Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal data the Rou iOS app and the website rouapp.com (together, “Rou”) collect, why we collect it, who helps us process it, and how you can see, change or delete it. We have tried to keep it plain and complete. If anything is unclear, write to privacy@rouapp.com.

1. Who is responsible for your data

The controller of your personal data is Eva Wadl, the nutritionist behind Rou (“we”, “us”). You can reach us about anything in this policy at privacy@rouapp.com.

2. The short version

Rou is free. There are no purchases and no ads in the app.
You can read recipes and scan products without an account. An account lets you save lists, sync your scan history and share lists with others.
Your nutrition profile is optional health data. We use it only to personalise your nutrient targets and the “for you” notes on scanned products. It is never used for advertising and never sold.
We use PostHog to understand how Rou is used. There is no session recording, no advertising identifier and no tracking across other apps or websites.
You can delete your account and its data in the app at any time: tap your avatar on Today, then You → Delete account.

3. What we collect in the app

Your account

Sign-in details: your email address and password (stored only as a secure hash by our authentication provider), or the identity Apple or Google shares with us when you use Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. With Sign in with Apple you can choose to hide your email address; we then only see Apple's relay address.
Display name: the name you give yourself in Rou. When you join or create a shared list, your name is copied onto that list so the other members can see who is who.
Profile photo (optional): a photo you choose in the You sheet. It is stored in a public storage folder, which means anyone who has its web address can open it. It is shown to members of your shared lists.

Your nutrition profile (optional, health data)

If you choose to fill it in, your nutrition profile can contain:

your biological sex
your date of birth
your weight
whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding
your dietary needs: nut allergy, gluten-free, dairy-free, low FODMAP or vegan
any nutrient targets you set yourself, and which nutrients you choose to show

We use this information only to work out your daily nutrient targets and to show “for you” notes when you scan a product (for example, that it contains nuts). Some of it is data about your health, so we process it only with your explicit consent, which you give by entering it. You can change it in the app at any time, and ask us to remove it completely by emailing privacy@rouapp.com. It is never used for advertising, never sold and never shared with other members of your lists.

Product scans

Camera: the scanner uses your camera on your phone only to read barcodes. No photos or video leave your phone.
Barcodes: when you scan a product, its barcode number is sent to our server, which looks the product up in Open Food Facts and USDA FoodData Central and works out its Gut Score. Only the barcode number is sent to those databases, never anything about you.
Scan history: your recent scans are kept on your phone. When you are signed in, each scan is also saved to your account (the barcode, the time, and the score and rating at that moment) so your history follows you to a new device.
Abuse protection: to stop the scanner from being overloaded, our server counts requests per account and per IP address. These counters are not linked to your profile and are not used for anything else.

Lists, shopping and shared lists

The recipes you save to lists, the items on your shopping list, the servings you plan, and the products you pick as your usual choice for an ingredient.
On a shared list, every member can see the other members' names and profile photos, the recipes and shopping items each person added or ticked off, their votes, their notes, and their usual product picks for the ingredients on that list.
Invite links: anyone who has a list's invite link can join it. Before joining, they see the list's name, the name of the person who invited them, and how many members and recipes it has. Invite links expire after 30 days, and the list owner can turn a link off at any time. Only share them with people you want on the list.

Cooking and Today

When you mark a recipe as cooked, we save which recipe and when. We use this for your plant diversity and fibre tracking on Today and to show what you cooked recently.

Usage analytics and diagnostics

Product analytics: we record how the app is used, for example which screens you open, which recipes you view, what you search for, when you start cooking mode or add something to a list. When you are signed in, these events are linked to your account ID (a random identifier, not your name or email address). Events also include basic device information such as your device model, iOS version, app version, language and approximate location derived from your IP address.
Crash and performance diagnostics: crash reports and performance measurements (such as launch time and hangs) collected through Apple's MetricKit, which we send to the same analytics service so we can find and fix problems.
We do not use session recording, we do not collect your device's advertising identifier, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

4. What we collect on rouapp.com

Analytics: the website uses PostHog to count page views and see which pages and links are used. PostHog stores a random identifier in a first-party cookie and in your browser's local storage so that repeat visits can be counted. It also receives your IP address, browser and device type, the page you came from, and technical error reports when something on a page breaks. Website analytics are not linked to your Rou account. You can block or clear these cookies in your browser settings at any time; the site works without them.
Early-access list: if you join the early-access list, we store your email address, the date, and which sign-up form you used. We use it to send you one welcome email and to tell you when Rou launches. Reply to any of those emails, or write to privacy@rouapp.com, and we will take you off the list.
Hosting: like any website, our hosting provider processes your IP address and basic request details to deliver pages and keep the site secure.

