Effective date: June 24, 2025
Last updated: July 24, 2026
Short version: OpenCalorie does not sell your personal data or use it for advertising. Your food logs and profile are stored on your device and in a private per-user area of Google's Cloud Firestore, protected by security rules so only your authenticated account can read or write it. We run no analytics and no custom application server of our own.
1. Overview
OpenCalorie ("we", "the app") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information OpenCalorie processes, where it is stored, and how it is used. OpenCalorie is a native iOS application with no custom application server of our own. To use the app you sign in with an account; cloud storage and authentication are provided by Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore and Firebase Authentication) on our behalf.
2. Data We Collect
OpenCalorie stores only the data you explicitly provide within the app:
- Profile data: name, age, sex, height, weight, activity level, and calorie goal that you enter.
- Meal logs: meals, food items, and nutritional data that you record.
- Fridge items: food products and meal templates you choose to save.
- Account credentials: OpenCalorie signs you in with Firebase Authentication (Google). If you sign in with Apple, your name and email address (provided by Apple on first sign-in only) are stored locally on your device, and the Apple identity token is sent to Firebase, which issues the account identifier used to store your data. If you create an account with an email and password, your email address and password are handled by Firebase Authentication, which manages your credentials and issues that account identifier — we never see or store your password ourselves.
Your food logs and profile are stored on your device and in your private per-user area of Cloud Firestore.
3. Data We Never Collect
OpenCalorie does not collect, transmit, or store any of the following:
- Location data or GPS coordinates
- Device identifiers or advertising IDs
- Usage analytics or behavioral telemetry
- Crash reports sent to our servers
- Any data for advertising or marketing purposes
4. Third-Party Services
OpenCalorie uses the following external services:
- Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore & Firebase Authentication): Firebase authenticates you (using your Apple identity token or your email and password) and stores your food logs and profile in a private per-user area of Cloud Firestore so they sync across your devices. Access is restricted by security rules to your own authenticated account. Firebase is operated by Google; see the Firebase Privacy and Security information.
- Open Food Facts API: when you scan a barcode or search for a food product, OpenCalorie sends only the barcode number or search text to the Open Food Facts API at openfoodfacts.org. No personal data is included in these requests. Please review the Open Food Facts Privacy Policy for details on their data handling.
No analytics tools, advertising networks, or tracking services are included in the app.
5. Data Storage & Cloud Firestore
When you are signed in, OpenCalorie uses Cloud Firestore (part of Google Firebase) as its cloud database. Your food logs and profile are stored under a private, per-user path (users/{your-account-id}) protected by Firestore security rules, so only your authenticated account can read or write them.
This architecture means your data survives app reinstalls and phone replacements: when you reinstall or switch devices and sign back in, OpenCalorie restores your meals, profile, and fridge from Cloud Firestore before prompting for setup.
Data is stored in two layers:
- On-device: via Apple's SwiftData framework, protected by iOS device encryption. This is the source of truth for the app, available immediately and fully functional offline.
- Cloud Firestore: your on-device data is mirrored to your private per-user area, enabling multi-device access and restoration. This is subject to Google's Firebase privacy terms.
As the operator of the Firebase project, we have administrative access to the database, but we do not sell, share, or use your data for advertising, and we do not read it except as needed to operate the service or when required by law. You can permanently delete all of your cloud data and your account at any time from the app's "Sign out & delete account" option.
6. Apple HealthKit
OpenCalorie can optionally read data from Apple HealthKit in two ways:
- Profile import (onboarding): height, weight, date of birth, and biological sex are read once, with your explicit permission, to pre-fill your profile. This data is never written back to HealthKit and never transmitted off your device.
- Workout calories (optional): when enabled in Settings, the app reads active energy burned during workouts to extend your daily calorie budget. This is used only for local calculations and is never transmitted anywhere.
HealthKit data will never be shared with third parties or used for advertising.
7. Children's Privacy
OpenCalorie does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal data within the app, please contact us so we can address the situation.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
