Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies to people who visit the Second Helping website and to people who create an account and use the application.

2. Information you provide

When you use Second Helping, you may provide:

• Account information such as email address and display name
• Household information such as household name and membership
• Recipes, ingredients, directions, notes, photos and ratings you create or import
• Meal plans, grocery lists and shopping preferences
• Messages you send us for support

3. Information collected automatically

We collect limited technical information needed to operate and secure the service, such as request logs, device and browser information, and error reports.

Product analytics record event names and coarse counts — never recipe text, ingredients, grocery contents or anything a household typed.

4. How we use information

We use information to:

• Provide the recipe box, meal planner and grocery list
• Keep your household's data in sync across devices
• Authenticate you and protect accounts
• Diagnose problems and improve the product
• Respond to support requests and meet legal obligations

5. Household visibility

Second Helping is built around households. Recipes, plans, grocery lists and household settings are visible to the members of that household.

Ratings are attributed to the person who gave them so a household can tell whose opinion is whose. Only invite people you intend to share this information with.

6. Connecting Pinterest

If you choose to import a Pinterest board, Pinterest asks you to grant Second Helping read-only access to your boards and Pins. We never post, edit or delete anything on Pinterest.

Your Pinterest authorisation is stored securely on our servers, is tied to your personal account rather than your household, and is never shared with other household members. Pin and board content is used only while an import is running to find the recipe websites your Pins point to — it is not stored. Only the recipes you choose to import are saved, and they are saved from the original recipe website.

You can disconnect Pinterest at any time from the Pinterest import screen, which deletes the stored authorisation. You can also revoke access from your Pinterest account settings.

7. Sharing links

If you create a share link for a recipe or a household invitation, anyone who has that link can see the shared preview. Treat share links as public and revoke them if they are no longer needed.

8. Contact, bug reports and feature requests

When you send us a bug report, feature request or message, we store what you write along with the name and email address you provide so we can understand the problem and reply.

Bug reports also include basic technical context — the page you were on, your app version, and a short description of your browser and device — plus the account and household identifiers if you were signed in. We do not attach your recipes, meal plans or grocery lists.

Screenshots are optional, only offered on bug reports, and stored privately. Submissions are readable only by the Second Helping team, and we keep them while we work through them and for a reasonable period afterwards.

9. Recipe imports

When you import recipes from a website or from another recipe manager, we process the imported content to convert it into Second Helping recipes.

Uploaded import files are temporary and are deleted once they are no longer required for processing. Imported recipes belong to your household and are private by default.

10. Automated ingredient interpretation

Second Helping uses automated processing, including AI models, to interpret ingredient text — for example, understanding that two differently worded lines refer to the same grocery item.

Only the ingredient text needed for that interpretation is processed. Quantities, conversions and grocery totals are calculated by deterministic code, not by an AI model.

11. Service providers

We use third-party providers to host the application, store data, authenticate users, process ingredient text and monitor errors. Providers act on our instructions and only for the purposes described here.

Before public launch, this section must list the actual providers in use.

12. Google Sign-In

If you choose Google Sign-In, Google provides the account information required to authenticate you, such as your email address and profile name, depending on the permissions shown at sign-in. Second Helping never receives your Google password.

13. Grocery integrations

Grocery-provider integrations are optional and are configured per household. If enabled, Second Helping may process grocery requirements, product preferences, product identifiers and imported purchase-history information to provide the requested feature.

Grocery data from one household is never shared with another household, and grocery-provider credentials are never exposed in public or analytics data.

14. Cookies and local storage

Second Helping uses cookies and browser storage that are necessary for authentication, security, maintaining application state and remembering your preferences. Any optional analytics or marketing technologies will be described separately if introduced.

15. How long information is kept

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, maintain security and meet legal obligations.

Deleting an account or household removes the associated information through our deletion process, subject to limited retention in backups and security records. The exact backup retention window must be documented here before launch.

16. Access, correction and deletion

You can update most account and household information directly in the app. You may also request access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion of your account, or withdrawal of optional consent where applicable, by contacting alexander.gunther@gmail.com.

Additional identity verification may be required before certain requests are fulfilled.

17. Account and household deletion

If other members remain in a household, the owner may need to transfer ownership before deleting their account. This prevents one person's deletion from unintentionally removing shared family information.

When a sole owner deletes a household, the app explains what will be deleted before you confirm.

18. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. No internet service can promise absolute security. Keep your credentials safe and tell us if you believe your account has been compromised.

19. Children

Second Helping is not intended for children under 13 and is not designed to knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account contrary to this policy, contact alexander.gunther@gmail.com.

20. International users

Second Helping is operated from Ontario, Canada but may be used elsewhere. Privacy rights differ by location, and where applicable law provides additional rights we will respond to valid requests as required.

21. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our information practices materially change, and we show the date of the latest update. Where a change materially affects how personal information is collected, used or disclosed, we will provide appropriate notice or obtain consent where required.