Privacy Policy

Your Cooking Corner (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is operated from Nova Scotia, Canada. We operate the website yourcookingcorner.ca and related services (the “Service”). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), applicable provincial privacy legislation, and, where applicable, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and what your rights are — regardless of where you are located.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

• Account information: When you create an account, we collect your username, email address, and password. We also store your profile image and display preferences (such as your chosen theme color) if you choose to set them.
• Recipe and meal data: Recipes you upload, save, or create, including ingredients, preparation steps, images, nutrition data (calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, fibre), categories, and any notes you add. When you import recipes from external sources (such as websites, images, or social media videos including Instagram), we process that content to extract recipe information.
• Nutrition and dietary information: Meal plans, nutrition goals, calorie and macronutrient tracking data, dietary preferences and ingredient exclusions, snack logs, and restaurant meal entries you record through our calendar and tracking features.
• Grocery lists: Shopping lists generated from your meal plans or created manually.
• Cookbook data: Custom cookbook configurations you create from your saved recipes.
• Social features: Friend connections, friend requests you send or receive, and recipe ratings you provide.
• Payment information: If you subscribe to a paid plan, we collect billing details necessary to process your payment. Payment card information is processed and stored by our third-party payment processor (currently Stripe) and is not stored on our servers. We do store your Stripe customer identifier and subscription status on our servers.
• Communications: Any messages, feedback, or support requests you send to us.

Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, time spent on the Service, AI feature usage counts, achievement progress, and how you interact with our interface.
• Device and browser information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.
• Referral data: How you arrived at our website (e.g., search engine, social media link, direct visit).
• Affiliate interaction data: When you click on affiliate or product links within recipes, we record that interaction for the purpose of earning referral commissions. This data is not linked to your personal identity for advertising purposes.
• Log data: Server logs that may include your IP address, access times, and pages viewed.

Device Permissions

Certain features of the Service may request access to your device's camera (for photographing recipes), microphone (for audio-based recipe input), or geolocation. These permissions are always optional, requested only when needed for a specific feature, and can be revoked at any time through your browser or device settings. We do not access these capabilities without your explicit permission.

Image and Text Processing

When you upload images of recipes or handwritten notes, we may use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to extract text from those images. This processing is performed to convert your content into editable recipe format. Uploaded images are stored on our servers as part of your recipe data.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate and improve the Service. Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser.

You can control or disable non-essential cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Service.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following categories of third-party services that may receive or process your personal information:

• Payment processing: We use Stripe to process subscription payments. Stripe collects and processes payment card information under its own privacy policy. We do not store your full credit card number on our servers, but we do store a Stripe customer identifier to manage your subscription.
• Email delivery: We use Resend to send transactional emails including password reset links, account notifications, and subscription confirmations. Your email address is shared with Resend for this purpose.
• AI services: We use third-party AI providers to power features such as automatic nutrition calculation, recipe extraction from images, and recipe formatting. Recipe content you submit for AI processing may be sent to these providers. This content is used only to generate results for you and is not used to train third-party AI models.
• Analytics: We may use analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to understand usage patterns. These services may collect anonymized or pseudonymized data about your interactions with the Service.
• Advertising and affiliates: If you use the free tier, we may display ads served by third-party advertising networks. We also participate in affiliate programs where links to third-party products (such as kitchen equipment or grocery services) may appear within recipes. These networks may use cookies or similar technologies to serve ads or track referrals.
• Content import: When you import recipes from external platforms (such as Instagram or other websites), we access those platforms to retrieve the content you have requested. We do not access your accounts on those platforms.
• Hosting and infrastructure: Our Service is hosted by third-party cloud providers that store and process data on our behalf.

Each third-party service operates under its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review their policies.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share your personal information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: With third-party companies that help us operate the Service (payment processing, hosting, analytics), who are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the services they provide to us.
• Legal requirements: If required to do so by law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable government request.
• Protection of rights: To protect the rights, property, or safety of Your Cooking Corner, our users, or the public.
• Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
• With your consent: In any other situation where we have your explicit consent to share your information.

6. Data Storage and Transfers

Your personal information may be stored and processed in Canada or in other countries where our hosting providers and service partners maintain facilities. When your information is transferred outside of Canada, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected to a comparable standard as required under PIPEDA, including through contractual safeguards with our service providers.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Service. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal, accounting, or security purposes.

Specifically:

• Account and recipe data: Retained while your account is active; deleted upon account deletion.
• Payment records: Retained for up to 7 years as required by Canadian tax law.
• Server logs: Retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging purposes.
• Analytics data: Retained in anonymized/aggregated form and not linked back to your identity.

8. How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL (HTTPS).
• Encryption of sensitive data at rest where appropriate.
• Secure password hashing with timing-safe comparison — we never store your password in plain text.
• Security headers including Content Security Policy, X-Frame-Options, and strict referrer policies to protect against common web attacks.
• Access controls limiting who can access personal information to those who need it to operate the Service.
• Regular security reviews of our infrastructure and code.

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

9. Your Rights Under Canadian Law (PIPEDA)

Under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Withdrawal of consent: You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. Withdrawing consent may affect your ability to use certain features of the Service.
• Deletion: You can request that we delete your personal information. You can also delete your account at any time through your account settings.
• Complaint: If you believe we have not handled your personal information appropriately, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

10. Additional Rights for Users in the European Economic Area (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you may have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or equivalent local legislation. These include:

• Legal basis for processing: We process your personal data based on your consent (which you provide when creating an account), contractual necessity (to provide the Service you signed up for), and our legitimate interests (to improve the Service, ensure security, and prevent fraud). For marketing communications, we rely on your explicit opt-in consent.
• Right to data portability: You have the right to receive a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to transmit that data to another service provider.
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”): You may request that we delete your personal data. We will comply unless we have a legal obligation to retain it.
• Right to restrict processing: You may request that we limit the way we use your personal data while a complaint or concern is being resolved.
• Right to object: You may object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds.
• Right to lodge a complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at yourcookingcornercontact@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days (or sooner if required by applicable law).

11. Additional Rights for California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) provide you with additional rights:

• Right to know: You have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you, the sources, the purposes, and the third parties with whom we have shared it.
• Right to delete: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (such as legal compliance or completing a transaction).
• Right to opt out of sale: We do not sell your personal information as defined under the CCPA. If this changes in the future, we will provide a “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link on our website.
• Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. You will not receive different pricing or quality of service for making a privacy request.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at yourcookingcornercontact@gmail.com. We will verify your identity before processing your request and respond within 45 days as required by the CCPA.

12. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 16 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Service, or applicable laws. When we make material changes, we will notify you by posting a notice on the Service or by sending you an email. The “Effective Date” at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last updated.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to make a complaint, please contact us:

We will acknowledge receipt of your inquiry within 5 business days and provide a substantive response within 30 days.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on March 24, 2026.