FoodGong, Inc. ("FoodGong," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect information when you access or use FoodGong's websites, applications, and related services (collectively, the "Services").
FoodGong helps users analyze menus, food, recipes, ingredients, and related information based on dietary preferences, allergies, and other food or health considerations selected or provided by the user. By using the Services, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
We collect information (1) you provide directly to us; (2) generated through your use of the Services; and (3) received from service providers that help us operate the Services.
When you create or use a FoodGong account, we may collect:
FoodGong supports account authentication through methods that may include Google sign-in, email or one-time-password (OTP) authentication, SMS one-time-password authentication, and password-based authentication.
When you choose to sign in through Google or another supported authentication method, we may receive information made available to us through that authentication provider in accordance with your settings and the provider's applicable policies. When you verify by SMS, your phone number is processed to deliver and confirm a one-time passcode. We use authentication information to create, secure, and maintain your account.
FoodGong allows you to provide information that helps personalize your experience and food analysis. Depending on how you use the Services, this information may include food allergies; dietary restrictions; ingredients you wish to avoid; dietary preferences; food sensitivities; health or medical considerations that you choose to provide; and other food-related information associated with your profile.
Some of this information may be considered sensitive personal information under applicable law. You choose whether to provide this information. We use it to personalize the Services and analyze food and menu information against the considerations you have selected or provided.
For example, FoodGong may use your profile information to identify food items that appear to align with your profile; food items that may require additional confirmation; and potential conflicts or considerations based on the information available to FoodGong.
FoodGong does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment. Information provided by FoodGong is informational and should not replace consultation with a qualified healthcare professional or direct confirmation with a restaurant, food provider, or manufacturer.
When you use FoodGong, you may submit content including photos of menus, photos of food, screenshots, nutrition labels, menu images, PDF menus, restaurant links, recipe links, recipe or ingredient information, food-related questions, text you enter into the Services, and voice input when you use FoodGong's voice features.
We process this content to provide the Services you request. For example, we may (1) extract text from a menu or document; (2) identify menu items, ingredients, or food-related information; (3) analyze that information using automated and AI-powered systems; (4) compare the available information with your selected profile; and (5) generate informational results such as Safe, Ask, Avoid, or similar guidance.
Uploaded menu images and related files may be stored using Microsoft Azure Blob Storage and processed using FoodGong's application infrastructure and AI services.
FoodGong may provide hands-free voice functionality, which is optional and off by default. When you choose to enable a voice feature, audio may be transmitted to Microsoft's Azure Speech (Speech-to-Text) service to convert speech into text or otherwise provide the requested voice functionality. Voice responses read aloud by the app may be generated using your device's built-in browser speech capabilities.
FoodGong uses Microsoft's speech technology to process voice input. Microsoft's documentation states that real-time speech-to-text processing is performed in Azure server memory and that real-time audio is not stored at rest by the Speech service, subject to the configuration and specific service features being used. (Microsoft Learn)
FoodGong does not require you to use voice features. You may use other supported methods to interact with the Services where available. The resulting text may be processed as part of your FoodGong request.
FoodGong uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, text extraction, vision-based image analysis, and other automated technologies to provide food and menu analysis. Our current AI infrastructure includes the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. FoodGong also uses document-parsing libraries to extract text from PDF menus you submit.
Depending on the feature you use, information processed through these systems may include menu text; images or screenshots; food descriptions; ingredient information; questions you submit; relevant portions of your FoodGong profile necessary to provide personalized analysis; and AI-generated results.
Microsoft states that prompts and completions processed through the Azure OpenAI Service are not made available to OpenAI or other model providers and are not used to train or improve generative AI foundation models without the customer's permission or instruction. (Microsoft Learn)
However, Azure AI services may perform automated safety and abuse monitoring. Under Microsoft's standard abuse-monitoring processes, prompts or outputs associated with potentially abusive or harmful patterns may, in certain circumstances, be selected for additional automated or authorized human review. (Microsoft Learn)
FoodGong does not intentionally use your submitted menus, images, personal food profile, allergy information, or health considerations to train a public or general-purpose AI model. We may, however, use aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized information to understand how the Services perform, improve FoodGong, develop new features, and improve the quality and reliability of our systems.