5. Emails and support

We send emails that are needed to run your account, such as confirming your email address or resetting your password. If you write to us, we keep your message and our reply so we can help you.

6. Why we use your data (legal bases)

To provide Rou to you (performance of our agreement with you): your account, lists, shared lists, shopping list, scan history and cooking history.
Your explicit consent: your nutrition profile, because it includes health data. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing us or deleting your account.
Your consent: the early-access email list.
Our legitimate interests in running a reliable, secure service and improving it: usage analytics, crash and performance diagnostics, abuse protection and hosting logs.
Legal obligations: where the law requires us to keep or disclose information.

We do not sell your personal data, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. The Gut Score describes a product, not you.

7. Who processes your data for us

We use a small number of service providers. They process data only on our instructions and only to provide their service to us.

Supabase — our database, sign-in and file storage. Your account, profile, nutrition profile, lists, scan history, cooking history and profile photo are stored there. Supabase Privacy Policy.
PostHog — usage analytics and diagnostics for the app and the website, hosted in the United States. PostHog Privacy Policy.
Vercel — hosting for rouapp.com. Vercel Privacy Policy.
Resend — sends the early-access welcome email. Account emails (such as password resets) are sent through our sign-in provider and our email delivery provider. Resend Privacy Policy.
Apple and Google — only if you choose Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. They confirm your identity to us and their own privacy policies apply to your account with them.
Open Food Facts and USDA FoodData Central — public food databases our server queries for product information. They receive only barcode numbers from our server, never your personal data.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our users or others.

8. How long we keep your data

Account data, your nutrition profile, lists, scan history and cooking history: for as long as you have an account. You can remove scans from your history and recipes or items from your lists in the app at any time.
Scan history on your phone: until you delete the app or its data.
Early-access email addresses: until Rou launches and we have told you, or until you ask to be removed, whichever comes first.
Analytics and diagnostics: kept by PostHog in line with our retention settings and then deleted. Aggregated figures that cannot identify you may be kept longer.
Support emails: as long as needed to help you.

9. Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself, at any time, in the app: tap your avatar on Today, then You → Delete account, and confirm. Deletion happens straight away and cannot be undone. When you delete your account:

Your account, profile, nutrition profile, scan history, cooking history, product picks, votes and your own lists are deleted.
Your profile photos are removed from storage.
Shared lists you own that still have other members are handed over to the member who joined first, so their lists keep working. Shared lists with no other members are deleted.
Recipes, shopping items and notes you added to a shared list that continues without you stay on that list, but no longer show your name or photo.
If you used Sign in with Apple, we ask Apple to revoke Rou's access to your Apple ID.

Your scan history stored on your phone is removed when you delete the app. Analytics events already collected stay with PostHog under the random identifier your account used, which no longer leads back to an account; you can ask us to delete them too. If you cannot use the app, email privacy@rouapp.com from the address on your account and we will delete it for you.

10. Your rights

Under the GDPR and similar laws you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy of it.
Correct data that is wrong or incomplete (most of it you can edit directly in the app).
Delete your data (see section 9).
Restrict how we use your data in certain cases.
Object to our use of your data based on legitimate interests, such as analytics.
Data portability: receive the data you gave us in a machine-readable format.
Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what we did before you withdrew it.
Complain to your local data protection authority. We would appreciate the chance to sort things out with you first.

To use any of these rights, email privacy@rouapp.com. We will reply within one month.

11. International transfers

Some of our service providers, including PostHog, Vercel and Resend, process data in the United States, and your data may be stored or accessed outside your country. Where personal data from the EU, EEA, UK or Switzerland is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

12. Security

All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS).
Database rules make sure that each person can only read their own data, plus what members of a shared list deliberately share with each other.
Passwords are only ever stored as secure hashes.

No system is perfectly secure. If you think your account has been compromised, contact us right away at privacy@rouapp.com.

13. Children

Rou is not directed at children under 16, and you must be at least 16 to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

14. Changes to this policy

When Rou changes, this policy will change with it. We will post the new version on this page with a new “Last updated” date, and for significant changes we will also let you know in the app or by email before they take effect.

15. Contact

Questions, requests or concerns about your privacy:

Eva Wadl
Email: privacy@rouapp.com

See also our Terms of Service and Support page.