Privacy Policy & Advertising Disclosures

1. Introduction & Data Controller

Welcome to YumGPT ("we," "our," or "us"). We develop and operate the YumGPT smart cooking assistant available on Google Play (Package Name: com.yumgpt.app) and accessible via https://yumgpt.app.

We are committed to transparent data practices and respecting your privacy rights under global data protection regulations, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK Data Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and Google Play Developer Distribution Policies (including the Google AdMob and Families Policy).

For any questions, the designated data controller can be reached at privacy@yumgpt.app.

2. Information We Collect

We collect and process only the minimal necessary data required to deliver smart recipes, multimodal AI camera vision, hands-free voice guidance, and optional advertising:

2.1 Device & Technical Identifiers

• Hardware & Installation Tokens: We process non-reversible, cryptographically hashed device identifiers (such as hardware DRM IDs and Android IDs) to manage free trial quotas and verify Pro subscription privileges without requiring invasive personal email/password registrations.
• Device Attributes: Device model, manufacturer, Android OS version, app version, screen resolution, and system language locale (to return recipes in your preferred language).

2.2 Advertising & Network Identifiers

• Google Advertising ID (AAID / GAID): When permitted by your regional consent choices and device settings, our advertising partner (Google AdMob) accesses your mobile advertising ID to deliver relevant ads, prevent click fraud, frequency-cap impressions, and measure ad performance.
• IP Address: Transmitted with network requests to deliver AI responses, protect against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and allow Google AdMob to derive coarse geographic location (city or regional level) for appropriate regional advertising.

2.3 User Content, Culinary Photos & Media

• Smart Vision & Fridge Rescue: When you snap or upload a photo of food ingredients, the image is transmitted securely via TLS 1.3 encryption to our server and multimodal AI models (e.g. Google Gemini) to identify ingredients and generate recipes. Images are processed ephemerally and are not used for facial recognition or biometric profiling.
• Custom Recipes & Reviews: Recipes you create or reviews you publish are stored securely in your local device database and synchronized with our server if you choose to participate in community feedback.

2.4 Voice & Audio Input

• Voice Cook Mode & Chef AI Notes: When you use hands-free voice recording, your audio query is converted to text to assist with cooking tasks. Audio notes are never used for biometric voiceprints and are processed strictly to answer your culinary questions.

2.5 Diagnostics & App Telemetry

• Crash logs, ANR reports, and API latency measurements to diagnose bugs and maintain high server availability.

3. Artificial Intelligence & Cloud Processing

YumGPT utilizes cutting-edge foundation models (including Google Gemini, OpenAI, and xAI Grok) to generate recipes, calculate nutritional estimates, and power real-time culinary conversations.

Our Core AI Privacy Principles:

• We never sell your private culinary prompts, photos, or voice notes to third-party data brokers.
• We do not use your private personal recipes or audio recordings to train public foundation models.
• All cloud AI queries are processed through secured, enterprise API tiers governed by strict zero-data-retention or confidential data handling agreements.

4. In-App Purchases, Pro Subscriptions & Google Play Billing

All digital subscriptions (YumGPT Pro) and in-app transactions are conducted directly through Google Play Billing.

YumGPT never collects, processes, or stores your credit card numbers, debit cards, or banking information. We receive only a cryptographically signed purchase confirmation token from Google Play to unlock unlimited access. Subscriptions can be managed or canceled at any time in the Google Play Store app (Payments & subscriptions).

5. Advertising, Google AdMob & Third-Party Ad Networks

To keep YumGPT accessible to all home cooks globally, our free version displays advertisements provided by Google AdMob (operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) and certified third-party ad networks.

5.1 Third-Party SDKs, Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Google AdMob and its advertising partners may use mobile software development kits (SDKs), device identifiers (such as the Google Advertising ID), and similar technologies to collect information about your interactions with ads displayed in the app. This technology allows ad networks to:

• Serve relevant personalized or non-personalized advertisements based on your consent choices.
• Enforce frequency capping so you do not see the same advertisement repeatedly.
• Detect and prevent invalid traffic, automated bot clicks, and fraudulent ad impressions.
• Measure ad engagement, click-through rates, and advertiser attribution.

5.2 Data Categories Processed by the Google Mobile Ads SDK

5.3 Rewarded Video Ads & Server-Side Verification (SSV)

YumGPT provides optional Rewarded Video Advertisements. Users may voluntarily elect to watch an ad to earn additional AI Chef questions or temporary quota benefits:

• Voluntary Choice: Watching a rewarded ad is entirely optional. Users are clearly informed of the in-app reward before initiating the video.
• Non-Monetary In-App Benefit: Rewards consist solely of temporary, in-app usage credits (such as additional questions with Chef AI). Rewards have zero cash value, are non-transferable, and cannot be redeemed for legal currency.
• Server-Side Verification (SSV): When a user finishes watching a rewarded ad, Google AdMob transmits an encrypted, cryptographically signed cryptographic callback (SSV) to our backend server to verify that the ad was watched in its entirety before granting the in-app credit.

5.4 European Union (EEA), UK & Switzerland Consent (GDPR / IAB TCF v2.2)

For users located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland:

• We integrate the Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK, certified under the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF v2.2).
• On your initial launch, a consent screen allows you to grant or decline consent for personalized advertising, non-personalized advertising, and vendor cookies.
• How to Change or Revoke Your Consent: You can modify or withdraw your advertising consent at any time directly inside the YumGPT app by navigating to:
  Settings > Ad Privacy & Consent Choices.

