The Simple Truth About Your Privacy
🔒 Everything Stays on YOUR Phone
- All your meal logs, health data, and personal information are stored exclusively on your iPhone
- We have ZERO servers storing user data
- We cannot access, view, or retrieve your data—even if we wanted to (which we don't)
- If you delete the app, your data is gone forever from our perspective
🚫 No User Accounts Required
You'll never need to:
- Create an account or sign up
- Remember another password
- Provide your email or phone number
- Share your name or any personal details
You are completely anonymous to us by default. Start using the app immediately without providing any information. The one exception is the optional WhatsApp meal-sharing feature described below: if (and only if) you choose to connect it, you provide a WhatsApp phone number.
🤖 AI Analysis: Temporary and Private
When you photograph your food, here's exactly what happens:
- The photo is sent to Google's Gemini AI for nutritional analysis
- Gemini processes the image and returns nutrition data
- Your photo is immediately deleted after analysis
- Only the nutrition information is saved (on your phone)
- Google's AI doesn't store your photos or link them to you
☁️ Optional iCloud Backup: Your Personal Cloud
- Backup is 100% optional and disabled by default
- If enabled, data backs up to YOUR personal iCloud account
- We have no access to your iCloud backups
- This is the same as backing up your photos or messages—completely private to you
- You can disable this anytime in Settings
💬 Optional WhatsApp Meal Sharing
Opt-in and off by default. GutFlow offers an optional feature that lets you send a meal photo to GutFlow over WhatsApp and have it logged automatically. Because messaging involves a phone number and a server, this feature works differently from the rest of the app. If you never connect WhatsApp, none of the following applies to you.
- What we collect: When you link WhatsApp, we store your WhatsApp phone number and link it to a random app identifier so your shared meals can reach your device. We don't collect your name or contacts.
- How a shared photo is handled: Your photo travels through Meta's WhatsApp service to a GutFlow server and is analyzed for nutrition (via Google Gemini), just like an in-app photo. The photo is deleted after analysis; only the nutrition result is kept briefly until your app imports it.
- Your control: You can unlink WhatsApp at any time, which deletes the stored phone-number link and any pending shared meals.
- Third party: Messages are delivered through Meta's WhatsApp Business platform, subject to WhatsApp's Privacy Policy.
What Information is Collected?
📱 On Your Device Only
The following data stays exclusively on your phone:
- Food entries and photos (photos deleted after analysis)
- Bowel movement logs
- Nutritional data and analysis
- Personal health goals and preferences
- Symptom tracking information
- Favorite meals
- Health metrics and trends
🔍 Optional Anonymous Analytics
- Completely opt-in (disabled by default)
- Only aggregate, anonymous usage statistics
- Example: "photo analysis used 50 times today across all users"
- No personal data, no user identifiers, no tracking
- Can be disabled anytime in Settings
❌ What We NEVER Do
- Store your data on any server*
- Create user profiles or accounts
- Track your behavior or location
- Share or sell any information to third parties
- Use your data for advertising
- Access your health records without explicit permission
- Keep copies of your food photos
- Know who you are or contact you*
*Except through the optional WhatsApp meal-sharing feature described above, which uses a GutFlow server and your phone number only if you choose to connect it. Everything in this list applies fully if you don't use that feature.
Your Rights and Control
✅ You Always Can
- Export Everything: Download all your data anytime as JSON or PDF
- Delete Everything: Clear all data instantly from Settings
- Disable Analytics: Turn off anonymous analytics anytime
- Control Backups: Enable/disable iCloud backup as you wish
- Manage Permissions: Revoke camera, health, or other permissions anytime
- Leave No Trace: Delete the app and all data disappears with it
Third-Party Services
Google Gemini AI (Food Analysis Only)
- Used solely for nutritional analysis of food photos
- Photos sent temporarily for processing
- Subject to Google's Privacy Policy
- We don't store Google responses beyond the nutritional data
Apple Services
- HealthKit: Optional integration to sync with Apple Health
- iCloud: Optional backup to your personal iCloud (if enabled)
- CloudKit: Anonymous analytics (if you opt-in)
- Subject to Apple's Privacy Policy
Meta WhatsApp (Optional Meal Sharing Only)
- Used only if you opt into WhatsApp meal sharing
- Delivers your meal photos and messages between you and GutFlow's server
- We store your WhatsApp phone number to link shared meals to your app
- Subject to WhatsApp's Privacy Policy
Data Security
🛡️ Your Data is Protected By
- iOS Security: Apple's built-in encryption and security
- Local-First Storage: Your health data stays on your device and isn't transmitted to our servers (the optional WhatsApp feature above is the one exception)
- Minimal Server Footprint: The core app has no servers. Only the optional WhatsApp feature uses one, storing just your phone-number link and pending shared meals
- Your Device Security: Use Face ID/Touch ID/Passcode to protect your device
Children's Privacy
GutFlow is designed for users 12+ due to health-related content. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. Since we don't collect any user information at all, we cannot identify the age of our users.
Changes to Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes in the app. Since we can't contact you (we don't know who you are!), please check this policy periodically. The "Last Updated" date at the top shows when it was last revised.
The Bottom Line
Your health data is yours alone. We built GutFlow to be the most private health app possible. No servers, no tracking, no data collection. Just a helpful tool that respects your privacy absolutely.
Contact Us
While we can't see your data or identify you, we're happy to answer questions about our privacy practices:
Email: support@gutflow.ai
Website: https://gutflow.ai
GutFlow: Follow Your Gut, Keep Your Privacy