This policy explains what information Grublin ("Grublin", "we", "us") collects when you use the
Grublin mobile app and this website, why we collect it, who we share it with, and your rights.
Grublin is provided by Jonathan Russell, the data
controller, contactable at hello@grublin.ai.
A note on allergy information. Allergies and dietary restrictions you enter can
reveal information about your health or your beliefs (for example halal, kosher or vegan choices).
We treat these inputs with extra care, use them only to try
to steer and check your recipes, and never use them for advertising or profiling. See
"Allergy & dietary inputs" below.
We keep data collection deliberately small. We do not require an account, and we do not ask for your name, email or address to use the app.
A device identifier & access token. When you first open the app we generate an anonymous device identifier and issue a signed token. This lets the app use our recipe service and count your free daily recipes without an account.
Usage counters. How many recipes you've generated today and any ad-earned or subscription allowance, so we can apply free-tier limits. These are tied to your device identifier, not to your identity.
Recipe inputs. The ingredients, cravings, preferences (spice, cuisines, cooking equipment, servings) and dietary/allergy restrictions you enter to generate a recipe. These are sent to our recipe service to build a recipe and are not stored on our servers after the recipe is returned.
Ingredient photos (Super Grub). If you choose to snap or pick a photo of your ingredients, that photo is sent to our recipe service only to identify the ingredients in it. It is processed in transit and never stored — not on our servers and not anywhere else by us; only the ingredient list comes back, and you confirm it before it's used. Camera and photo-library access are used only when you start a scan, only with your permission, and the app works fully without them (you can always type ingredients instead).
Saved recipes & preferences. Your saved recipes and static preferences are stored on your device (local storage). They are not uploaded to us on the free tier.
Purchase status. If you subscribe to Grublin Premium, our payments partner (RevenueCat) tells us your subscription is active, keyed to your device identifier. We do not receive or store your card or payment details.
Advertising data. If you watch a rewarded ad, Google (AdMob) processes advertising identifiers and ad-interaction data to serve the ad and confirm it was watched. With your permission, ads may be personalised — see Advertising & consent.
Technical & diagnostic data. Standard request metadata (e.g. IP address, used transiently for rate-limiting and abuse prevention, stored only as a salted hash) and crash/diagnostic data (via Sentry, hosted in the EU) to keep the app stable. Crash reports are not linked to your identity and never include your recipe or allergy inputs.
2. How we use it
To generate recipes from the inputs you provide.
To identify the ingredients in a photo you choose to scan (Super Grub).
To apply free-tier limits and, where applicable, ad-earned or Premium allowances.
To prevent abuse, fraud and runaway costs (e.g. rate-limiting).
To provide and restore your Premium subscription.
To serve rewarded ads on the free tier (with your consent where required).
To keep the service secure, stable and working.
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use your recipe or allergy inputs for advertising or profiling. Where you allow personalised ads, Google uses advertising identifiers for that purpose as described in section 6 — you can opt out at any time (see Your privacy choices).
3. Allergy & dietary inputs
Allergies and dietary restrictions can be "special category" data under UK and EU data protection
law — they can reveal information about your health or your religious or philosophical beliefs.
Because of that:
We use them only to steer the recipe and to re-check the generated recipe against the items you've asked to avoid.
They are processed to build your recipe and are not retained on our servers afterwards; your saved preferences live on your device.
They are never used for advertising, analytics profiling, or shared with advertisers.
Grublin cannot guarantee a recipe is free of any allergen. Automated checks are not a
substitute for reading every ingredient and product label yourself. Do not rely on Grublin if you have
a serious allergy. See our Terms of Service.
4. Who we share it with (processors)
We use a small number of trusted service providers who process data on our behalf:
Google — Gemini (AI recipe generation & ingredient scanning). Your recipe inputs — and, if you use Super Grub, your ingredient photo — are sent, via our own server, to Google's Gemini model to generate the recipe text or identify the ingredients shown. They are sent for that sole purpose.
