Summary

We store the minimum data needed to run the site. If you never sign in, we do not ask who you are, but like any website we process your IP address (for security and rate limiting) and our analytics set cookies that recognise a returning browser — details below. If you sign in, we store your email address and the account data listed under Accounts. We do not sell, rent, or share your data with anyone for marketing purposes.

What We Collect

Analytics: We use Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and a self-hosted instance of Matomo (running on our own server, not shared with a third party) to understand how visitors use the site: pages visited and in what order, approximate location (country/region), device type, and referral source. Google Analytics and Matomo set cookies containing a random identifier so that a returning browser can be recognised; we do not combine these with your account or email address.

Newsletter: If you subscribe to The Flavor Lab newsletter, we collect your email address. This is processed by Buttondown, a privacy-respecting email service. We do not sell or share your email with third parties. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Search queries: Ingredient searches and tool usage are processed server-side to return results. We do not keep a readable log of individual search queries by default. To detect bulk scraping, we keep for a few hours a one-way hash of which ingredients or compounds an IP address or account requested, and we count API calls per account for quota and billing. Signed-in users also see a short list of their own recent analyses on the Account page. Signed-in users may opt into personal search history from the Account page — when enabled, we store the last 50 pair queries (ingredients + scoring mode, never results) for your own reference. You can turn it off and erase history in one click.

Accounts & Sign-in

You can sign in with an emailed magic link, with Google, or with a password if you choose to set one. When you sign in, we store:

Your email address
Account creation and last login timestamps
A salted hash of your password, if you set one (never the password itself)
Your subscription status and plan, and your API key if one is issued
API usage counts for quota and billing, and recent sign-in attempts for security
Your recent analyses, and search history only if you turn it on
Any pantries you explicitly choose to save (Pro feature)

We do not store security questions, names, phone numbers, or addresses. Magic-link tokens expire after 15 minutes and are single-use. Session cookies use HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite=Lax flags and expire after 30 days.

Payments

Pro subscriptions are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number, CVV, expiration, or billing address — all payment details are entered directly on Stripe's hosted checkout page and held by Stripe under their PCI-DSS compliance. The only billing data on our server is a Stripe customer ID (an opaque identifier) so we can link your subscription status back to your email.

Transactional sign-in emails are delivered via Resend.

Cookies

We use:

A session cookie (ck_session) to keep you signed in after a magic-link click
Cookies set by Cloudflare (for security and performance)
Cookies set by Google Analytics and Matomo (usage statistics; they hold a random identifier that recognises a returning browser)

No advertising cookies are used, and we do not use cookies to track you across other websites.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes. Data is shared only with our service providers as necessary to operate the site:

Cloudflare — hosting, CDN, DDoS protection
Stripe — payment processing for Pro subscriptions
Resend — transactional email delivery for sign-in links
Buttondown — newsletter delivery (only if you subscribe)
Google Analytics — usage statistics
Google — sign-in, only if you choose "Sign in with Google"

Your Rights

You may request deletion of any personal data we hold — your account, email address, Stripe customer record, saved pantries, and API key — by emailing [email protected]. You may also delete your account yourself from the Account page. If you cancel a Pro subscription, you can do so at any time from the Billing Portal; Stripe retains a record of past invoices as required by law.

If you are in the EU, you have additional rights under GDPR including access, rectification, and data portability.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email [email protected].

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