Privacy Policy

Last Updated: April 7, 2026

Overview

Little Ladle ("we", "our", or "the app") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

Information We Collect

Account Information

Email address (when signing up with email)
Google account information (when signing up with Google)
Apple account information (when signing up with Apple)
First name, last name, and username
Date of birth
Phone number (used for friend discovery)
Profile photo (stored securely on our servers)

Recipe Data

Recipes you save, including titles, ingredients, instructions, images, and source URLs
This data is associated with your account to sync across devices

Device Permissions

Contacts: If you grant permission, we access your contacts to help you find friends who are already on Little Ladle. Phone numbers are sent to our server in a normalized format for matching purposes only.
Camera & Photo Library: Used to take or select profile photos and recipe images.
Microphone & Speech Recognition: Used for voice feedback if you choose to use this feature.
Push Notifications: Used to send you updates about friend requests, shared recipes, and other app activity.

Advertising Data

Device advertising identifier (IDFA): If you grant permission through Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt, we collect your device's advertising identifier to serve more relevant ads. You can change this at any time in your device settings or in the app's Privacy settings.
Ad interaction data (impressions and clicks) is collected by our advertising partner to measure ad performance and determine compensation.

Analytics and Usage Data

App usage events (app opens, feature usage, recipe creation, cook mode usage)
Session duration and frequency
Device information (device type, operating system version)
Crash reports to help us fix bugs

This data is associated with your user ID to help us understand how you use the app and improve your experience.

How We Use Your Information

To create and manage your account
To save and sync your recipes
To parse recipes from URLs you provide
To help you find and connect with friends
To process in-app purchases and subscriptions
To deliver push notifications you have opted into
To analyze app usage and improve features
To fix bugs and improve performance
To respond to your support requests
To display ads that help keep recipe imports free for all users
To personalize ads based on your preferences (only with your consent)

AI-Powered Recipe Parsing

When you save a recipe from a URL, we use a third-party AI service to extract and structure the recipe content. This processing involves only publicly available information from the webpage or video you provide, such as webpage text, video transcripts, and public comments. Your personal information (such as your name, email, or account details) is never sent to the AI service.

We also use third-party content extraction services to retrieve publicly available video transcripts and comments from social media platforms. These services only receive the public URL you provide and do not receive any of your personal data.

Social Features & Shared Data

Little Ladle includes social features that allow you to connect with friends and share recipes. When you use these features:

Your username, first name, and profile photo are visible to your friends
Recipes you share are viewable by the recipients via a temporary link that expires after 7 days
Friend requests include your name and profile photo

Third-Party Services

We use the following categories of third-party services to operate the app:

Authentication providers — Account sign-in via email, Google, or Apple
Cloud infrastructure — Secure data storage, authentication, and server-side processing
AI processing service — Recipe text extraction and structuring from publicly available content
Content extraction services — Video transcription and public comment retrieval for recipe parsing
Analytics provider — Understanding app usage and improving features
Push notification provider — Delivering notifications about friend activity and shared recipes
Payment processor — Managing in-app purchases and subscriptions
Advertising provider — Displaying ads within the app. If you consent to ad tracking, this provider may use your device's advertising identifier to serve personalized ads. Ads are shown to free-tier users only; Pro subscribers do not see ads.

These services have their own privacy policies and may collect additional information as described in their respective policies.

Advertising

Little Ladle displays ads to free-tier users to keep recipe imports available at no cost. Pro subscribers do not see ads.

Our advertising partner (Google AdMob) may collect device information and ad interaction data to serve and measure ads. If you consent to tracking via Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt, ads may be personalized based on your activity across other apps and websites. Without consent, you will still see ads, but they will not be personalized.

We do not sell your personal data to advertisers. Your data is not shared for purposes other than displaying relevant ads within the app.

Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely using cloud-based servers
We use industry-standard encryption for data transmission
Profile photos and recipe images are stored in secure cloud storage
We do not sell your personal information to third parties

Data Retention

Your account and recipe data is retained as long as you have an account
Analytics data is retained for up to 12 months
Shared recipe links expire after 7 days
You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from within the app's settings

Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access your personal data
Correct inaccurate data
Delete your account and data (available in the app's settings)
Export your recipe data
Opt out of analytics tracking (contact us)
Opt out of push notifications (via device settings)
Opt out of personalized ads (via the app's Privacy settings or your device's Settings > Privacy > Tracking)

Children's Privacy

This app is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes through the app or via email.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, contact us at:

Email: hello@littleladle.app