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FamilySpoon
Legal · The fine print

Privacy Policy

Last updated · April 2026

FamilySpoon is built on a simple promise: your family's recipes are yours. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. We wrote it in plain language because we believe privacy policies should be readable.

1. Information We Collect

When you create an account, we collect:

  • Your email address
  • Your display name
  • A securely hashed version of your password
  • Your subscription status and plan type

Billing details are processed by Stripe. We store your plan and billing status but never your full payment card information.

When you use FamilySpoon, we also collect:

  • Recipes you create, scan, import, or dictate
  • Cookbooks you create and organize
  • Images you upload (recipe photos, scanned cards) and AI-generated images you create (recipe illustrations, cookbook covers)
  • Voice recordings when you dictate a recipe. These are sent to OpenAI for transcription and are not retained by FamilySpoon after the transcript is returned.
  • Basic usage data such as feature usage and error logs

We do not collect your location, contacts, browsing history, or any data unrelated to your use of FamilySpoon.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide and maintain your account
  • Store and display your recipes and cookbooks
  • Process recipe scans using AI
  • Enable cookbook sharing with family members
  • Send you important account notifications
  • Improve the app based on aggregated, anonymized usage patterns

We never sell your personal information. We never show you ads. We never share your data with third-party marketers. Per OpenAI's API policy, your content is not used to train their models, and we have not opted into any training uses.

3. Your Recipe Content

Your recipes belong to you. Period. We store them so you can access them from any device, but we do not claim ownership of any content you create or upload.

We do not read your recipes. We do not sell your recipes. We do not share your recipes with anyone unless you explicitly choose to share them through our cookbook sharing or public link features. You can export or delete your recipes at any time.

4. AI Processing

We use OpenAI's API to power five recipe-related features:

  • Recipe scanning: when you photograph or upload a recipe card, PDF, or screenshot, the image (or PDF text) is sent to OpenAI, which extracts and structures the recipe.
  • Recipe image generation: when you generate an AI illustration for a recipe, the recipe's text fields (title, ingredients, short description) are sent to OpenAI to produce a matching image.
  • Cookbook cover generation: when you generate an AI cover for your cookbook, the cookbook name and a short prompt are sent to OpenAI.
  • Voice transcription: when you dictate a recipe, the audio clip is sent to OpenAI, which returns the transcript for you to review and save.
  • Translation (Heirloom plan): when you translate a recipe, its text is sent to OpenAI to produce the translation.

In every case, only the content needed for that specific feature is sent. No personal information (email, account ID, billing status) is included. Per OpenAI's API policy, API inputs and outputs are not used to train their models, and we have not opted into any training uses.

We do not use AI to analyze your behavior, preferences, or personal data. AI is used only for the features listed above.

5. Sharing

FamilySpoon allows you to share recipes in two ways:

  • Shared Cookbooks: You can invite family members to a cookbook. Only invited members can see the recipes in that cookbook.
  • Public Recipe Links: You can generate a shareable link for an individual recipe. Anyone with the link can view that recipe, but it is not indexed by search engines.

All sharing is opt-in. Nothing is shared unless you choose to share it. You can revoke shared access or disable public links at any time.

6. Data Storage and Security

We use the following service providers to operate FamilySpoon:

  • Supabase (AWS-backed): database and authentication.
  • Bunny CDN: image storage and delivery.
  • OpenAI: AI features (see section 4).
  • Resend: transactional email.
  • Stripe: payment processing.

All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Your password is hashed using industry-standard algorithms and is never stored in plain text.

We maintain regular backups and take industry-standard precautions to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction. However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee against all data loss. We strongly recommend exporting your recipes periodically for your own records (see section 7).

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active.

You can export your data at any time from your account settings. The export is a ZIP file containing your recipes and metadata in both CSV and JSON formats. Recipe images are stored on a separate CDN and are not bundled in the export; the image URL for each recipe is recorded in both files so you can download them individually if needed. We encourage you to export before closing your account so you keep a personal copy.

If you delete your account, we will permanently delete all your personal data, recipes, and cookbooks within 30 days. Some anonymized, aggregated data may be retained for analytics purposes.

If your account is inactive for more than 24 months, we may send you a reminder email. We will not delete your account without notifying you first.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access your personal data at any time through your account settings
  • Correct any inaccurate information in your profile
  • Delete your account and all associated data
  • Export your recipes in standard formats
  • Opt out of non-essential communications

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@familyspoon.app.

9. Children's Privacy

FamilySpoon is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@familyspoon.app.

10. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required to keep you logged in and maintain your session. We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics cookies. We do not track you across other websites.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice within the app. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Your continued use of FamilySpoon after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please reach out to us at support@familyspoon.app. We are happy to help.