ThaliScanPrivacy Policy
ThaliScan ("the app") is a calorie and nutrition tracker for Indian food, published by Gariba IT Services Pvt. Ltd., Madhya Pradesh, India ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the app collects, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and how to delete it. For any question, request or complaint about your data, email the contact address above.
In short: we keep your account and diary only for as long as your account exists, and delete them when you delete your account. A guest account nobody uses for 12 months is deleted automatically, unless a paid subscription on it is still running or it still holds unused scans from a scan pack it bought. Meal photos are analyzed and never stored on our servers. Your step counts, progress photos and profile photo are never sent to us. The iPhone app shows no banner or full-screen ads; its only ads are optional reward videos you choose to watch. Payments are taken by Google (Android) or Apple (iPhone); we never see your card or bank details. We do not sell your data.
1. What we collect
- Account: if you sign in with Google, your name, email address, Google account identifier and the link to your Google profile picture that Google provides at sign-in (the app does not download or show that picture). If you sign in with Apple, your email address — or, if you choose Hide My Email, a private relay address that forwards to you — and an Apple account identifier; we do not ask Apple for your name. If you continue as a guest, a random account identifier.
- Your plan and diary (health and fitness information you enter): gender, date of birth, height, weight, target weight and weekly weight-change pace, activity level, diet type, language, your calorie, macro and water goals, and whether unused calories carry over to the next day; and what you log — meals and their nutrition values, water, weight, the days you mark as fasting (vrat), streaks and badges. These are saved on your phone and backed up to your account so they survive a new phone or a reinstall.
- Meal photos, nutrition-label photos, typed meal descriptions and the corrections you type with "Fix with AI", when you submit them for analysis. Before a photo leaves your phone, the app makes it smaller and removes the hidden details cameras save inside photos, such as where and when it was taken and the phone model. The app asks for your permission before it first sends anything for analysis. They are analyzed and never stored on our servers; see section 4.
- Weekly coach (Premium): a weekly summary — days logged, average calories against your budget, days you met your protein target, weight change, and up to eight food names — is analyzed to write your weekly tips. The tips are saved to your account.
- Fair-use counters: how many AI scans your account used each day, how many extra scans you earned by watching reward videos that day, and a short-term request counter, so that the daily scan limit of your plan can be enforced.
- Streak bonuses: to give you bonus scans for logging every day, our servers keep a record of your streak: the dates of your latest check-in and of the start of your current streak, your streak length, your phone's time zone (so that a day is your own day), the last time a missed day was forgiven (paid Premium subscriptions only; not the free trial or Premium days earned with videos), and which streak bonuses we have already given you. A day counts when you log a meal or mark a fasting (vrat) day. When you first check in, the app tells us your current streak, and we accept it only up to the age of your account. The bonus scans are added to your scan balance, with a record of each grant.
- Referrals: each account gets a short referral code that you can share. If you enter a friend's code, we record which account invited which (a link between the two accounts), when the code was entered, and whether the bonus scans have been given. For every account, whether or not it ever enters a code, we also record the first two days (India time) on which it completed an AI scan, so that if the account enters a friend's code within 7 days of sign-up, the inviter's bonus can be paid. Your friend's account is not shown to you, and yours is not shown to your friend; each of you sees only your own code, how many friends' sign-ups have earned you bonus scans and your own bonus. Bonus scans are added to both scan balances, each with a record of the grant.
- Reward videos (extra scans on Android and iPhone; free Premium days on Android only): if you choose to watch reward videos, we store how many you watched today and, on Android, towards your next free Premium day and the date your earned Premium runs until. For each video, our servers create a one-time random code; the ad provider receives only that code, never your name, email or account identifier, and uses it to confirm to us that the video was watched to the end.
- Purchases, Android app: when you buy Premium or a scan pack, Google Play takes the payment; we never see your card, UPI or bank details. We send Google Play your ThaliScan account identifier with the purchase, to link it to your account and help prevent fraud. We receive and store the purchase token, order number, the plan or pack you bought, its status and, for a subscription, its renewal or expiry date, and we check them with Google Play before unlocking anything. For scan packs we also keep your scan balance and a record of each purchase, each scan paid from the balance, each bonus scan given, and any refund taken back from it.
