Privacy Policy

The short version

We collect what the app needs to work: your account email, your meals, and the tables you join.
Plate photos you scan are sent to Google's Gemini API to recognize the food. We do not keep the photos, and Google does not use them to train its models.
Location is optional and used only to find nearby restaurants and match plate prices to your area.
The free version shows ads from Google AdMob. Ads are only personalized if you allow tracking.
We never sell your personal information. You can delete your account and data from inside the app at any time.

Who we are

Plate Debt is made by Ilium Studio ("we", "us"). If you have a question about this policy or your data, email support@platedebt.com.

What we collect

Account. You sign in with Apple or with an email and password. We store your email address (with Sign in with Apple this can be a private relay address Apple creates for you), your username, a user ID and, for email accounts, a securely hashed password. If you choose to share your name with Sign in with Apple, we may use it for your display name. Your username, display name and avatar color are visible to people at tables you join.

Meals. When you log a meal we store the restaurant type and restaurant, what you paid, the plates you log, timers, predictions, badges, and your stats. This is how your history follows you across devices and how shared tables work.

Restaurants and prices you add. If you add a restaurant or report a price, that entry is shared with other Plate Debt users so everyone gets better numbers. If you add a spot by hand instead of picking it from the map, we use your current location as the spot's map pin. The app does not show other users who added an entry.

Location (optional). If you allow it, the app asks for your location one time when you need it, never in the background. We use it to search for nearby restaurants (on our server and with Apple Maps) and to look up a regional price level for your city. The city name is saved on your device. We do not store your location history on our servers. The one exception is a restaurant you add by hand, described above: its map pin is where you were when you added it.

Plate photos (AI scans). When you scan a plate, the photo is sent through our server to the Google Gemini API, which identifies the food. We keep the result (the list of recognized items) and usage details such as the time of the scan and its processing cost. We do not store the photo after the result comes back. We use Gemini's paid API tier, under which Google does not use your photos or results to improve its products. Google may keep request data for a limited time to detect abuse, as described in the Gemini API terms.

Purchases. Payments are handled by Apple. We never see your card details. We use RevenueCat to confirm purchases and keep track of your Premium status and scan credits. RevenueCat receives your purchase history and your Plate Debt user ID.

Ads. The free version shows ads from Google AdMob: banners, one full-screen ad when you finish a meal, and optional rewarded ads that earn a free scan or unlock extras. AdMob may collect your device's IP address, a rough location based on that IP address, ad interactions, and diagnostic data. Your device's advertising identifier (IDFA) is only available to AdMob if you allow tracking when iOS asks. Where the law requires it (for example in the EEA, the UK, and some US states), the app asks for your ad consent first using Google's consent tool. Premium removes ads.

Invite links. When you open a table invite on this website and tap the button to get the app, the page copies the invite link to your clipboard, and our server stores the table code with a one-way hash of your IP address and device type (for example "iPhone, iOS 26"). After you install Plate Debt and sign in, the app checks your clipboard for that link (iOS may ask you to allow pasting) and asks our server for a matching invite, so you land at the right table. A stored invite can only be matched within one hour and is deleted within a day.

Support. If you email us, we keep the conversation so we can help you.

This website. platedebt.com has no ads, analytics, or tracking cookies. Its pages load fonts from Google Fonts, so Google receives your IP address and browser details when you visit, and Vercel, which hosts the site, keeps standard server logs.

We do not use third-party analytics in the app.

How we use it

To run the app: your account, meal tracking, shared tables, history, stats, widgets, and scans.
To manage purchases, Premium, scan credits, and the monthly fair-use limit on scans.
To show ads in the free version.
To keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and fix problems.
To answer you when you contact us.

We share data only with the service providers that run parts of Plate Debt, and only what they need:

Supabase: hosting, sign-in, our database, and password reset emails.
Google: the Gemini API for plate scans, and AdMob for ads.
RevenueCat: purchase and subscription management.
Apple: Sign in with Apple, In-App Purchase, and Maps search.
Vercel: hosting for this website and invite links.

Each of these providers may use the data only to provide its service to us, under its own data processing terms and privacy policy, and must protect it at least as well as this policy does.

People at a table you join can see your display name and what you log during that meal. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our users or the service. If Plate Debt is ever sold or merged, your data would move to the new owner under this policy.

We do not sell your personal information. If you allow tracking, AdMob may use your advertising identifier to personalize ads, which some US state laws call "sharing" or "targeted advertising". You can stop this at any time by turning off tracking for Plate Debt in iOS Settings, or with Ad privacy choices on the app's Me tab when it is shown.

How long we keep it

We keep your data while your account exists. When you delete your account, we delete your account and the data linked to it (meals, tables you hosted, scans, credits, price reports, and badges) from our database right away. Copies in routine backups expire within a short period. Restaurants you added stay in the shared list but are no longer linked to you. Apple and RevenueCat keep their own records of your purchases, as their policies and tax rules require.

Deleting your account

Open Plate Debt, go to the Me tab, and tap Delete account. If you have a subscription, cancel it in your Apple ID settings first, since Apple manages billing. You can also email support@platedebt.com and we will delete it for you.

Your choices and rights

Location, camera, and tracking are all optional and can be changed in iOS Settings.
You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, or to delete it by emailing us.
Depending on where you live (for example the EEA, the UK, or California), you may have additional rights, such as objecting to processing or appealing a decision we make about your request. We will not treat you differently for using them.

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on our contract with you to run the app, on consent for personalized ads and optional permissions, and on legitimate interests for security and abuse prevention.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit with HTTPS. Our database uses row-level security so each account can only read its own private data. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a sign-in method you trust.

Children

Plate Debt is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us data, email us and we will delete it.

International users

Our service providers may process data in the United States and other countries. When data leaves your country, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. For significant changes, we will also let you know in the app.

Contact

Ilium Studio, support@platedebt.com