Google — AdMob (advertising). On the free tier, Google serves rewarded ads and processes advertising identifiers and ad-interaction data. See Google's Privacy Policy.
Sentry (crash reporting). Receives crash and diagnostic reports (device model, OS version, app state at the time of a crash) so we can find and fix bugs. Hosted in the EU; not linked to your identity. See Sentry's Privacy Policy.
RevenueCat (subscription management). Manages Premium subscription status keyed to your device identifier. See RevenueCat's Privacy Policy.
Microsoft Azure (hosting). Our backend runs on Microsoft Azure, which hosts the service and stores usage counters.
Apple App Store / Google Play. Process your subscription payment directly; we never see your payment details.
Some providers may process data outside the UK/EEA. Where they do, appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) apply.
5. Legal bases (UK/EU)
Contract — to provide the recipe service, apply your allowance and manage Premium.
Legitimate interests — to keep the service secure and prevent abuse and runaway cost.
Consent — for personalised advertising (collected via the in-app consent prompt in the UK/EEA, and via Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt on iOS — see below), and for processing the dietary and allergy restrictions you choose to enter (you agree to this in the app, where you set them). You can withdraw consent at any time: remove your restrictions in Preferences, or change your ad choices — see Your privacy choices.
6. Advertising & consent
Grublin's free tier is supported by Google AdMob rewarded ads. Ads may be
personalised, but only with your permission:
On iOS, we ask via Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt. If you choose
"Ask App Not to Track", ads are non-personalised — selected from context, not from a profile of
you.
In the UK/EEA, we additionally show a Google-certified consent message before
serving ads. If you choose not to consent to personalised ads there, ads are non-personalised.
Everywhere: declining never limits Grublin. You keep the same free recipes and
can still earn extra ones by watching ads — the ads are just less relevant. Even non-personalised
ads store limited data on your device (for example for frequency capping and fraud prevention).
Where you allow personalised ads, Google and its
advertising
partners use advertising identifiers and ad-interaction data to select ads more relevant to
you. Your recipe, preference and allergy inputs are never used for advertising
(see section 3). Premium subscribers see no ads at all.
Your privacy choices
You can review or change your advertising choices at any time:
In the app — Preferences → "Ad privacy choices" (shown where the UK/EEA consent
framework applies) lets you review or withdraw your consent.
On iOS — Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking, where you can turn off
tracking for Grublin (or for all apps) at any time.
On Android — Settings → Privacy → Ads lets you reset or delete your advertising
ID.
With Google — manage how Google personalises ads at
My Ad Center.
Changing your mind takes effect from the next ad. If your local law gives you a right to opt out of
"sale" or "sharing" of personal information for advertising (for example in some US states), the
controls above are how you exercise it; you can also contact us.
7. How long we keep it
Recipe/allergy inputs: processed to build your recipe, then not retained on our servers.
Ingredient photos: processed to identify the ingredients, then not retained — we never store your photos.
Usage counters: retained while your device identifier is active; daily counters reset daily.
Ad-verification records: retained briefly (a matter of days) for anti-fraud, then purged.
Rate-limit data: a salted hash of IP, kept only transiently.
On-device data (saved recipes, preferences): kept until you delete the app or clear it in the app.
8. Your rights
Under UK GDPR / EU GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our processing of your personal data, and to data portability. Because Grublin is account-free and pseudonymous, we may need your device identifier to locate any server-side data. To exercise a right, contact us (below). You can also delete on-device data at any time by clearing app data or uninstalling. You have the right to complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO).
9. Children
Grublin is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect their personal data.
10. Security
We use encryption in transit, store no third-party API keys on your device, hold secrets in a managed key vault, and keep server-side data to the minimum described above.
11. Changes
We may update this policy. We'll change the "last updated" date above and, for significant changes, provide a more prominent notice.