Privacy policy

Browsing without an account

Reading recipes needs no account. On our public pages (recipes, categories, search and pages like this one) we use Google Analytics to understand which recipes people read and how they find us. It records the pages you visit (including searches you make on this site), the site that sent you here, your approximate location (worked out from your IP address, which Google Analytics does not store), your device, browser, screen size and language, and how long you stay on a page. We do not send Google your name, email address or anything from your account, and Google’s advertising features are turned off, so this information is not used to show you ads. We do not use advertising trackers or fingerprinting.

Google Analytics is not used in My Kitchen, on sign-in and admin pages, on recipes adapted to your settings or on shared plan links, and we do not record visits to those pages. You can block it with a content blocker or Google’s opt-out browser add-on. How Google uses this information.

Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (such as IP address and pages requested) for security and troubleshooting.

Ingredient checkboxes are remembered in your own browser (local storage) for 24 hours so you can keep your place while cooking. That information never leaves your device.

If you create an account

We store what you give us to make the signed-in features work:

• your email address, used only to sign you in;
• your allergen and diet settings;
• recipes you save, meals you plan, your grocery lists and your cooking history, including any changes you note when you log a cook (what you added or left out);
• photos, ratings and notes you choose to share.

Your history, plans and settings are private to you. That includes the changes you note when you log a cook: no one else can see them. To improve our recipes, our editor sees counts for each recipe, such as how many cooks left out an ingredient, without your name or other details about you. A plan is only visible to others if you turn on a share link, and you can turn it off at any time.

Photos you upload

Before a photo leaves your device it is resized and its location and camera data (EXIF) are removed. Our server removes any remaining metadata again. Shared photos are shown anonymously as “From a home cook”.

Cookies

We use the cookies needed to keep you signed in and to show “today” in your time zone. On public pages Google Analytics also sets its own cookies (named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID) so it can tell a returning browser from a new one; they expire two years after your last visit. We do not use advertising cookies. You can delete cookies in your browser at any time.

Services we rely on

Our database and file storage, our hosting, our sign-in email delivery and our website analytics (Google Analytics, provided by Google) are run by service providers who process data only on our behalf. Links to retailers (such as Amazon) take you to their sites, where their own privacy policies apply.

Deleting your data

You can delete your account from your settings. This removes your profile, your photos and every plan, list, note and rating linked to it, along with the changes you noted. Your changes also stop counting in the editor’s recipe counts. Copies in routine backups expire on the provider’s schedule.

Age

Accounts are for people aged 13 and over.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect.