Deutsche Fassung: privacy.html. In case of doubt, the German version applies.

Privacy Policy for the App “Kochrezepte”

Last updated: 9 October 2026

Controller

The essentials first

The app has no user account and no server of its own that receives your data. All recipes, images and the shopping list are stored exclusively on your device. We have no access to them and receive no copy. If the app is deleted, this data is gone.

Only these third parties process data: Google and selected advertising partners that bid for the ad slots through Google AdMob, Expo, from which the app obtains updates, and — on Apple devices with sync switched on — Apple via your iCloud. If you have switched on your phone’s backup, your operating system also stores a copy with Google or Apple. Without the advertising, the app would not be available free of charge.

What data the app stores on the device

• Recipes that you import or enter, including the address of the source page
• Images for these recipes, as a local copy, including photos you have taken or selected yourself
• The shopping list
• Your own categories
• Settings such as language, favourites and the point in time until which a rewarded video has hidden the advertising
• On how many different days you have opened the app and when it last asked for a rating (see “Request for a rating”)

This data only leaves the device if you share it yourself — for example as a backup file via your device’s share menu — as well as when syncing between your devices and with your phone’s backup (see below). In no case do we receive a copy.

Recipe import

When you paste a web address, the app retrieves this page directly from your device and reads the structured recipe data stored there. In doing so, the operator of the page sees your IP address, just as when the page is opened in a browser. There is no intermediate server of ours.

Extra text recognition for further scripts

If the app is set to Thai, Arabic, Persian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Greek or Hebrew, you can download a text recognition for that script when scanning. Only when you tap “Load text recognition” does the app fetch two files from our website devforge.world. Like any web server, our server logs this request (IP address, time, requested file); the log overwrites itself after a short time, and we do not analyse it in relation to persons. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in operating the server securely (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Your photos do not leave the device: the recognition then runs entirely on your phone.

Syncing between your devices

Via iCloud (iPhone and iPad only). If your device is signed in with an Apple ID and iCloud Drive is switched on, the app additionally stores your recipes, your own photos and the shopping list in a folder in your iCloud so that your other Apple devices receive them. The provider is Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Cork, Ireland. The data is stored in your iCloud account and counts towards your iCloud storage; we have no access to it and receive no copy. You can switch off syncing under “Settings → Sync devices”. How Apple processes data is described by Apple at apple.com/legal/privacy.

The legal basis is the provision of the feature you use (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Via Wi-Fi. If you choose “Sync with a nearby device”, two devices on your Wi-Fi connect directly to each other. For this purpose, the code displayed contains the device’s address on the home network and a one-time password. The data does not go to the internet and does not pass through a server.

Backup of your phone

Android. If backup to your Google account is switched on on your phone, Android automatically stores the app’s data, encrypted, in your Google account and restores it when you set up a new phone. This includes your recipes and settings and, depending on the app version, images. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. We have no access to it and receive no copy. You can switch this off in your phone’s settings under “Google → Backup”.

iPhone and iPad. If you back up your device to iCloud, Apple includes the app’s data in this backup. You control this in your device’s settings under your name → “iCloud → iCloud Backup”.

Both backups are features of your operating system that you switch on and off yourself. The legal basis is the provision of the feature you use (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

App updates (Expo)

The app obtains smaller updates – such as bug fixes and translations – directly, without going through the app store. To do this, it asks Expo at startup whether a new version is available. Expo is a service of 650 Industries, Inc., USA.

The following is transmitted with this request:

• your IP address
• the operating system and the version of the app
• a random identification number that the app generates once on your device at first startup. It contains no information about you, applies only to this app and has nothing to do with the advertising ID.

The request takes place independently of the consent dialog, because it has nothing to do with advertising. Its sole purpose is to keep the app up to date and free of errors.

The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure and functioning app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Storing the identification number on your device is strictly necessary for this (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG).

According to its own statements, Expo participates in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; the transfer to the USA is based on the European Commission’s adequacy decision on this framework. How Expo processes data is described by Expo at expo.dev/privacy.

Advertising (Google AdMob)

The app displays ads via Google AdMob, a service of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

In Europe and the USA, the app requests exclusively non-personalised advertising; on iPhones, it does so worldwide. Google therefore does not create an interest profile from your behaviour there in order to select ads for you. Which ad you see depends on the content of the app — cooking, kitchen, baking — and not on who you are. This applies regardless of how you answer in the consent dialog.

On Android devices outside Europe and the USA, the app requests personalised advertising (Vietnam, South Korea and China are also excluded). Google and the advertising partners may then also use the data listed below to select ads based on your interests. A device only counts as “outside” if Google’s location check does not place it in the EU, the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland and the region in the phone settings is not in Europe or the USA. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in financing the free app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object at any time by deleting the advertising ID (Settings → Google → Ads); after that you no longer receive personalised ads.

