Privacy Policy

SmartSkaffi is made by TEL Management Group LLC, a Kansas limited liability company (“TEL Management,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use the SmartSkaffi mobile app (the “App”) or visit smartskaffi.com (the “Site”), how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

We've written this in plain English on purpose. If anything is unclear, email us at hello@smartskaffi.com.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Account information. When you create an account, we collect your email address and password (handled through our authentication provider; we never see or store your plain-text password) and any profile details you choose to add, such as a display name.
• Household membership. If you create or join a Household, we store which Household you belong to, who its other members are, and who the Household Owner is.
• Inventory, grocery list, and meal planner data. The pantry items, quantities, grocery-list entries, and meal plans you or your Household members add.
• Recipes and recipe photos. Recipes you enter manually, and photos you take with the Recipe Capture feature. When you photograph a recipe, the photo is sent to Anthropic's Claude API (through our backend) to extract the ingredients and instructions into a usable recipe. Anthropic does not use this data to train its models — see Section 4 for detail.
• Barcode scans. When you scan a product barcode, the barcode number is sent to the Open Food Facts database (a free, public product database) to look up the product name, photo, and nutrition classification. We store the resulting product information in your inventory.
• Kroger account linking. If you link a Kroger account, we store your Kroger OAuth access and refresh tokens and your Kroger customer ID (retrieved via Kroger's Identity API) solely to operate the cart-push feature. We never see or store your Kroger password.
• Waitlist email (Site only). If you join the waitlist on smartskaffi.com, we collect your email address. That's the only thing the waitlist form collects.

Information collected automatically

• Basic technical data. Our backend infrastructure (currently Supabase) logs basic technical information when the App communicates with it — such as IP address, device type, and timestamps — for security, debugging, and reliability purposes. These logs are retained for a short period (currently 1 day, under our infrastructure provider's plan) before being automatically deleted. We do not currently use any separate crash-reporting or diagnostics service (such as Sentry); if we add one in the future, we'll disclose it here first.
• Site analytics. The Site uses Cloudflare's built-in, privacy-oriented analytics. These are aggregate statistics only — no cookies, no cross-site tracking, no ad pixels, and no personal profiles.
• Pantry usage statistics (Cook Mode). When you finish cooking a recipe and confirm the “Done” review screen, the App records how much of a product got used: the product's barcode, the recipe's unit of measurement (like “cup”), the quantity used, the fraction of the package used, and the calendar day. That's the whole record — no item names, no recipe names, no notes, no photos, and nothing tied to your name, email, or Household name. These observations are pooled across all SmartSkaffi Households, so the App can learn things like “this 8oz bag of shredded cheddar is about 2 cups” and auto-deduct everyone's pantry more accurately. To keep one Household from skewing the numbers by reporting the same thing five times, each observation carries an irreversible one-way hash derived from your Household's internal ID plus a secret value only we hold. We can't reverse that hash back to a real Household, no app (including yours) can read or list individual observations, and the hash is never linked to your account or any personal information. To be precise: this makes the data pseudonymous rather than fully anonymous, even though nothing in it identifies who you are. It's used only to improve this one feature — never sold, never shared with any outside company, never used for advertising or profiling. And it doesn't change the Household sharing rule in Section 3: your recipes, inventory, and grocery lists are still visible only within your own Household, same as always.

What we do NOT collect

To be explicit about what isn't here:

• We do not use third-party advertising or ad-tracking SDKs.
• We do not collect payment information (V1 of the App is free, with no in-app purchases or subscriptions).
• We do not send SMS/text messages or collect phone numbers.
• We do not access your camera roll, contacts, or location. Camera access is used only when you actively scan a barcode or capture a recipe, and manual entry is always available if you decline camera permission.