- Purchases, iPhone app (from version 1.0.1): when you buy Premium or a scan pack, Apple takes the payment and bills your Apple ID; we never see your card or bank details. You must be signed in to buy. The app sends Apple a code derived from your ThaliScan account identifier (never the identifier itself) with the purchase, to link it to your account and help prevent fraud. The app then sends us Apple's signed record of the purchase, and we check its signature on our servers. We store the transaction numbers (including the original one that stays the same across renewals), the plan or pack you bought, its status, whether it auto-renews, for a subscription its expiry date, whether it is a test purchase, and any refund or revocation mark. Apple also sends our servers notifications about renewals, expiries and refunds of purchases made in the app. For scan packs we also keep your scan balance and a record of each purchase, each scan paid from the balance, each bonus scan given, and any refund taken back from it.
- Diagnostics and usage analytics (all users, including Premium): crash reports (what went wrong in the app, device model, operating-system and app version, and an app-installation identifier) and app-usage events (for example "scan succeeded" or "meal logged", with counts such as calories or the number of items — never your name, email or what you wrote). Usage events are linked to a random app-installation identifier, not to your account or your advertising ID, together with basic device information and an approximate country or city derived from your IP address.
- Server logs: when the app contacts our servers, the request is recorded automatically with your IP address, the time, basic app and device information and whether it succeeded. For purchase checks, reward-video confirmations, and when a request fails, the record also includes your account identifier. We use these logs only for security, preventing fraud and fixing problems.
- Ads (Android app; everyone except paid subscribers): on Android, free users see banners, occasional full-screen ads and optional reward videos. During the 7-day free trial and on Premium days earned with reward videos, you see small banners and can choose to watch reward videos. With a paid Premium subscription you see no ads, and the ad service is not started unless you choose to watch a reward video for extra scans after reaching your daily scan limit. When ads are shown, our ad provider, Google, collects your device's advertising ID and app set ID, your IP address (which can show your approximate location), how you interact with the app and its ads (for example ad views and taps), and information about app performance. Google uses and shares this under its own policy for advertising (including personalised ads), analytics and fraud prevention. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent before ads are personalised.
- Reward videos on iPhone (from version 1.0.1): the iPhone app shows no banners or full-screen ads. Its ad service starts only when you tap to watch a reward video for extra scans, after the consent form where the law requires one. While a video is requested and shown, our ad provider, Google, collects your device identifiers, your IP address (which can show your approximate location) and how you interact with the ad. Google uses and shares this under its own policy. The app does not show a tracking permission prompt and does not track you across other companies' apps and websites.
- Barcode lookups: when you scan a packaged-food barcode, the barcode number is sent to Open Food Facts to look up the product. It receives your IP address and the app's name, as with any web request, but no account, profile or diary information. On Android, the barcode scanner also sends Google basic device and app information, performance statistics such as how long a scan took, and a random installation identifier, for diagnostics; this includes no account information.
What we never receive
Step counts, exercise entries, progress photos, your profile photo and your reminder settings stay in the app on your phone; they are never sent to us. Steps are counted only if you tap Connect on the Steps tile and allow the Physical activity permission: ThaliScan reads your phone's step sensor and keeps a per-day total on the device. On iPhone the permission is called Motion & Fitness. If backup is turned on in your phone's settings, Android may include this app's data in your own Google Account backup, and iPhone in your own iCloud Backup, and restore it when you reinstall the app or set up a new phone. We cannot access that backup, and you can turn it off in your phone's backup settings.
Health Connect (Android): if you connect Health Connect, ThaliScan reads only your step count (read-only). It is used only to show your daily steps in the app. It is never sent to us, never used for advertising, never sold, and never shared with anyone.