FoodGong may offer features that allow users to create, manage, or participate in family or group profiles, and to invite others (for example, by email or phone number). These profiles may contain information such as allergies, dietary restrictions, food preferences, health or food considerations, and other profile information relevant to FoodGong's analysis.
If you create or manage information about another person, or invite another person using their email address or phone number, you represent that you have the authority or appropriate permission to provide that information to FoodGong.
Depending on the feature and account configuration, information associated with a family or group may be visible to other authorized members of that family or group. On plans designed for larger groups, members may be able to enter their own dietary and health information privately. FoodGong may provide controls that allow users to manage profile information and access within the Services.
FoodGong uses Stripe to process subscriptions and payments. When you purchase a subscription, Stripe may collect and process payment and transaction information necessary to complete and manage the transaction, which may include name, email address, billing information, payment method information, transaction amount, subscription status, and other information necessary to process or secure the transaction.
FoodGong does not store complete payment card numbers through its application. Stripe processes payment information in accordance with its own privacy practices and applicable agreements, and acts as a service provider or processor in many payment-processing relationships. (Stripe) You can review Stripe's practices at the Stripe Privacy Policy.
If you contact FoodGong, request support, submit feedback, or otherwise communicate with us, we may collect your name, email address, the contents of your communication, attachments or files you provide, and other information you choose to include. We use this information to respond to your request, provide customer support, troubleshoot technical issues, improve the Services, and maintain records related to customer communications.
FoodGong uses third-party providers to deliver messages, including a transactional email provider (SMTP2GO) and an SMS provider (Twilio), to send communications such as account-related messages; authentication or verification messages (including email and SMS one-time passcodes); subscription notices; important service updates; and customer support communications.
When you access or use FoodGong, our servers and application infrastructure may automatically collect technical and usage information, which may include IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, application or browser version, pages or screens accessed, features used, dates and times of activity, request and response information, error and diagnostic information, and other information generated through normal operation of the Services.
We use this information to operate the Services, maintain security, authenticate users, diagnose errors, prevent fraud and abuse, monitor performance, and improve the reliability and functionality of FoodGong.
FoodGong may use cookies and similar technologies (including browser local storage) that are necessary to operate and secure the Services. These technologies may be used to maintain your authenticated session; remember account or application preferences; hold a guest profile on your own device so it persists during your session; protect against unauthorized access; support security features; and enable core functionality.
You may be able to control certain cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect the functionality of the Services. FoodGong does not currently operate an advertising network or knowingly use your allergy, dietary, or health consideration information for behavioral advertising.
We may use the information we collect to provide, operate, and maintain FoodGong; create and manage user accounts; authenticate users; process submitted content; personalize food and menu analysis; compare food information against your selected profile; generate Safe, Ask, Avoid, and similar informational guidance; support family and group features; process subscriptions and payments; respond to support requests; send service-related communications; protect the security and integrity of the Services; detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or unauthorized activity; troubleshoot and improve the Services; develop new features; comply with legal obligations; enforce our agreements; and protect the rights, safety, and property of FoodGong, our users, and others.
We may also create and use aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify you for product improvement, analytics, research, security, and other lawful business purposes.
We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not "share" your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under applicable law. We may share information in the following circumstances.
We use service providers to operate FoodGong. These providers may process information on our behalf or provide infrastructure necessary to deliver the Services. Our current technology infrastructure includes:
Service providers may process personal information only as necessary to provide services to FoodGong, subject to applicable contractual, legal, and security requirements.
We may share information when you ask or authorize us to do so — for example, to share an analysis or comparison, generate information to show a restaurant server, share information with authorized family or group members, or export information from the Services. The information shared depends on the feature you choose to use.
Where you use FoodGong's family or group functionality, certain information may be shared with authorized members as necessary to provide the requested feature. The visibility of information may depend on the account structure, permissions, and sharing choices available within the Services.
We may access, preserve, or disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law; respond to lawful legal process; enforce our agreements; detect or prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents; protect FoodGong, our users, or others; or protect our legal rights or property.
If FoodGong is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, bankruptcy, sale of assets, or similar transaction, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law.
