Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Munch Hutch collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data when you use our website, mobile applications, and related services (together, the Service). It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and, where applicable, the EU GDPR.

Please read this policy alongside our Terms of Service.

1. Who we are

Munch Hutch is operated by Martian Designs Ltd ("we", "us", "our"), a company registered in England and Wales. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is processed.

• Company: Martian Designs Ltd
• Registered office: 123 Example Street, London, EC1A 1AA, United Kingdom
• Privacy contact: privacy@pantrypal.org.uk

If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your data, contact us at the address above and we will respond within one month.

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to everyone who uses Munch Hutch, whether you browse the marketing site, use the free tier, or subscribe to Premium. It does not apply to third-party websites or services we link to — those have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to read them.

3. Personal data we collect

3.1 Information you give us

• Account data: name, email address, password (stored only as a salted hash — never in plain text), and an optional phone number for recovery and reminders.
• Household data: household name, member names, age bands, roles, and per-person food likes, dislikes, and fussiness levels.
• Dietary data: allergies and dietary flags (vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free), budget level, and health goals. Allergy and health-goal information may constitute special category data concerning health — see section 5.
• Pantry and planning data: inventory items, quantities, categories, expiry dates, saved shopping plans, meal plans, favourite recipes, and nutrition log entries.
• Images: photos you capture to scan groceries, receipts, or to verify a cooked meal.
• Support data: the contents of messages you send us through the in-app chat, the contact form, or by email.

3.2 Information we collect automatically

• Usage data: pages and features used, actions taken, and timestamps, used to understand what is working and to fix problems.
• Device and session data: IP address, browser user-agent, device type, and session identifiers — used for security, to show you your active sessions, and to detect suspicious sign-ins.
• Cookies and local storage: see section 8.

3.3 Information from third parties

• Google Sign-In: if you choose to sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and email-verification status from Google. We never receive your Google password.
• Stripe: we receive subscription status, billing period, and the last four digits and brand of your card. We never receive or store your full card number.

4. How and why we use your data

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have assessed that our interest in running a secure, reliable, improving service does not override your rights and freedoms. You can object to this processing at any time (see section 11).

5. Health and dietary information

Allergy information, dietary restrictions, and health goals are treated as special category data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. We process this data only with your explicit consent, given when you choose to enter it, and only to filter recipes and tailor recommendations. You can remove this data at any time from your preferences screen, which withdraws that consent for future processing.

Important: allergen filtering is a convenience feature, not a safety guarantee. Always check product packaging yourself. See our Terms of Service for the full disclaimer.

6. Photos and AI processing

When you scan a pantry shelf, a barcode, a receipt, or a finished dish, the image is transmitted to our AI vision provider (OpenAI, Groq, or the Vercel AI Gateway, depending on availability) purely to identify what is in the picture. Our providers are contractually bound not to use your images to train their models, and we do not retain the raw images after processing — only the extracted item names and quantities are saved to your pantry.

Recipe suggestions are generated by algorithms that weigh your pantry contents, household preferences, budget, and time constraints. These do not produce legal or similarly significant effects, so they are not "solely automated decision-making" under Article 22. You can always ignore, edit, or override any suggestion.

7. Who we share data with

We never sell your personal data. We share it only with the processors below, each bound by a data processing agreement:

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, to enforce our Terms, to protect the rights or safety of any person, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (in which case we will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy).

8. Cookies and similar technologies

We use a deliberately small set of cookies and browser storage:

• Strictly necessary: your session cookie (keeps you signed in) and security tokens. These cannot be switched off without breaking the Service.
• Preferences: local storage for your theme choice and support-chat continuity.
• Analytics: first-party usage events, used to improve the product. Set only with your consent.
• Advertising: used on the free mobile tier only, and only with your consent.

You can change your choices at any time through the cookie banner or your browser settings.

9. International transfers

Some of our providers are based outside the UK and EEA, primarily in the United States. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards under Article 46 of the UK GDPR — normally the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision where one applies. You can request a copy of the relevant safeguards by contacting us.

10. How long we keep your data

When you delete your account, we remove your personal data promptly. Records we must keep for legal reasons (such as invoices) are retained for the periods above, and audit logs are anonymised rather than deleted so that security history remains intact without identifying you.

11. Your rights

Under UK and EU data protection law you have the right to:

• Be informed about how your data is used — this policy.
• Accessa copy of your data. You can do this instantly with the "Export my data" button in your account settings.
• Rectification — correct anything inaccurate, directly in the app or by asking us.
• Erasure — delete your account and data from your account settings, or by asking us.
• Restrict processing in certain circumstances.
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format (our export is JSON).
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any right, email privacy@pantrypal.org.uk. We will respond within one month and will not charge a fee unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, or to your local supervisory authority if you are in the EEA.

13. Security

We protect your data with encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), salted and hashed passwords, HTTP-only session cookies, email-based multi-factor authentication enabled by default, rate limiting on sensitive endpoints, and role-based access controls internally. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to industry-standard practice and will notify you and the ICO within 72 hours of any breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms.

14. Children

Munch Hutch is not directed at children and you must be at least 16 to create an account. Adults may add child members to a household profile (a name and age band used to tailor meal planning) — this is data about a child provided by their parent or guardian, and no account or login is created for them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Service evolves. If we make a material change, we will notify you by email or through the app before it takes effect. The "last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version.

16. Contact us

Questions, requests, or concerns: privacy@pantrypal.org.uk, or write to Martian Designs Ltd, 123 Example Street, London, EC1A 1AA, United Kingdom. You can also reach us through our contact page.