However, non-personalised advertising also accesses your device. In doing so, Google processes, among other things:

• your device’s advertising ID
• your IP address
• device information (such as model, operating system version, language)
• an approximate location derived from the IP address
• information about which ad was displayed when and whether it was tapped

This data serves to deliver and bill the ads, to limit how often the same ad appears, and to detect fraud. It is passed on to Google as the advertising network.

Besides Google, a few other advertising partners that Google connects through AdMob bid for an ad slot. They also receive the data listed above and may use it in Europe and the USA only for non-personalised ads, billing and fraud detection. Which partners these are is shown in the consent dialog under “Manage options”; the list is short and chosen by us. Without your consent these partners show no ads.

The advertising ID is not anonymous information. It remains the same across different apps, which makes your device recognisable. We think it is right to say this openly instead of speaking of “no tracking”.

On Android, you can reset or delete the advertising ID at any time in the system settings (Settings → Google → Ads).

Your consent

Because the advertising accesses your device, the app asks for your consent at first startup. Google’s consent dialog (User Messaging Platform) is used for this.

• If you consent, the app shows non-personalised ads.
• If you do not consent, the app can still show ads, but then only so-called limited ads. In this case, according to its own statements, Google refrains from anything that requires an identifier of your device; however, Google may continue to use storage on the device to detect fraud. Your IP address continues to be transmitted for delivery. Whether an ad appears at all is decided by Google. All features remain usable without change; no feature is tied to the advertising.

The dialog appears at first launch and again when the list of advertising partners changes. Your answer is stored on the device; at every subsequent startup it is only read out. You can change it at any time under “Settings → Change privacy settings”.

The legal basis for accessing your terminal device is your consent under § 25(1) TDDDG; for the subsequent processing, it is your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. For limited ads without your consent, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in financing the app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

How Google uses data is described by Google at policies.google.com/technologies/ads and policies.google.com/privacy.

The app expressly excludes advertising for diets, weight-loss products and gambling.

Permissions

On Android, the app requests permission to read the device’s advertising ID (com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID).

On iOS, the app shows no App Tracking Transparency (ATT) dialog, because it does not request personalised advertising on iPhones. Without this dialog, the system does not release an advertising identifier (IDFA).

The app uses the camera only when you yourself photograph a cookbook page or take a photo for a recipe. If you select a photo from your media library, the app sees only that one image. The page is read on the device, and photos are stored there as a copy; none of this is transmitted.

So that a timer in cooking mode rings even when your phone is locked, the app asks with the first timer whether it may send you notifications. The notification is scheduled and triggered on your device; it does not pass through a server, and the app does not receive messages from the internet. On Android, the app additionally uses the permission for exact alarms (android.permission.SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM). If you decline, the timers keep working while the app is open.

The app does not use the microphone, contacts or precise location.

Request for a rating

From time to time, the app asks you to rate it in the App Store or on Google Play. It decides when this fits based on information that stays on your device only: how many recipes you have, on how many different days you have opened the app and when it last asked. This information is not transmitted.

The rating window comes from Apple or Google. What you enter there goes to the respective store and is governed by its privacy policy. The app does not learn whether or how you rated it.

When you write to us

In the settings and below imported recipes, you can send us a message. The app opens your e-mail program with a prepared e-mail to kochrezepte2026@gmail.com. It is only sent when you tap Send yourself.

So that we can trace errors, the e-mail contains, besides your text, the app version, the phone model, the operating system version and the app language; for a report about a recipe, also its name and the link to the source page. You see everything before you send it and can change or delete it.

We receive your e-mail address, your name if your e-mail program includes it, and the content of the e-mail. The same applies if you write to us without the app. We use this information only to handle your request, reply to you and improve the app, and we do not pass it on. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in doing so (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Our mailbox is hosted by Google (Gmail). We delete your e-mail as soon as we no longer need it, or immediately on request.

Children

The app is not directed at children, but at adults. In the Play Store, the target audience stated is “18 and over”.

Retention period

We ourselves store only e-mails you send us (see “When you write to us”) and, briefly, the server log when the extra text recognition is loaded; there is no server that receives your recipes. The data on your device remains until you delete it or uninstall the app. How long Google and Expo retain the data arising with them is governed by their own statements (see the pages linked above).

Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection (Art. 15 to 21 GDPR) as well as the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. You can withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future.

Apart from your e-mails to us, we do not store any personal data about you. Therefore, requests concerning advertising should be addressed to Google and requests concerning the app updates to Expo. You delete your local data by removing recipes in the app or uninstalling the app.

For users in the United States

Some US states (for example California, Virginia or Colorado) give you additional privacy rights. We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not collect sensitive personal information. However, the information listed above under “Advertising” that goes to Google and the advertising partners when an ad is delivered may count as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information under some state laws. You can opt out of this at any time: in the app under “Settings → Change privacy settings”, or by e-mail to kochrezepte2026@gmail.com. You will not be treated differently for doing so; the app works exactly the same. You can request access, correction and deletion as described above.

Changes

This policy is adapted when the app or the legal situation changes. The current version can always be found at devforge.world/app-legal/kochrezepte/privacy-en.html (German: privacy.html).