists and afterwards as long as needed for accounting, tax and legal purposes.
• Feedback (like cancellation reasons): when you delete your data, feedback is disconnected from your ID and kept only in de-identified form.
• Support emails: for as long as needed to help you, and then deleted within 24 months.
• Backups: deleted data may remain in encrypted backups for a limited period (typically up to 30 days) before it is overwritten.

8. Security

We protect your data with encryption in transit (HTTPS). Sensitive fields — your name, age range, diet, allergies, neighbourhood pin and meal-scan details — are additionally encrypted in our database with AES-256-GCM. The App can't read our database directly: all access goes through our own server. On your phone, your sign-in session is encrypted with a key kept in the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore. No system is perfectly secure, but we work hard to protect your information and will notify you and the authorities of a breach where the law requires.

9. Your rights & choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy of it;
• correct inaccurate data (you can also edit most of it in the App);
• delete your data;
• restrict or object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;
• receive your data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time;
• complain to your data protection authority.

Delete your data in the App: go to Me → Delete my data. This permanently deletes your anonymous account and all data linked to it from our servers and resets the App on your phone. Deleting your data does not cancel your subscription — cancel it in the App Store or Google Play. See Delete your data for all the options.

To use any other right, email the.kuko.app@gmail.com. Because Kuko doesn't use accounts, we may ask for your anonymous ID or proof of purchase to find your data. We'll reply within one month (or the shorter period your local law requires).

10. Device permissions

Kuko only asks for permissions when you use a feature that needs them, and you can change them any time in your device settings:

• Camera and photos — to scan a meal. Only the photo you take or choose is used.
• Location (while using the App, Brazil only) — used once to centre the map on your neighbourhood. You can place the pin by hand instead.
• Notifications — for your trial reminder and cooking timers. These are scheduled on your device; we don't use a push-notification service.

11. Children

Kuko isn't intended for anyone under 16, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from children. If you think a child has given us personal data, contact us and we'll delete it.

12. Regional information

European Economic Area and United Kingdom

You have the rights described in section 9 under the GDPR and UK GDPR. You can complain to the data protection authority in the country where you live or work, or where you think an infringement happened. In the UK, that's the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Brazil (LGPD)

Under the Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (Law 13.709/2018), you have the right to confirmation that we process your data; access; correction; anonymisation, blocking or deletion of unnecessary or excessive data; portability; deletion of data processed with your consent; information about who we share data with; information about the consequences of refusing consent; and to withdraw consent. You can also file a complaint with the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD). To contact our data protection contact (encarregado), email the.kuko.app@gmail.com.

United States, including California

We don't sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we don't use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. Depending on your state, you may have the right to know, access, correct and delete your personal information, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Email us to make a request; an authorised agent may make a request on your behalf.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Kuko changes. We'll post the new version here and update the date at the top. If the changes are significant, we'll let you know in the App before they take effect.

14. Contact us

Questions about privacy or this policy? We're happy to help.

Kuko
the.kuko.app@gmail.com