Privacy Policy

01Scope and Introduction

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected and processed through the CalSensei mobile application and the calsensei.com website. It aims to transparently explain how your data is handled when you use our Service.

CalSensei offers features such as AI-powered analysis of meal photos, calorie and macronutrient estimation, recipe suggestions, daily calorie/macro targets calculated from your profile, and a discovery feed. This policy covers all data processed while providing these features.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party applications, websites, or services that are not included in this policy and not linked from this text. This text should be read in connection with the Service and considered together with the Terms of Use.

02Data Controller and Contact

The data controller responsible for the processing of your personal data (the data controller within the meaning of KVKK, the controller within the meaning of GDPR) is Gizem Acar, operating as an individual/sole proprietorship established in the Republic of Türkiye.

For any matter within the scope of this Privacy Policy, regarding our data processing activities, or to exercise your rights, you can contact us at support@calsensei.com or through the calsensei.com website.

• Data controller: Gizem Acar (individual/sole proprietorship, Türkiye)
• Contact email: support@calsensei.com
• Website: calsensei.com

03Data We Collect

In order to provide the Service, we process the following types of personal data. The type of data processed varies depending on which features you use and what information you provide to us.

• Meal photos: Food images that you upload to the cloud infrastructure to be subjected to AI analysis.
• Workout program photos: Images of training plans that you scan for burn estimates. These are analyzed in memory and are not stored.
• Descriptions and messages: The meal and workout descriptions you type or dictate, and the messages you exchange with the Sensei chat. Voice input is transcribed on your device — the audio itself never leaves your phone; only the resulting text is sent.
• Food and nutrition records: The calorie and macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, sugar) estimates produced as a result of the analysis, along with your daily nutrition history.
• Profile information: Information you provide, such as height, weight, age, gender, and nutrition goals.
• Health and fitness data from Apple Health or Health Connect: If you choose to connect them, the steps, active energy, walking and cycling distance, workouts, water intake, body weight and body fat percentage you authorize us to read, and the water, weight, workout energy and meal nutrition records the application writes back. See "Apple Health and Health Connect Data" below.
• Account identifiers: The identity and account information used to create and manage your account.
• Device information: Device type, operating system, and the technical information required for the application to operate.
• Usage and analytics data: Statistics about how you use the application and crash reports.
• Subscription information: Information regarding your CalSensei Pro subscription status (your payment card information is not processed by us; payments are made through Apple).

04Apple Health and Health Connect Data

CalSensei can connect to Apple Health (HealthKit) on iPhone and to Health Connect on Android. The connection is optional, is made only when you grant permission in the operating system's own dialog, and each data type is a separate permission that you can grant, deny or revoke at any time in the Health app (iOS) or in Health Connect (Android). The application works without it.

What we read: active energy, step count, walking and cycling distance, workouts, water intake, body weight and body fat percentage. What we write, only for records you create in CalSensei: water you log, weights you enter, the energy of workouts you describe, and the calories and macronutrients of the meals you log. We never write data you did not enter, and we never modify or delete records created by other apps.

Why: to show your movement, hydration and body progress next to your meals, to include your active burn in your daily calorie balance, and to keep your records whole across the health apps you use. Health and fitness data is stored on our servers as part of your account so that your history is available on your devices; it is not stored in iCloud by us.

We do not use Apple Health or Health Connect data for advertising, marketing or data mining, we do not sell it, and we do not disclose it to third parties for such purposes. The only third-party processing is the AI assistance you separately consent to in the app, which may receive summaries of your activity and health records (steps, workouts, water, weight) so the Sensei chat can answer about your day. Health and fitness data is never used to determine eligibility for insurance, credit, employment or housing.

Revoking a permission stops further reading and writing immediately; the records already mirrored to your account remain until you delete them in the application or delete your account, which removes them together with the rest of your data.

05How We Use the Data

We use the data we collect solely for the purpose of providing, maintaining, and improving the Service, within the scope described in this policy.

• AI analysis: Analyzing the meal photos you upload to produce calorie and macronutrient estimates.
• Recipes: Providing recipe texts and suggestions.
• Goals: Calculating daily calorie and macronutrient targets from your profile information.
• Account management: Creating, maintaining, and securing your account.
• Subscriptions: Managing CalSensei Pro subscriptions and verifying your access.
• Notifications: Sending push notifications if you grant permission.
• Analytics and debugging: Understanding the application's performance, resolving issues, and improving the service.
• Support: Answering your questions and resolving your support requests.
• History: Storing meal photos and the nutrition data derived from them in order to provide your nutrition history.

06Legal Bases for Processing (KVKK and GDPR)

We process your personal data only on the basis of a valid legal ground. The main legal bases we rely on under KVKK and GDPR are as follows:

• Establishment or performance of a contract: Where processing the data is necessary to provide the Service and the features you request (for example, meal analysis, goal calculation, subscription).
• Explicit consent: Consent-based processing such as sending your meal photos, descriptions, and chat messages to our AI providers for analysis, and push notifications. You may withdraw your consent at any time (for AI processing: Settings ▸ Account ▸ AI Analysis in the app).
• Legitimate interest: Our legitimate interests, balanced against your fundamental rights and freedoms, such as ensuring the security of the Service, resolving errors, and improving the application.
• Legal obligation: Fulfilling our obligations arising from applicable legislation.

07Photos, Your Texts, and AI Processing

Several CalSensei features work by sending your data to third-party AI providers for processing. When you take a photo of a meal, the image is uploaded to the cloud infrastructure and transmitted to an AI inference provider, which evaluates it through AI image and language processing to produce calorie and macronutrient estimates and recipe texts. The same applies to workout program photos you scan, to the meal and workout descriptions you type or dictate, and to your conversations with the Sensei chat.

