Who we are
Plate is built by Sector 42 Limited, a company based in Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. You can reach the team at [email protected].
What data the app handles
Plate handles the following kinds of data on your behalf:
- Recipes, photos, categories, collections, meal plans, and shopping list items. Stored in a local database on your iPhone using Apple's Core Data, with a private CloudKit backup in your iCloud account so your library is safe if you reinstall or restore. We cannot see this data: CloudKit private databases are controlled entirely by your Apple Account.
- Shopping list items are also written to Apple Reminders, with your explicit permission, so they can be shared with your household. Once an item is in Reminders, it is governed by Apple's Reminders privacy.
- Camera access is requested only when you choose to take a photo, either to import a recipe or to add a photo to one. The photo is processed on your device for layout detection and OCR, and stays on the device unless you choose to share it.
- Network requests are made only when you ask Plate to do something that requires the network: importing a recipe from a URL you supply, refreshing a recipe from its source URL, fetching photos linked from a recipe page, or sending a quality report you explicitly submit.
- Quality reports are optional and sent only when you tap Report after an import goes wrong. A report contains the source material of that one import (such as the web page or photo) and details of how the import ran, so we can fix the importer. It is encrypted on your device before upload, holds no account or personal identifiers, and includes nothing else from your library.
What we do NOT collect
- No analytics, telemetry, or usage tracking.
- No crash reports, unless you opt to make them available to us through Apple.
- No advertising or marketing identifiers.
- No account system, signup, or password.
- No third-party SDKs that collect personal data.
Plate makes no network requests of its own. Outbound traffic happens only at your request: the URLs you import from, your own iCloud sync, and any quality report you choose to send. There is no automatic "phone home" channel.
AI and on-device processing
Plate uses on-device machine learning models for layout detection, optical character recognition (OCR), and ingredient parsing. These run on your device using Apple's Core ML and Vision frameworks. Plate also uses Apple Intelligence on-device foundation models for recipe extraction from unstructured text. Your photos and recipes are not sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple's cloud, or any other third-party service for processing.
Children's privacy
Plate is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has used the app and you would like to discuss it, please contact us at [email protected].
GDPR and CCPA
Because Plate stores no personal data on our servers, there is nothing for us to disclose, export, or delete on your behalf. To remove all of your Plate data:
- Delete the Plate app from your iPhone.
- Open Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage, find Plate, and tap Delete. This removes the iCloud copy of your data.
If you have any concerns or requests under GDPR, CCPA, or another privacy regime, write to [email protected] and we will respond.
Account deletion
Plate does not have user accounts, so there is no account to delete. To remove your data, follow the steps in the GDPR and CCPA section above.
Changes to this policy
If we change how Plate handles data, we will update this page and bump the date at the top. Material changes will be announced in the app's release notes.
Contact
Questions about privacy: [email protected]