PeluChef Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 11, 2026
This Privacy Policy describes what data PeluChef (the Android app) and this website collect, what we use it for, who we share it with, and what choices you have about it. If you have any questions, write to us at PeluChef.Gem@gmail.com.
1. What data we collect
- Your Google account data: when you sign in with "Sign in with Google," we receive your email and your Google account's unique identifier. We use them solely to create and recognize your PeluChef account.
- Your !username and your profile: the unique name you choose when creating your account, and anything you add to your profile (photo, bio, signature). Your !username and profile are public: anyone using PeluChef can search for you and see them, they don't need to follow you first.
- Photos you upload: your profile photo, and any photo you add to your own recipes (from your gallery or picked from Pexels search results). They're stored as a file on our server.
- Your recipes: the title, ingredients, steps, photo, and last-modified date of the recipes you save or generate, so we can show them to you and sync them across your own devices. If you mark a recipe as "Published," it also becomes visible on your public profile and in the "Today's Menu" of the people who follow you.
- Followers: who follows you and who you follow, to build the "Today's Menu" and the counters on your profile.
- Other users' recipes you've watched: what you're watching from another account's public profile, so it appears in your "Saved" section.
- Weekly menu, shopping list, and Meal Prep: the calendar of what recipe you plan to cook each day is stored only on your device. The shopping list we build from that menu, your list preferences ("always add"/"never on the list"), and your Meal Prep (batch-cooking plan) are stored on our server, so we can sync them across your devices.
- Imports from Instagram/TikTok: when you paste a video's link, our server asks a third-party service (Apify) for that video's public data (description, narrated audio, thumbnail image, the video's username and the creator's name) and keeps a record with the date and that data so we can enforce the daily import limit. While the recipe built from that is pending your confirmation or dismissal, it's also stored on the server. More detail in section 5.
- Microphone permission: we use it solely so you can talk to PeluChef and be understood. We don't record or store any audio files on our servers. Speech recognition is processed by the Android operating system itself.
- Camera/gallery permission: we use it only when you choose to take or pick a photo for your profile or for a recipe.
- Reports you make or receive: if you report an account or a recipe, we save the reason you wrote so we can review it.
2. What we don't do
- We don't use advertising networks or third-party analytics tools inside the app.
- We never sell your data to anyone, under any circumstances.
- We don't access your microphone except in the exact moment you tap the button to talk to PeluChef.
- We don't access your camera or gallery except when you choose to upload or search for a photo.
3. Your own Gemini API key
PeluChef needs a Gemini API key (a Google artificial intelligence service) for the assistant to work. That key is yours: it's stored only on your device, never on our servers. When you talk to PeluChef, what you say (already converted from speech to text) is sent directly from your device to Google's Gemini API, using your own key. Our servers never see or store the content of those conversations. Use of the Gemini API is also subject to Google's own terms and privacy policy.
4. Recipe photos: Pexels search
When you create a recipe (or ask for a photo from the manual dialog), PeluChef builds a short search term from the title using Gemini (with your own API key, just like any other chat with the assistant) and our server uses that term to search for photos on Pexels, a third-party stock-photo service, and show you the results so you can pick one. Pexels only ever receives that search term built from your recipe's title — never your name, email, or any other personal data.
5. Importing recipes from Instagram and TikTok
When you paste the link to an Instagram or TikTok video, our server asks a third-party scraping service, Apify, for its public data (video description, narrated audio, thumbnail image, the video's username and who posted it) and keeps an audit record with the date, the link, and that data, so we can enforce the daily import limit per account. The audio and description are then sent to Gemini, directly from your device using your own API key (same as explained in section 3), to build the recipe draft — our server never sees or stores that conversation with Gemini. While that draft is pending your confirmation or dismissal, it's stored in full on our server (including the video's thumbnail, downloaded once); once you confirm it, it becomes one of your recipes like any other, and dismissing it or deleting your account deletes it entirely.
6. What we use your data for
- To create and maintain your PeluChef account.
- To sync your recipes, shopping list, list preferences, and Meal Prep across your own devices.
- To show your public profile and your "Today's Menu" to the people who follow you, and to let you follow, browse, or watch other accounts' published recipes.
- To build a recipe draft from an Instagram or TikTok video you want to import.
- To review content or account reports, and to enforce blocks.
- To respond if you write to us asking for help or support.
7. Who we share data with
- With Google: for sign-in (Google Sign-In) and, if you loaded your own API key, for the AI responses (Gemini), sent directly from your device, as explained in section 3.
- With Pexels: only the search term built from a recipe's title, as explained in section 4.
- With Apify: only the link you chose to import, and only if you use the Instagram/TikTok import feature, as explained in section 5.
- With other PeluChef users: your !username, photo, bio, signature, and counters (recipes, followers, following) are visible to any user who visits your profile. Recipes you mark as "Published" are visible to your followers and to anyone who visits your profile. The ones you don't publish stay private, unless you decide to share them individually.
- We don't share your data with anyone else.
8. Where your data is stored
Your account, your recipes, and the photos you upload are stored on a server operated by PeluChef's developer, located in Brazil, with an encrypted (HTTPS) connection between your device and the server. This means an international data transfer: if you use PeluChef from a country other than Brazil (for example, Argentina or Spain), your data travels to and is stored outside your country. We take reasonable measures to protect it (encryption in transit, restricted access) regardless of where it's hosted.
9. How long we keep your data
We keep your data for as long as your account exists. You can delete your own recipes at any time from the app. If you delete your account (from the app, under Settings → "Delete my account," or by following the steps in How to delete your account), we delete your profile, your photos, your followers, your shopping list, your list preferences, your Meal Prep, any Instagram/TikTok import still pending confirmation (along with your import audit record), and everything you've saved from other accounts. The text of your own recipes (title, ingredients, steps) may be kept disconnected from your account — without your name, your !username, or any associated photo — so the service keeps running normally; once your account is deleted, that content is never shown to anyone again and is no longer associated with you.
10. Reports and blocks
You can report an account or a recipe you find inappropriate, and block any user to stop seeing them and being seen by them (this also removes the follow relationship between both accounts, in both directions). We review reports to decide whether content should be removed or an account suspended.
11. Minors
PeluChef is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under that age.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date of the last update appears at the top of this page.
13. Contact
For any questions about this policy or about your data, write to us at PeluChef.Gem@gmail.com.