FoodGong does not sell your allergy information, dietary restrictions, health considerations, food profile information, or submitted menu or food content in exchange for money. FoodGong also does not use this information for targeted advertising based on your allergy, dietary, or health profile.
Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights regarding your personal information, which may include the ability to access certain personal information we hold about you; request correction of inaccurate information; request deletion of personal information; request a copy or portability of certain information; withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and object to or restrict certain processing where applicable.
You may also update certain account and profile information directly through FoodGong. To submit a privacy request, contact us at privacy@foodgong.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.
Certain information may be retained where necessary to comply with legal obligations; complete financial or accounting obligations; resolve disputes; enforce agreements; maintain security; or prevent fraud or abuse.
You may request deletion of your FoodGong account and associated personal information by contacting privacy@foodgong.com with the subject line Delete My FoodGong Account.
When we receive a verified deletion request, we will take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify personal information associated with your account, subject to information we are required or permitted to retain. Because FoodGong uses technical systems that may include backups, logs, security records, and service-provider systems, deleted information may persist for a limited period in those systems before being overwritten or removed in accordance with applicable retention and security practices. Payment and transaction information may be retained by Stripe or other parties where necessary for payment processing, fraud prevention, tax, accounting, legal, or regulatory purposes.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services; maintain your account; process and maintain requested features; comply with legal obligations; resolve disputes; enforce agreements; protect the security of the Services; and prevent fraud and abuse.
Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and why it was collected. For example, account information may be retained while your account remains active; submitted menus and uploaded content may be retained to provide history, saved comparisons, or other requested functionality; payment-related information may be retained according to applicable financial and legal requirements and Stripe's systems; and technical and security logs may be retained for operational and security purposes. When information is no longer reasonably necessary, we may delete, de-identify, aggregate, or otherwise securely dispose of it.
FoodGong uses administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information under our control, including authenticated account access; password hashing; database access controls; cloud infrastructure; secure transmission technologies where supported; access controls; payment processing through Stripe; and cloud storage and AI services provided through Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft states that the Azure OpenAI Service processes prompts and completions within Microsoft's Azure environment and that prompts and completions are not stored in the models or used to train or improve the base models. (Microsoft Learn) However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
FoodGong is an informational tool. FoodGong does not provide medical advice, medical diagnosis, or medical treatment; a guarantee that a food is safe; a guarantee that a restaurant's ingredients or preparation methods are accurate; or a guarantee that a food is free from allergens, cross-contact, cross-contamination, or other risks.
FoodGong's analysis depends on available information, including information contained in menus, images, documents, websites, recipes, user input, and other sources. Results may be incomplete or inaccurate because menu information may be incomplete; recipes may change; ingredients may change; restaurants may modify preparation methods; cross-contact or cross-contamination may occur; menu descriptions may omit ingredients; sources may provide inaccurate or outdated information; or AI-generated analysis may contain errors.
Users should use their own judgment and, particularly where a serious allergy or medical condition is involved, confirm relevant information directly with the restaurant, food provider, manufacturer, or an appropriate healthcare professional.
FoodGong is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without appropriate authorization where required by law.
FoodGong may allow an adult account holder to manage a family or household profile containing information relevant to another person. If information about a child is provided through a family feature, the adult responsible for that account is responsible for ensuring that they have the authority and permission necessary to provide and manage that information. If you believe that a child has provided personal information to FoodGong in violation of applicable law, please contact us at privacy@foodgong.com.
FoodGong may allow users to access, analyze, or link to third-party websites, including restaurant websites, recipe websites, and other food-related services. FoodGong is not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties that we do not own or control. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing them with personal information.
FoodGong is operated from the United States and uses service providers and cloud infrastructure that may process information in the United States and other jurisdictions. If you access FoodGong from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in countries that may have privacy laws different from those in your country of residence. Where required by applicable law, FoodGong will provide additional information or protections relating to international transfers of personal information.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice as required by applicable law, which may include posting the updated Privacy Policy through the Services, updating the "Effective" date above, or providing additional notice through email or the Services when appropriate. Your continued use of FoodGong after the effective date of an updated Privacy Policy is subject to the updated policy to the extent permitted by applicable law.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or FoodGong's privacy practices, contact us at:
FoodGong, Inc.
Email: privacy@foodgong.com