Privacy Policy

Overview

UPlate ("we", "our", or "us") operates the UPlate mobile application and the sign-up flow at app.u-plate.com (together, the "App"). This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, and what control you have over it.

The short version: UPlate collects what it needs to personalize your campus dining — your goals, your dietary restrictions, and what you log. We don't sell it, we don't advertise against it, and you can delete it from inside the App.

Information We Collect

Information you give us

• Account details: your name, email address, username, and the Apple or Google identifier you sign in with.
• Your campus: the school you select during setup.
• Health and dietary profile: the answers you give during setup and can change later — your goal, age, sex, height, weight, activity level, meals per day, calorie and macronutrient targets, food allergies, dietary preferences, ingredients you want to avoid, favorite cuisines, and your dining hall ranking.
• Photos you submit: pictures of dining hall food you choose to upload. These are reviewed and, once approved, shown to other UPlate users alongside that food.
• Feedback you send us through the in-app report and feedback forms.

Information created by using UPlate

• Food and meal logs: what you log, when, and the nutrition totals that come from it, plus any weight entries you record.
• Saved and custom items: meals you save and foods you create yourself.
• Food ratings and taste signals used to suggest food you're likely to enjoy.
• Social activity: your friends, friend requests, and your standings in any macro competitions you join. Your username and competition results are visible to friends you've connected with.
• App preferences such as appearance and notification settings, so they follow you between devices.

Information collected automatically

• Analytics and usage data through Google Analytics for Firebase — device type, app version, screens viewed, and general (city-level) location derived from your IP address. You can turn this off in Settings → App Preferences.
• A device identifier used to prevent duplicate entries in giveaways and referral promotions.
• A push notification token, if you enable notifications.

Information that stays on your device

Some permissions the App asks for are used entirely on your phone and are never sent to us:

• Apple Health / Google Fit data is limited to active energy burned, read on your device to adjust your daily calorie target. It is not uploaded, shared, or used for any other purpose.
• Camera and photo library access is used only to attach a photo you choose to submit.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Create and maintain your account, and back it up so you can restore it on a new device
• Personalize what the App shows you — filtering menus for your allergies and dietary restrictions, calculating your targets, ranking dining halls, and suggesting food and meals you're likely to enjoy
• Generate AI meal plans from your campus's live menu (see Service Providers below)
• Operate social features you opt into, such as friends and macro competitions
• Review and publish food photos submitted by users
• Run giveaways and referral promotions, and prevent duplicate or fraudulent entries
• Send you notifications and emails you've asked for
• Understand how the App is used so we can improve it

Analytics

UPlate uses Google Analytics to understand how users interact with the App. Google Analytics may collect non-personal information such as device information, usage data, and general location. This information is used solely to improve the App.

Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active, and we do not currently delete data automatically based on inactivity — an account you never log back into is kept as-is until you (or we, at your request) delete it. Specifically:

• Account and profile data (your account details, dietary profile, meal and weight logs, saved items, and social activity) is retained for as long as your account exists.
• Food photos you submit and that are approved become part of the App's shared food content and are retained indefinitely to keep that content useful to other users, even if you later delete your account. If you'd like a specific photo removed, contact us at the address below.
• Analytics data collected through Google Analytics for Firebase is retained according to Google's standard Firebase Analytics retention settings, which we have not changed from the default.
• Feedback and support messages you send us are kept as long as needed to address them and for a reasonable period afterward for our records.

When you delete your account (Settings → Account Settings → Delete Account, or by emailing us), we delete your account and personal data — your profile, dietary information, logs, saved items, and social connections — from our active systems immediately, and from any backups within 30 days. Approved food photos are the one exception noted above, since they're shown as shared App content rather than personal data tied to you.

We may retain limited information beyond deletion where we're required to by law, or where needed to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

The only information visible to other people is what social features are for: your username, profile, and competition standings are shown to friends you connect with, and food photos you submit are shown to other UPlate users once approved.

Service Providers

UPlate runs on infrastructure operated by other companies, which process data on our behalf and only to provide the App:

• Google Firebase — authentication, analytics, push notifications, and app configuration.
• Cloudflare — our backend API, which stores your profile backup, logs, and social data.
• Amazon Web Services (S3) — storage for food photos.
• Google Gemini — meal plan generation. The request includes your dietary restrictions, targets, and the menu being planned against. Do not enter anything into the App you would not want processed by an AI service.

Advertising

UPlate does not show advertisements, and we do not use your personal information for advertising or sell it to advertisers.

We do send occasional emails about UPlate itself — launch announcements, promotions, and giveaways — to the address on your account. See Your Choices for how to stop them.

Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure.

Your Choices

You can change what UPlate collects at any time from inside the App:

• Analytics: Settings → App Preferences → Anonymous Analytics turns usage analytics off.
• Notifications: Settings → Notification Settings lets you turn each notification type off individually.
• Email: you can opt out of UPlate emails at any time by contacting us at the address below.
• Deleting your account: Settings → Account Settings → Delete Account removes your account and the data associated with it. This cannot be undone. You can also email us and we'll handle it for you. See Data Retention above for how long this takes and what's kept.

Your Data Protection Rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights:

• The right to access your personal data
• The right to correct inaccurate data
• The right to request deletion of your data
• The right to restrict or object to processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to withdraw consent at any time

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the email address below.

Your Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Request disclosure of the personal information we collect about you
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Know that we do not sell your personal information

We do not sell personal information.

Children's Information

UPlate does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will promptly remove it.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.