5.5 California & US State Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), California residents have specific rights regarding personal information:

• Notice of "Sale" or "Sharing": We do not sell your personal data for money. However, sharing advertising identifiers (such as AAID) with third-party ad networks for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising may be considered "sharing" under California law.
• Right to Opt-Out: You have the right to direct us not to share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• How to Exercise Opt-Out:
  1. On Android 12 and newer: Open your device Settings > Privacy > Ads > Delete advertising ID.
  2. On Android 11 and older: Open your device Settings > Google > Ads > Opt out of Ads Personalization.
  3. You can also contact our privacy team at privacy@yumgpt.app to submit an opt-out request.

5.6 Mandatory Google Policy Links & Ad Controls

We encourage you to review how Google collects and manages advertising data:

5.7 Industry-Wide Advertising Opt-Out Tools

You can also manage or opt out of interest-based advertising through participating industry self-regulatory programs:

• Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA): https://optout.aboutads.info/
• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI): https://optout.networkadvertising.org/
• European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA): https://www.youronlinechoices.com/
• DAA AppChoices for Mobile Apps: https://youradchoices.com/appchoices

5.8 Third-Party Mediation & Additional Ad Networks

In addition to Google AdMob, we may partner with certified advertising mediation networks (such as Meta Audience Network, Unity Ads, AppLovin, ironSource, InMobi, or Mintegral). All mediation partners are contractually required to respect user consent flags, comply with Google Play Developer Policies, and adhere to applicable data privacy legislation.

5.9 Completely Ad-Free Experience

Users who prefer an entirely ad-free environment can upgrade to YumGPT Pro at any time. Activating Pro completely disables all banner, interstitial, and rewarded advertising SDK initialization throughout the application.

6. Analytics, Crash Reporting & Remote Notifications (Google Firebase)

To maintain app stability, prevent unexpected technical failures, and understand which culinary features provide the most value, YumGPT integrates Google Firebase services operated by Google LLC.

6.1 Firebase Crashlytics

We use Firebase Crashlytics to capture real-time technical diagnostic logs when an unexpected crash or system exception occurs. Crashlytics collects technical telemetry including:

• Device state at the time of the crash (operating system version, device model, free RAM, and storage capacity).
• Crash stack traces and code execution location.
• App execution state (e.g. active locale or Pro subscription status).

Crashlytics logs do not contain your private photos, recipes, or personal credentials. They are utilized strictly to fix bugs and improve stability.

6.2 Firebase Analytics

We utilize Firebase Analytics to anonymously measure general app engagement and feature adoption (such as recipes generated, recipes imported from external links, and cooking session completions). This data is aggregated and does not identify individual users. Firebase Analytics also integrates with Google AdMob to calculate ad viewability and monetization effectiveness.

6.3 Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)

We use Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver optional push notifications, such as mealtime cooking inspiration, weekend recipe ideas, or major feature releases.

• FCM uses a randomly generated, anonymous device registration token to route notifications to your phone.
• You can enable or disable push notifications at any time in your device system settings or directly within YumGPT under Settings > Notifications.

7. Children's Privacy (COPPA & Google Play Families Policy)

YumGPT is designed for a general audience aged 13 and older (or 16 and older where required by local law in the EEA/UK).

• The app is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
• We do not knowingly serve targeted or personalized advertising to children.
• If we become aware that a child under 13 has submitted personal data to us, we will promptly purge such records from our databases.
• Where applicable, our ad integration supports Google's tagForChildDirectedTreatment (TFCD) and tagForUnderAgeOfConsent (TFUA) flags to prevent personalized ad serving to underage users.

8. Data Retention & User Erasure Rights (GDPR Art. 17)

We retain anonymous device records only for as long as needed to enforce trial quotas and maintain active Pro subscriptions.

Your Absolute Right to Erasure: You have the right to request the permanent deletion of your data at any time.

Instant Self-Service In-App Deletion: You can permanently delete all your recipes, reviews, comments, uploaded photos, and device history at any time without contacting support by tapping:
Settings > Delete My Data & Account directly inside the YumGPT app.

Alternatively, you may email a deletion request to privacy@yumgpt.app, and our team will process your request within 30 days.

9. Data Security Standards

We employ robust technical and organizational security controls to safeguard your data against unauthorized access, destruction, or alteration:

• All network transmissions are strictly encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / HTTPS) with strong cipher suites.
• Device tokens are cryptographically hashed using SHA-256 and salted algorithms.
• Database backups and servers are maintained in certified, firewalled cloud data centers with strict multi-factor authentication access controls.

10. International Data Transfers

Our cloud servers and AI providers operate data centers located in the United States and the European Union. By using YumGPT, you acknowledge that your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your jurisdiction. All international transfers are safeguarded through standard contractual clauses (SCCs) and data protection agreements.

11. Policy Updates & Notifications

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect modifications in our features, advertising integrations, or legal obligations. We will notify users of material changes by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document and displaying an in-app notice when appropriate.

12. Contact & Legal Inquiries

If you have any questions, complaints, or inquiries regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact our dedicated team:

• Privacy Inquiries: privacy@yumgpt.app
• Customer Support: support@yumgpt.app
• Official Website: https://yumgpt.app
• Application ID: com.yumgpt.app (Google Play Store)