Privacy Policy

1. OVERVIEW

This Privacy Policy explains how CookEase ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use the CookEase website at cookeaseapp.com, the CookEase mobile application, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). CookEase is a recipe organizer and cooking assistant: you can save and organize recipes, generate recipes and related content with AI features, use hands-free voice cooking assistance, build grocery lists, and optionally send lists to Instacart.

By using the Service, or by providing personal information to us, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Information you provide

Information collected automatically

We do not request or track your precise geolocation, and we do not knowingly collect sensitive categories of information. Note that content you choose to save (such as dietary preferences or recipes tied to health goals) may indirectly reveal information about you; we use such content only to provide the Service.

3. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We use personal information to:

We never sell your personal information for money, and the Service does not display third-party ads. We do advertise CookEase itself, and on our website we measure whether those ads work, as described in Sections 2, 5, and 8. Under California and some other state privacy laws that measurement counts as "sharing" personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, so we treat it that way and give you a way to turn it off at Your Privacy Choices. We do not use your recipes, photos, voice, or anything else you save in CookEase to target advertising, and we never send that content to an advertising company.

We may de-identify or aggregate information so that it can no longer reasonably be linked to you, and use and disclose such information for any lawful purpose, such as understanding feature usage.

4. SERVICE PROVIDERS AND AI SUBPROCESSORS

We rely on third-party providers to run the Service. They process personal information on our behalf, only as needed to provide their services to us:

Meta (Facebook and Instagram) - advertising measurement on our website only, and only where you have allowed it. Meta receives the browser identifiers and scrambled email described in Section 2. Unlike the providers above, Meta is not simply acting on our behalf: it may also use this information for its own purposes under its own terms, which is why we ask for permission first where the law requires it and always offer a way to switch it off.

Content submitted to AI and speech providers is processed under our agreements with those providers. These providers may retain data temporarily for abuse monitoring and service operation in accordance with their own policies.

5. COOKIES AND LOCAL STORAGE

Cookies we always need. We use cookies and browser local storage to keep you signed in, to remember your settings, and to record the privacy choice you make below. The Service cannot work without these, so they are always on. On mobile, session data is stored securely on your device instead. If you disable cookies or local storage in your browser, you may not be able to stay signed in or use parts of the Service.

Advertising cookies, only with your permission. On our website we would also like to use the Meta cookies described in Section 2, purely to see which of our ads bring people to CookEase. If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, or if we cannot tell where you are, we do not set these until you accept them, and you can change your mind at any time. Everywhere else they are on unless you turn them off. Either way, the switch is at Your Privacy Choices, which is also linked from the footer of every page.

Browser privacy signals. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a valid instruction not to share your information for advertising and switch these cookies off for you automatically, with no action needed on your part. We do not otherwise respond differently to "Do Not Track" signals, which have no agreed meaning.

6. EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS AND EMAIL TRACKING

We send transactional and service emails (for example, authentication and account emails) and occasional re-engagement or feedback emails based on your recent activity in the Service.

Tracking disclosure: emails we send through SendGrid may contain a small tracking pixel and wrapped links that tell us whether an email was delivered, opened, or clicked. We log these events (with timestamps and counts) alongside our record of the email, and use them to understand whether our emails are useful and to avoid over-emailing people. You can prevent open tracking by disabling image loading in your email client.

Opting out: you can opt out of non-essential emails at any time by using an unsubscribe link where included, by replying to the email, or by contacting us at info@cookeaseapp.com, and we will honor your request. We may still send you essential service emails, such as security or account notices.

7. LEGAL BASES FOR PROCESSING (EEA/UK)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process personal information on the following legal bases:

8. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We never sell personal information for money. We share it only:

9. DATA RETENTION

We retain your account information and content for as long as your account exists. Usage logs, email logs, and similar operational records are retained for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described above (such as limit enforcement, abuse prevention, and troubleshooting) and are then deleted or de-identified. When you delete your account, we delete your account data and content as described in Section 11, except for information we must retain to comply with law, resolve disputes, or enforce agreements, and residual copies that may persist in backups for a limited period before being purged.

10. YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent. Regardless of location, we offer everyone the ability to:

We will respond to requests within a reasonable period, typically within 30 days, and we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

11. ACCOUNT DELETION

You can permanently delete your account from the account settings in the Service. Deletion removes your profile, recipes, cookbooks, shopping lists, and other content associated with your account. Deletion is irreversible. Copies of recipes that other users saved from your public or shared content before deletion remain in their accounts. Some records (such as legally required records and limited operational logs) may be retained as described in Section 9. If you subscribed through the Apple App Store, deleting your account does not cancel that subscription; cancel it in your Apple account settings.

12. CHILDREN

The Service is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA or UK), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under the applicable age has provided us with personal information, please contact us at info@cookeaseapp.com and we will delete it.

13. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

We are based in the United States, and the providers listed in Section 4 may process data in the United States and other countries. If you use the Service from outside the United States, your personal information will be transferred to and processed in countries whose data protection laws may differ from those of your country. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers, such as our providers' standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms.

14. UNITED STATES STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS

California residents

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended ("CCPA"), gives you the right to: know and access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect about you, the sources, purposes, and categories of recipients; correct inaccurate personal information; delete personal information, subject to legal exceptions; and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You also have the right to opt out of the "sharing" of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not and have not "sold" personal information for money. We do share limited information with Meta to measure our own advertising on our website, as described in Sections 2, 4, and 5, which the CCPA treats as "sharing"; the categories shared are identifiers (including browser advertising cookies and a scrambled version of your email address) and internet activity. You can opt out at Your Privacy Choices, which is linked from the footer of every page, and we honor Global Privacy Control browser signals as an opt-out automatically. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes requiring a right to limit, and we do not knowingly share the personal information of anyone under 16. The categories of personal information we collect and our purposes are described in Sections 2 and 3. To exercise your rights, email info@cookeaseapp.com; you may use an authorized agent, and we may verify your identity before responding.

Other U.S. states

Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws (such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Texas) may have similar rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale, and certain profiling. We do not sell personal data for money and we do not profile you in ways that produce legal or similarly significant effects. Our advertising measurement on the website may qualify as targeted advertising under some of these laws; you can opt out at Your Privacy Choices. To exercise applicable rights, or to appeal a decision we make on a request, email info@cookeaseapp.com.

15. EEA AND UK RESIDENTS (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to: request access to and a copy of your personal data; rectify inaccurate data; erase your data; restrict or object to processing (including processing based on legitimate interests); data portability; and withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent, without affecting prior processing. Our legal bases are described in Section 7. To exercise these rights, email info@cookeaseapp.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority, although we would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.

16. SECURITY

We use industry-standard measures designed to protect personal information, including encryption of data in transit, access controls, row-level security on our database, secure credential storage on mobile devices, and server-side verification of requests. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You play a role too: use a strong, unique password, do not share your account, keep your devices and software up to date, and contact us immediately at info@cookeaseapp.com if you notice unusual activity on your account.

17. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated policy on this page with a new "Last updated" date, and if the changes are material we will aim to provide additional notice, such as by email or within the Service. Your continued use of the Service after an update takes effect means the updated policy applies to you. Please check this page periodically.

18. CONTACT US

For questions, requests, or complaints about privacy or this policy, contact us at: info@cookeaseapp.com. Following receipt of a complaint, we will investigate and respond within a reasonable period of time.

Last updated: August 28, 2026