As of the date of this policy, our AI providers are: Groq, Inc. (analysis of meal and workout photos, and of the descriptions you type or dictate, to produce nutrition and burn estimates, recipe texts, and translations); Deep Infra, Inc. (the Sensei chat conversation — your messages together with profile details such as height, weight, age, and goals, so that answers can be personal); and OpenAI, L.L.C. (short food-related texts and chat memory notes converted into numerical representations used for search and recall). Voice input is transcribed on your device; only the resulting text reaches these providers, never the audio.

The application asks for your explicit permission before any of this data is sent to an AI provider for the first time, and you can withdraw that permission at any time from the Settings section inside the app (Settings ▸ Account ▸ AI Analysis). While the permission is off, the AI-powered features remain unavailable and nothing is sent.

Your meal photos and the nutrition data derived from them may be stored in order to provide you with your nutrition history. This data is retained for as long as your account is active or for as long as it is necessary to provide the service, and it is deleted upon your request.

An important warning for the sake of honesty: The calorie and nutrition values produced by AI are only automated estimates. These estimates may be erroneous, incomplete, or different from the actual values. None of the values provided by CalSensei constitute a precise measurement, and they cannot be considered as medical, nutritional, or dietetic advice.

08Third Parties and Data Processors

To provide the Service, we share your data only with third-party service providers (data processors / sub-processors) whose roles are described below and who act on our behalf or within the scope of their own responsibilities. We define these providers, according to their roles, generally as follows:

• Cloud hosting and storage: Hosting and storing data and meal photos.
• AI inference providers: Groq, Inc., Deep Infra, Inc., and OpenAI, L.L.C. — the AI services that analyze photos and texts to produce nutrition and burn estimates, power the Sensei chat, and generate recipe texts. With the same permission, the Sensei chat may also receive summaries of your activity and health records (steps, workouts, water, weight) so it can answer about your day. The section "Photos, Your Texts, and AI Processing" describes exactly what each provider receives, and this sharing happens only after your explicit in-app permission.
• Food product database: When you scan a product barcode, only the barcode number is looked up in the Open Food Facts database — no photos or personal data accompany the lookup.
• Subscription management: RevenueCat and Apple In-App Purchase for managing subscriptions. Subscription payments are processed by Apple.
• Analytics and crash reporting: Analyzing application usage and errors.
• Push notifications: Delivering push notifications.
• Apple: iOS distribution and processing of subscription payments.

09International Data Transfers

Due to the service providers we use, such as cloud hosting and AI providers, your personal data may be processed or stored in countries outside Türkiye and/or the European Economic Area (EEA).

For such transfers, we take care to apply appropriate safeguards to ensure that your data is protected in accordance with the applicable requirements of KVKK and GDPR. For detailed information about transfers, you can contact us at support@calsensei.com.

10Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active and to the extent necessary to provide the service. Meal photos and the nutrition data derived from them may be kept during this period in order to provide your nutrition history.

We may also retain data for as long as necessary to fulfill our obligations arising from applicable legislation. Upon your request, we delete your data, subject to our legal retention obligations.

11Security

We apply reasonable technical and administrative measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration, and disclosure.

However, we would like to note that no method of data transmission or storage over the internet is one hundred percent secure. While we do our best to protect your data, absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

12Your Rights and How to Exercise Them (KVKK and GDPR)

Under KVKK and GDPR, you have various rights regarding your personal data. Depending on the applicable legislation, these rights include the following:

To exercise your rights, you can contact us at support@calsensei.com. In order to assess your request, we may ask you to verify your identity, and we will respond to your request within the timeframes prescribed by applicable legislation.

• Access: Learning whether your personal data is being processed and requesting access to it.
• Rectification: Requesting the correction of data that is incomplete or processed incorrectly.
• Erasure (right to be forgotten): Requesting the deletion or destruction of your data.
• Objection: Objecting to certain processing activities.
• Data portability: Receiving your data in a structured and commonly used format or requesting its transfer.
• Withdrawal of consent: Withdrawing the consent you have given for consent-based processing at any time — for AI processing, directly in the app via Settings ▸ Account ▸ AI Analysis (withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out beforehand).

13Children's Privacy

CalSensei is not intended for children under the age of 13 (children under the age of 16 in the European Union), and we do not knowingly collect personal data from such individuals.

If we become aware that we have unknowingly collected data from a child below this age limit, we will take reasonable steps to delete that data. If you believe you have shared a child's data with us, please contact us at support@calsensei.com.

14Health Disclaimer

CalSensei provides automated estimates for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical, nutritional, dietetic, or any other type of professional advice, and it is not a medical device.

The estimates produced by AI may be erroneous or incomplete. CalSensei cannot be used for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of any disease or eating disorder.

Before making decisions regarding your nutrition or health, you should always consult a qualified health professional. You are responsible for any decisions you make based on the information CalSensei provides.

15Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. In the event of significant changes, we will revise the update date at the top of the page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice through the Service.

We recommend that you review this policy regularly to stay informed about how we protect your data. Your continued use of the Service after the changes take effect means that you accept the updated policy.

16Contact

You can contact us if you have any questions, requests, or complaints about the processing of your personal data or about exercising your rights under KVKK and GDPR.

You can reach the data controller, Gizem Acar, at support@calsensei.com. We will assess your request as soon as possible and within the timeframes prescribed by applicable legislation.