2. How we use it
To run and improve the app: computing your plan, analyzing your meals, keeping your diary backed up and in sync, sending the reminders you turn on, enforcing daily scan limits, giving streak and referral bonus scans, preventing misuse of those bonuses, checking purchases, confirming reward videos, finding and fixing problems, and, in the Android app, showing ads to everyone except paid subscribers, and, on iPhone, showing the reward videos you ask for. We do not sell personal data, and we never use your health information for advertising.
3. Who receives it
We share data with service providers that run parts of the app for us, only for the purposes listed below. Advertising (the Android app, for everyone except paid subscribers, and the reward videos you ask for on iPhone) is different: Google, our ad provider, receives data directly from your phone and uses and shares it under its own privacy policy.
- Google (cloud services): hosts your account, the backup of your plan and diary, and our server logs; handles sign-in; checks that requests come from the genuine app; and provides crash reports, usage analytics and diagnostics for the barcode scanner.
- Google (AI analysis): receives meal photos, label photos, meal descriptions, the corrections you type and weekly summaries in order to analyze them.
- Apple (iPhone app): handles Sign in with Apple if you choose it, confirms to our servers that requests come from the genuine iPhone app, and, for purchases made in the iPhone app, takes the payment, manages subscriptions and refunds, and sends our servers notifications about them. It receives a code derived from your ThaliScan account identifier with each purchase.
- Google Play (Android app): takes payments and manages subscriptions, and receives your ThaliScan account identifier with each purchase.
- Google (advertising; the Android app, not for paid subscribers, and reward videos on iPhone): shows ads, and confirms to our servers, using a one-time code, that a reward video was watched to the end. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
- Open Food Facts: receives the barcode number of a product you scan, along with your IP address and the app's name. It receives no account, profile or diary information.
- Authorities: only where the law requires it.
Your plan, diary, weekly tips, fair-use counters, streak and referral records, free-Premium-day records, scan balance and purchase records (Android and iPhone) are stored on servers in India. Your sign-in details (your name, email address and account identifier, or a guest's random identifier) are held by Google in the United States. The other services above (AI analysis, server logs, crash reports, analytics, ads and payments) may process data outside India.
4. How long we keep your data
| Data | How long it is kept |
|---|---|
| Account, plan, diary, weekly tips, fair-use counters, streak record, referral code and referral records, free-Premium-day records, scan balance and purchase records | For as long as your account exists. When you delete your account in the app, they are deleted straight away; requests by email are completed within 30 days. A guest account (one not signed in with Google or Apple) that is not used for 12 months is deleted automatically, together with all of its data, unless a paid subscription on it is still running or it still holds unused scans from a scan pack it bought. |
| Proof that a scan-pack purchase was already credited (the fingerprint of the purchase token on Android or of the transaction number on iPhone, the pack and whether it was used up — no name, email or account identifier after deletion) | Kept after your account is deleted, so the same purchase can never be credited twice. It cannot be linked back to you. |
| Proof that Apple refunded or revoked an iPhone subscription payment (a fingerprint of the transaction number and the date we recorded it — no name, email or account identifier) | Kept after your account is deleted, so a refunded period can never be restored onto another account. It cannot be linked back to you. |
| An iPhone subscription's link record after you delete your account (a fingerprint of the subscription's original transaction number, the latest transaction number we saw and its date, and the date you deleted your account — no name, email or account identifier) | Kept after your account is deleted, so the subscription cannot be attached to someone else's account. If the same Apple ID later buys Premium again from a new ThaliScan account, the record moves to that new account. Your stored subscription record itself is deleted with your account. |
| Apple's notifications about iPhone purchases (the type of event, the outcome, whether it was a test, and the time — no name, email, account identifier or transaction number) | 30 days, so that the same notification is never acted on twice, then deleted automatically. They cannot be linked back to you. |
| Streak record (streak dates and length, bonuses given) and referral records (your referral code, which account invited which, bonus status, the first two days you completed an AI scan) | For as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, your streak record, your referral code and the record of whom you invited or who invited you are deleted straight away. Your friend's own account and bonus scans are not affected. |
