Your kitchen,
your data.

International CookBook ("we", "us", or "the Service") is a mobile and web application that lets you browse a curated collection of international recipes, plan your weekly meals, manage grocery lists, set cooking timers, and contribute your own recipes to a personal collection.

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect your information when you use our app. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. We have written this document to be readable — not buried in legalese — but it is still a binding policy.

We only collect what we genuinely need to make the app useful. Below is the full inventory.

What we do not collect: precise geolocation, contacts, photos outside the app, browsing history, or biometric data. Ever.

We use the information above for these specific, limited purposes:

1. To provide the core Service — saving your recipes, syncing grocery lists across devices, scheduling meal plans, and running cooking timers.
2. To personalize your experience — showing recipes in your preferred units (metric or imperial), and suggesting dishes based on countries you've explored.
3. To communicate with you about your account, security alerts, and major changes to the Service. We do not send promotional emails unless you opt in.
4. To understand aggregate trends — for example, which cuisines are gaining popularity — so we can expand our recipe library intelligently.
5. To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
6. To comply with our legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not rent it. We do not trade it for advertising. We share data only in these specific situations:

• Service providers. We use trusted third parties to host our servers, send transactional emails, and process crash reports. These providers have access only to the data needed to perform their function and are contractually bound to protect it.
• Public content you publish. If you choose to publish a recipe to the public library, that recipe — including your display name — becomes visible to other users. You can unpublish at any time.
• Legal requirements. If we receive a valid legal request (subpoena, court order), we may disclose information to comply with the law. We will notify you unless prohibited from doing so.
• Business transfers. In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, user information may be transferred. We will notify you via email before such a transfer happens.
• With your consent. Any other sharing requires your explicit, opt-in consent.

We keep your information only as long as it serves the purposes outlined in this policy:

• Active accounts. Your content (recipes, grocery lists, meal plans) is retained for as long as your account is active.
• Inactive accounts. If you don't sign in for 36 months, we will send a reminder. If there is no further activity, your account and content are permanently deleted.
• After deletion. Deleted content is removed from production systems within 30 days and from backups within 90 days.
• Aggregated data. Anonymized, aggregated statistics may be retained indefinitely, as they can no longer be linked back to you.

We use industry-standard safeguards to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work hard to get close.

• All data in transit is encrypted via TLS 1.3.
• All data at rest is encrypted with AES-256.
• Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with a work factor of 12.
• Access to production data is restricted to a small number of authorized engineers, logged, and reviewed monthly.
• We run quarterly security audits and maintain a responsible disclosure program.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws like the GDPR (EU/UK), CCPA (California), or LGPD (Brazil). We extend these rights to all users regardless of location.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@intlcookbook.app from the address associated with your account. We respond within 30 days.

The app uses minimal storage on your device to function properly. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies.

• Authentication token — keeps you signed in. Cleared on sign-out.
• Preferences — your preferred units, language, and theme. Stored locally so the app remembers you between sessions.
• Offline cache — recently viewed recipes are cached so you can cook without a connection. Cleared automatically after 7 days.

You can clear all local data at any time from Settings → Privacy → Clear Local Data.

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@intlcookbook.app and we will promptly delete it.

We recognize that cooking is a wonderful family activity — children are welcome to use the app alongside a parent or guardian, but should not create their own accounts.

Given the international spirit of the Service — with recipes from Argentina to China — your data may be processed in countries other than your own. Our primary infrastructure is hosted in the European Union (Frankfurt) and the United States (us-east), with mirrors in São Paulo for South American users.

When transferring data outside the EU/EEA, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, supplemented by additional safeguards where required.

If you would like a copy of the relevant transfer agreement, please contact us.

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document.
• Notify you by email for material changes, at least 30 days before they take effect.
• Maintain a version history so you can compare what changed.

For changes that materially affect your rights — for example, a new category of data collection — we will require your affirmative consent before they take effect.

Questions, concerns, or requests — we want to hear from you. Our team reads every message.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the EU, that's your national DPA; in the UK, the ICO; in California, the Attorney General.