Privacy policy

Degchi works in guest mode without any account: your pantry, shopping list, favourites and settings stay on your phone. Signing in with Google unlocks cloud sync and family features, which is when we start receiving the data described below.

Guest mode (no account)

If you never sign in, Degchi stores everything — pantry items, shopping list, recipe likes, family setup, reminders and settings — only on your phone. We receive nothing except recipe/ingredient catalogue downloads and app-update checks, which include your IP address like any web request. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data deletes everything.

Signing in with Google

Sign-in is optional and uses Firebase Authentication with Google only. When you sign in, we receive:

• Your email address, display name and profile photo, as shared by Google.
• A Firebase user ID (UID) that identifies your account internally.

Cloud sync of your data

Once signed in, the following is synced to our servers so it survives a phone change and can be shared with your family: pantry items, shopping list, favourite recipes, recipe reactions (likes), and app settings (language, theme, meal times, notification preferences).

Family households

You can create or join a family household. Members of the same household can see each other's name and profile photo, and share the household's pantry, shopping list, dinner polls and item requests. Only the household Owner can change member permissions and remove members.

Push notifications

To send cooking timers, meal reminders and family-poll alerts, the app registers a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) device token with our servers, along with your device's language and the app version installed.

Advertising (Google AdMob)

Degchi is free and shows ads through Google AdMob outside of cook mode, market mode, onboarding and vendor sale entry. AdMob may use your device's advertising ID, an approximate location derived from your IP address, and how you interact with ads and the app, to select and measure ads. Where required by law (for example the EEA, UK and Switzerland), we ask for consent through Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) before any personalised ads are shown.

Website analytics

degchi.matrixinn.net (this website, not the app) uses Google Analytics 4 with Google's Consent Mode. We do not use advertising cookies on the website, and analytics cookies are off by default for visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland until they consent.

Feedback and suggestions

If you use "Share an idea" or in-app feedback, we receive your message, the optional name or email you provide, and basic device information (app version, Android version, device model, and language) so we can act on it or reply.

Recipe notes and questions

Recipe pages have a notes form. If you use it, we store your message, the type of note, and the display name you choose (or "Guest"). An email address is optional: it is kept private, never shown on the site, and used only so we can reply. To limit spam we also store a salted hash of your IP address, not the address itself, and use it only for rate limits. Our team reads each note before it appears; only the name, the message and our reply become public. To have a note or your email address deleted, write to the contact address below with the link of the recipe page.

Dinner vote on the website

The dinner vote page (/vote/) needs no account. When you create a vote we store the dish names you typed, the language and a keyed hash of your IP address (used only to limit abuse; the IP itself is not stored). When someone votes we store their choice and a one-way hash of a random code kept in their browser, so each browser can vote once. No names, emails or other personal details are collected. A vote closes after 48 hours and is deleted about a day later.

Cooking assistant (AI)

If you use the cooking assistant in the app, the questions you type, the app language and, if you opened it from a recipe, that recipe's name, ingredients and steps are sent to our server and processed by Groq Inc., our AI provider, to write an answer. If you turn on web search, Groq may also look up web pages to answer. To suggest dishes we also send the list of standard ingredients you marked as "have". We do not send your name, email, phone number, family details or location. We do not store your questions or the answers on our servers and do not log their content; the conversation stays on your phone while the app is open. We keep short-lived counters (per account or device and IP address) to limit daily use and stop abuse. Answers are written by AI and can be wrong; they are not medical or health advice. Anything the assistant suggests adding is saved only if you tap Confirm.

Server logs

Our servers keep standard access logs, including IP addresses, for up to 14 days, purely for security and abuse prevention, then delete them.

Backups and retention

Signed-in account data is backed up as part of normal operations. We keep it for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your data — including copies in backups — is removed within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep specific records for longer (for example fraud-prevention logs).

Deleting your account

You can delete your account and its data at any time from inside the app: go to Me → Delete account and confirm. If you can't access the app, use the web form at degchi.matrixinn.net/account-deletion/. Guest-mode users have no cloud account to delete — uninstalling the app removes everything.

Children

Degchi is intended for a general audience aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Security

All connections to our servers use HTTPS. We do not sell your personal data to anyone.

Changes to this policy

If we materially change how Degchi handles your data, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date above, and, where required, ask for renewed consent.

Contact

Questions, requests or complaints: email m.usamaalam60@gmail.com, or use Me → Send feedback in the app. Publisher: Matrix Inn.