2. How we use your information

We use the information above to:

• Create and maintain your account and Household;
• Provide the App's core features: inventory tracking, recipe library, meal planning, grocery lists (including “Gap-Fill” suggestions generated from your recipes and inventory), barcode lookups, and recipe photo parsing;
• Match grocery-list items to Walmart products and build a Walmart cart when you use that feature;
• Send waitlist and announcement emails you signed up for (you can unsubscribe anytime);
• Keep the service secure, diagnose problems, and prevent abuse;
• Comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own advertising or marketing. The pooled pantry-usage statistics described in Section 1 are no exception — they never leave our systems, and they exist for exactly one job: making the Cook Mode auto-deduct feature more accurate for everyone.

Why we don't run ads, and how the App stays funded. We know an app that doesn't sell your data or show you ads still has to pay for itself somehow — servers, development, and support all cost real money, and always will. We've chosen not to fund that through advertising or by selling access to your data. Instead, when you use the Walmart integration to order groceries you're missing, TEL Management Group LLC earns a small affiliate commission from Walmart on that purchase, at no extra cost to you (see Section 4). That's the entire business model: we make money when SmartSkaffi actually helps your Household get groceries, not by monetizing your attention or your data.

3. Household data sharing — read this part

SmartSkaffi is built around shared Households. Anything you add to a Household — inventory items, recipes, recipe photos, grocery-list items, meal plans — is visible to every other member of that Household. Don't add anything to a shared Household that you wouldn't want the other members to see. If you leave a Household — or delete your account while you're part of one — the Household's shared data is never deleted along with you; it stays intact for whoever remains. As a regular member, you can choose to bring a copy of the Household's current recipes and inventory with you into a new, independent Household of your own, or leave without a copy. See Section 6 for the full mechanics.

4. Third parties we work with

We share data only with the service providers needed to run SmartSkaffi:

• Supabase (infrastructure provider). Your account data and all App content are hosted with our infrastructure provider, currently Supabase, which provides our database, authentication, and backend functions. Supabase processes this data on our behalf to operate the App.
• Anthropic (Claude API). Recipe photos you capture are sent through our backend to Anthropic's Claude API solely to extract the recipe's text (ingredients and instructions). This processing exists only to power the Recipe Capture feature. By default, Anthropic does not use API inputs or outputs to train its models — this would only change if we opted into Anthropic's Development Partner Program, which we have not — and Anthropic retains API data for a maximum of 30 days.
• Open Food Facts. When you scan a barcode, the barcode number is sent to the Open Food Facts public database to retrieve product information. No account information is included in these lookups.
• Walmart (affiliate API). When you use the Walmart integration, your grocery-list item details are sent to Walmart's Affiliate Marketing API to find matching products and add items to a Walmart cart. Once you go to Walmart to complete a purchase, you are dealing with Walmart under Walmart's own privacy policy and terms — we don't see or store your Walmart account credentials or payment information. Affiliate disclosure: TEL Management Group LLC may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through Walmart links or cart features in the App.
• Kroger (cart integration). When you use the Kroger integration, your grocery-list item details and OAuth tokens are sent to Kroger's official Products, Locations, and Cart APIs to find matching products, locate nearby stores, and add items to your linked Kroger cart. Once you go to Kroger to complete a purchase, you are dealing with Kroger under Kroger's own privacy policy and terms — we don't see or store your Kroger password or payment information. Affiliate disclosure: TEL Management Group LLC does not currently earn a commission on Kroger purchases, but may do so in the future if Kroger offers an affiliate or referral program; any such relationship will be disclosed here. Kroger is a trademark of its owner and Kroger does not sponsor or endorse the App.
• Buttondown (waitlist emails). Waitlist email addresses from the Site are sent to Buttondown, the email newsletter service we use to send waitlist and announcement emails.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of our users, the public, or TEL Management Group LLC.
• Business transfers. If TEL Management Group LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction; we would notify you of any material change in how your data is handled.

5. Nutrition and health information disclaimer

Nutrition scores and classifications shown in the App (such as Nutri-Score and NOVA ratings) come from Open Food Facts, a third-party public database. This information is informational only — it may be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate, and it is not medical, health, or dietary advice. Don't rely on it to make health decisions; talk to a qualified professional for that.

