Privacy Policy
We collect what Aisle Scout needs to work and to improve it. We store what you type into the AI features and read it to make the app better. We don't sell your data, show ads, or use it to train AI models ourselves.
1. Who we are
Aisle Scout is operated by Coastal Technology Group LLC (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what we collect when you use the website or the iPhone app, why, who helps us process it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It works together with our Terms of Service.
2. What we collect and how long we keep it
| Information | Why | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
| Account details: name, email, password (stored only as a secure hash), ZIP code, household size, preferences, the food notes you choose to save for the meal planner (such as a diet or an allergy), and your application note | Run your account and review your application | Until you delete your account |
| Your content: pantry items, scan results, shopping lists, meal plans, saved and imported recipes, shopping trips and spending totals | Provide the features you use | Until you delete it or your account |
| Location you choose for store search, such as an address or your current position | Find nearby stores and compare their prices | Until you change it or delete your account |
| Receipt photos you upload | Read your purchases and update your pantry | Until you delete your account |
| Your latest meal ideas | Show them right away on any device you sign in to | Replaced by your next ideas; deleted after 7 days or with your account |
| An unfinished pantry scan: what each photo was read as and the changes you made while reviewing it | Let you finish the review if the page reloads or the app closes | 24 hours after your last change, within two days of saving or discarding it, or when you delete your account |
| Pantry scan photos you take on the website, and where each scanned item sits on them | Show you each pantry item on the photo it was scanned from | While an item from the photo is in your pantry; deleted 8 days after the last one is removed, within a day if you discard the scan, after 365 days at the latest, or with your account |
| Recipe photos: the photos a recipe's web page shows for that recipe, copied when you import it, and photos you add to a recipe yourself | Show you the finished dish and its steps with your recipe | Until you remove the photo, delete the recipe or delete your account |
| AI requests and answers: the latest message or question you typed, recipe links you import, the item names a scan found, and the answer shown to you | Fix problems and improve how the AI features work | 180 days |
| Usage records: which features you used each day, web or iPhone, app version, how many times you signed in, and when you last signed in and used the service | Understand how the service is used and where it falls short | 400 days |
| Where you came from when you applied: the campaign tags in the link you followed (such as utm_source) and the name of the website that sent you, never its full address | Learn which ways of finding Aisle Scout work | Until you delete your account |
| Cost records: for each AI request, map lookup, email and day of photo storage, what it was, the amount used and what it cost us. They never hold what you typed or any photo | Know what running the service costs and set fair prices | 400 days. If you delete your account, they are kept without your name, email or any link to your account; the record of your photo storage is re-keyed so it no longer names your account either |
| Payment records, if you subscribe: the amount of each payment, refunds, and the fee our payment processor charged. Your card details stay with Stripe and never reach us | Accounting and taxes | As long as tax law requires, up to 7 years. After you delete your account, our copy no longer names you |
| Sign-in sessions: device type and session times | Keep you signed in and let you sign out everywhere | Website: until 8 hours pass without use, and 14 days at most. iPhone app: while you keep using it, ending after 30 days without use. Or until you sign out |
| Account administration records: approvals, suspensions and similar changes we make | Security and accountability | 400 days |
Our servers also see your IP address and basic device information on each request. We use them briefly to keep the service secure and to limit abuse, and we don't store your IP address in usage records.
3. Photos
Pantry and recipe photos are sent through OpenRouter to Google's Gemini AI model to read what is in them. We keep the results, such as item names or the recipe text. Google doesn't use these photos to improve its products. It keeps them for up to 55 days, only to check for misuse of its service. Pantry photos you scan on the website are stored privately so you can see each item outlined on the photo it came from. A photo is kept while an item from it is still in your pantry, is deleted 8 days after the last one is removed (or within a day if you discard the scan), and is never kept longer than 365 days. Photos you upload so a recipe can be read from them are not stored. Receipt photos are stored privately so your purchases can be checked, and are deleted with your account.
