Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 10, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to DishCircle. We are committed to protecting your privacy and personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website, mobile application, and services (collectively, the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We collect information that you voluntarily provide when using the Service:

  • Account Information: Name, email address, password, profile picture, and bio
  • Profile Information: Location (city), cooking style tags, dietary preferences
  • Dish Content: Photos of dishes, dish names, descriptions, cuisine types, meal types, and dietary tags
  • Recipe Information: Recipe links, ingredients, preparation instructions
  • Preferences: Meal planning preferences, suggestion settings, dietary restrictions
  • Social Interactions: Friend connections, friend requests, borrowed dishes

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you use the Service, we automatically collect certain information:

  • Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, time spent on the Service, interaction patterns
  • Device Information: Device type, operating system, browser type, IP address, device identifiers
  • Location Data: If you provide location permissions, we collect approximate location data to help you discover nearby users
  • Cookies and Tracking: We use cookies and similar technologies to track activity and enhance user experience

2.3 Information from Third Parties

If you sign in using third-party authentication (e.g., Google), we receive basic profile information including your name, email address, and profile picture from those services.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

  • Service Provision: To provide, maintain, and improve the Service
  • Personalization: To generate AI-powered meal suggestions based on your dish library and preferences
  • Social Features: To enable friend connections, dish borrowing, and community discovery
  • User Discovery: To help users find friends based on location and shared interests
  • Communication: To send you service-related notifications, updates, and support messages
  • Analytics: To analyze usage patterns and improve our algorithms and features
  • Security: To detect, prevent, and address fraud, security issues, and policy violations
  • Legal Compliance: To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service

4. AI-Powered Features and Data Processing

4.1 Dish Analysis

When you upload a dish photo, we use AI vision technology to automatically extract information such as dish name, cuisine type, ingredients, and dietary attributes. This analysis helps build your personal food library.

4.2 Meal Suggestions

We use AI algorithms to analyze your dish library, preferences, and usage patterns to generate personalized meal suggestions and weekly meal plans. This processing is performed to enhance your experience and reduce decision fatigue.

4.3 Taste Profile

We build a "taste profile" based on the dishes in your library to better understand your preferences and provide more relevant suggestions. This profile is stored securely and used solely for personalization purposes.

5. How We Share Your Information

5.1 Within the DishCircle Community

Certain information is shared with other users based on your privacy settings:

  • Public Profile: Your name, profile picture, bio, location (city), and cooking style tags are visible to other users
  • Dish Library: When you connect with friends, they can view and borrow dishes from your library
  • Borrowed Dishes: Attribution to the original user is maintained when dishes are borrowed
  • Friend Connections: Your friend list may be visible to your friends

5.2 Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, including:

  • Cloud hosting and storage providers
  • AI and machine learning service providers
  • Analytics and performance monitoring services
  • Customer support and communication tools

These providers are bound by confidentiality obligations and may only use your information to provide services to us.

5.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., court orders, subpoenas, or government agencies).

5.4 Business Transfers

If DishCircle is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your information may be transferred. We will provide notice before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

5.5 With Your Consent

We may share your information for any other purpose with your explicit consent.

6. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

  • Encryption of data in transit using SSL/TLS
  • Encryption of sensitive data at rest
  • Regular security assessments and monitoring
  • Access controls and authentication mechanisms
  • Secure backup and disaster recovery procedures

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Service. We will retain and use your information to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

When you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable timeframe, except where we are required to retain it for legal purposes.

8. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

  • Access: Request access to the personal information we hold about you
  • Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
  • Portability: Request a copy of your information in a portable format
  • Objection: Object to the processing of your information in certain circumstances
  • Restriction: Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
  • Withdrawal of Consent: Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information provided in Section 14.

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Service and store certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data that are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Essential Cookies: Required for the Service to function properly (e.g., authentication)
  • Preference Cookies: Remember your settings and preferences
  • Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how users interact with the Service
  • Marketing Cookies: Used to deliver relevant advertisements (if applicable)

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

10. Third-Party Services

Our Service may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by DishCircle. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services.

We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you become aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us. If we discover that we have collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.

By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to our facilities and to the third parties with whom we share it as described in this Privacy Policy.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top.

We will also notify you via email or through a prominent notice on the Service prior to the change becoming effective. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

DishCircle
Email: privacy@dishcircle.app
Website: joindishcircle.com

15. Additional Rights for California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

  • Right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared, or sold
  • Right to delete personal information held by businesses
  • Right to opt-out of the sale of personal information
  • Right to non-discrimination for exercising CCPA rights

Note: DishCircle does not sell your personal information to third parties.

16. Additional Rights for EU/EEA Residents

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including:

  • Right to access your personal data
  • Right to rectification of inaccurate personal data
  • Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
  • Right to restrict processing
  • Right to data portability
  • Right to object to processing
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
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