6. Data retention and deletion

• We keep your account data and content for as long as your account is active.
• If you're the only member of your Household, deleting your account is immediate and permanent — your account, your Household, and its data are deleted and cannot be recovered.
• If you belong to a shared Household with other members, account deletion works through a Leave/Replicate step first, because a shared Household's data belongs to everyone in it, not just you:
  • If you're the Household Owner, you must first transfer ownership to another member using the in-app Transfer Ownership flow before you can leave.
  • As a regular member (including a former Owner who just transferred ownership away), you then choose one of two options:
    • Replicate — copy the Household's current recipes and inventory into a brand-new Household that you name and own, under your same account. Your account is not deleted; you're simply independent of the old Household from that point on. (Useful, for example, if you're moving out of a shared household, or splitting a shared account after a separation, and don't want to rebuild your recipes and inventory from scratch.)
    • Leave without replicating — this is the actual account deletion. You leave the Household with no copy, and your account's personal information (email, display name, and other profile data) is permanently removed and your account is closed. This is irreversible. Please be certain before you choose this.
  • Either way, the shared Household and its data are never deleted just because one member leaves or deletes their account — the data stays intact for whoever remains.
• Waitlist emails are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you (email hello@smartskaffi.com or use the unsubscribe link in any email).
• Residual copies may persist briefly in routine backups before being purged, and we may retain limited records where required by law.

7. Your rights and choices

Regardless of where you live in the US, you can:

• Access and correct your account information and content directly in the App;
• Delete your account and associated data using the in-app account-deletion flow (permanent, and works through a Leave/Replicate step first if you're in a shared Household — see Section 6);
• Unsubscribe from waitlist/announcement emails at any time;
• Decline camera permission — manual entry is always available as a fallback;
• Contact us at hello@smartskaffi.com with any privacy question or request.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you're a California resident, you have the right to: know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose (this Policy is that disclosure); access the personal information we hold about you; correct inaccurate personal information; delete your personal information; and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell your personal information and we do not “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising (as those terms are defined in California law), so there is no sale/sharing to opt out of. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes requiring a right to limit. To exercise your rights, use the in-app tools described above or email hello@smartskaffi.com; we may need to verify your identity (typically by confirming control of your account email) before acting on a request. You may also use an authorized agent, subject to verification.

Other US state privacy rights (including but not limited to Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and similar laws)

Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws generally have similar rights: to access, correct, and delete personal data, to obtain a portable copy, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale of personal data, and certain profiling. We do not sell personal data, do not engage in targeted advertising, and do not conduct profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects, so there is nothing to opt out of on those fronts. To exercise access, correction, or deletion rights, use the in-app tools or email hello@smartskaffi.com. If we decline a request, you may appeal by replying to our response with “Appeal” in the subject line, and we will respond as required by your state's law.

8. Children's privacy

SmartSkaffi is not directed at children. The App and Site are not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us personal information, contact us at hello@smartskaffi.com and we will delete it.

9. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), authentication controls, and access restrictions through our infrastructure provider. That said, no system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong, unique password for your account. If we experience a security breach that compromises your personal information, we will notify you and any regulators as required by applicable law.

Do Not Track: we don't use cookies or cross-site tracking technologies, so there's nothing to disable — we don't respond differently to Do Not Track browser signals because no such tracking occurs in the first place.

10. International users

SmartSkaffi is currently offered in the United States only, and your information is processed in the United States. If you use the App or Site from outside the US, you do so on your own initiative and understand your information will be handled as described in this Policy under US law. We do not currently target or offer the service to users in the EU/EEA, UK, or other regions.

11. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll notify you through the App or by email and update the “Last updated” date above. Continuing to use SmartSkaffi after changes take effect means you accept the updated Policy.

12. Contact us

TEL Management Group LLC
Email: hello@smartskaffi.com