When you import a recipe from a web page, the photos that page shows for that recipe are downloaded from the publisher's site and kept privately with your recipe, so you can see the finished dish and its steps. A photo you add to a recipe yourself is kept the same way, with its location and camera details removed. Only you can see these photos. They are not sent to the AI model. They are deleted when you remove the photo, delete the recipe or delete your account.
4. AI features and our review
When you use Meal Planner chat, meal ideas, Help, a pantry scan or a recipe import, what you send is processed by the AI providers listed below so they can answer. We keep a record of each request, as described in the table above, and the people who run Aisle Scout may read those records to find mistakes, fix bugs and make the features more useful. We don't sell these records, use them for advertising, or use them to train AI models ourselves.
We keep only your newest message and the answer, not the whole conversation. Your full Meal Planner conversation is also saved in your web browser so it is still there when you come back. That copy stays on your device until you sign out or clear your browser data. Starting a new chat keeps the old one under “History”, where you can delete it. In the iPhone app, the conversation is kept only while the screen is open.
Food notes are the one place to tell the planner about a diet or a food allergy. If you choose to save them on the Meals page, they stay on your account until you change or delete them, and they are sent with each Meal Planner and meal ideas request so the planner can respect them. The planner's answers may repeat them, and those answers are kept for 180 days like other answers. Please don't type other health details or other people's private information into the AI features.
5. Who processes your information
We use these service providers to run Aisle Scout. Each receives only what it needs for its task and handles it under its own terms and privacy commitments.
- Railway: Hosts the website, servers, database and private photo storage.
- OpenRouter and Google: OpenRouter passes pantry and recipe photos, imported recipe pages and product searches to Google, whose Gemini AI model reads the photos and pages and matches the products.
- Fireworks AI: Answers Meal Planner chat, suggests meal ideas, checks pantry scan results and answers Help questions.
- Google (Maps and Places): Finds stores and addresses near the location you enter.
- Jina AI (Reader): Fetches the web page of a recipe link you ask us to import.
- Resend: Sends account emails such as confirmation, approval and password reset.
- Stripe: Takes subscription payments and keeps your card details; we never see your full card number.
- Apple: Distributes the iPhone app through the App Store.
To show prices, our servers also look up store and product information from grocery chains and public sources. Those lookups do not include your personal information.
We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We may disclose information if the law requires it, to protect people or the service, or as part of a sale or reorganization of the business, in which case this policy would continue to apply.
6. Cookies and storage on your device
The website uses one secure cookie to keep you signed in. It also saves a working copy of your pantry, lists, meal plans, meal chat, meal ideas, home location and email address in your browser, so the app opens quickly where you left it. Signing out removes that copy. Your latest meal ideas and any unfinished scan are also kept on our servers for the times listed above, so another device can show them. The iPhone app stores your sign-in securely in the device keychain, and keeps your latest meal ideas on the device until you sign out. Before you apply, the website remembers the campaign tags and the referring site of the link that brought you here, sends them with your application, and then forgets them. We don't use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.
7. Your choices and rights
- Delete your account: use “Delete account” in the app or on the website, or email us. This permanently removes your account and the content tied to it, including AI records, usage records, receipt photos, pantry scan photos and recipe photos. Cost and payment records are kept for the periods above without your name, email or any link to your account.
- See or correct your information: most of it is visible and editable in the app. For a copy of everything we hold about you, email us.
- Clear chat history in your browser: choose “New chat”, then delete conversations under “History”, or sign out.
We answer requests within 30 days. Depending on where you live, you may have other rights, and we will honor them as the law requires.
8. Security
We use encrypted connections, store passwords only as secure hashes, encrypt queued account emails, keep receipt photos in private storage, and limit who can see account records. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.
9. Backups
Our hosting provider keeps backups for recovery. Deleted information can remain in those backups for a limited time until they are replaced, and it is not used for anything else during that time.
10. Children
Aisle Scout is for adults 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you believe a child has an account, email us and we will delete it.
11. Where your information is processed
We are based in the United States, and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. When a change is material, we will ask you to review and accept the new version the next time you use Aisle Scout. The date at the top shows when this version took effect.
13. Contact
Questions or requests about your information:
Coastal Technology Group LLC
Email: contact@coastaltech.group