| Meal photos, label photos, meal descriptions and typed corrections | Not stored by us. They are held only while being analyzed and then discarded; only the resulting food list is saved in your diary. Google's AI service may keep request data for a limited period under its own terms, for example to detect abuse. |
| Reward-video codes (the one-time code linking a reward video to your account) | Deleted automatically within 2 days, and straight away when you delete your account. |
| Server logs | 30 days, then deleted automatically. They are not removed early when you delete your account; they expire on the same schedule. |
| Sign-in records kept by Google, including IP addresses | A few weeks, under Google's own terms. |
| Crash reports | 90 days, then deleted automatically. |
| Usage analytics | Up to 14 months, then deleted automatically. |
| Payment and subscription records held by Google Play (Android app), including the account identifier sent with each purchase | Kept by Google under its own policies, because Google Play is the seller. Deleting your ThaliScan account does not cancel a subscription — cancel it in Google Play — and any unused scans in your balance are lost. |
| Payment and subscription records held by Apple (iPhone app), including the code derived from your account identifier that is sent with each purchase | Kept by Apple under its own policies, because Apple is the seller. Deleting your ThaliScan account does not cancel a subscription — cancel it in your Apple ID settings (Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions) — and any unused scans in your balance are lost. |
| Ad data and barcode-scanner diagnostics | Kept by Google under its own policies. |
| Data on your phone | Until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app. If your phone's backup is on, a copy may stay in your own Google Account backup or iCloud Backup until you turn backup off or delete it there. |
| Emails you send us | Only as long as needed to handle your request. |
We keep no backups of your cloud data. After deletion, our database can still recover it for up to one hour, and our cloud provider removes any remaining copies from its own systems within 180 days. We keep data longer only where the law requires it.
Guests, please note: a guest account has no name or email attached, so it may not be recoverable after you uninstall the app, and we cannot tell which guest account is yours. To delete it straight away, use Settings → Delete account before you uninstall. Otherwise, a guest account that has not been used for 12 months is deleted automatically, together with its plan, diary and all other data linked to it — unless a paid subscription on it is still running or it still holds unused scans from a scan pack it bought.
5. Your choices and rights
- See and export your data: Settings → Export my data (CSV).
- Correct it: edit any entry, your profile or your plan in the app.
- Delete it: Settings → Delete account, or, if you signed in with Google or Apple, follow these steps without the app.
- Withdraw consent: you can withdraw your consent at any time. To stop us processing your account, plan and diary, delete your account (Settings → Delete account); this deletes them as described in section 4. To stop AI analysis, choose Not now when the app asks, and log meals with search, barcode or manual entry instead. To stop a single feature, disconnect steps or Health Connect, or turn off notifications, in your phone's settings. On Android, reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's Google settings, and in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland change your ad consent at any time in Settings → Ad privacy choices. On iPhone, Ad privacy choices appears in Settings once you have asked for a reward video, and you can avoid ads altogether by not tapping to watch one. Withdrawing consent does not affect what was processed before you withdrew it.
- Questions or complaints (Grievance Officer): Vansh Bahadur Dhurve, Gariba IT Services Pvt. Ltd., Madhya Pradesh, India — vansh.d@garibaitservices.com. We reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with how we handled your complaint, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
6. Security
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Each account's cloud data can be read only by that account, and our servers accept requests only from the genuine app.
7. Who ThaliScan is for
ThaliScan is for adults aged 18 and over; the app does not accept a younger age. Please do not use it if you are under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has created an account signed in with Google or Apple, email the Grievance Officer the address used, and we will delete that account and its data within 30 days.
Our website
This website, thaliscan.garibaitservices.com, sets no cookies and uses no analytics or advertising scripts. Our hosting provider, Google, processes your IP address and the pages you request in order to deliver and protect the site.
Not medical advice
All numbers are estimates for general wellness, not lab values. Consult a professional for medical advice.
Attributions
Nutrition data derives from IFCT 2017 (ICMR–NIN) and USDA FoodData Central. Barcode data © Open Food Facts contributors, ODbL.
Changes
We will update this page and the effective date when the policy changes.