Privacy Policy

What We Collect

• Batch data: recipes, notes, journal entries, tasting notes, and dates you create in the app
• Subscription status: processed by Apple and RevenueCat
• App usage analytics: anonymous data about how features are used: in-app actions you take (such as creating a batch, viewing a safety check, or reaching the paywall), the steps of the subscription flow, and basic device context (device model, app and iOS version, language, time zone, screen size, and network type). Collected through PostHog (US-hosted) and keyed to an anonymous, randomly generated identifier, never your name, email, or advertising ID. We disable PostHog's IP-based location lookup, so no location is recorded. PostHog does not receive your batch names, notes, journal entries, recipes, photos, voice notes, or chat messages.
• Crash reports: device type, OS version, and crash details, collected through Sentry
• Chat messages, photos, and voice notes you send in Chat: when you ask the in-app assistant a question, the text you type and any photo or voice note you attach are sent to our backend on Cloudflare and routed by OpenRouter to Google's Gemini model, which writes the reply. A voice note is sent as audio for the model to listen to; your device doesn't turn it into text first. We also send an anonymous app identifier with each request, used only to rate-limit and prevent abuse, never to identify you. They're used only to answer that request, not for analytics, advertising, or building a profile, and we don't store them after the reply is generated. The first time you use Chat, the app shows you this and asks you to tap Continue before anything is sent. Chat doesn't require an account.
• Advertising measurement: we run small ads (for example on Reddit and Meta) to reach new fermenters. To tell whether those ads are worth the money, iOS first asks your permission to track. If you allow it, we share your device's advertising identifier (Apple's IDFA) with our measurement partners, Singular and Meta, so they can match your install, and later whether you start a trial or subscribe, back to the ad you tapped. If you don't allow it, we don't collect the advertising identifier and rely on Apple's SKAdNetwork instead, which tells us an ad worked without telling us who you are. Either way we never tie this to your name, email, or anything you write in the app, and we don't show ads inside the app.

We do not collect your name, email, location, contacts, health data, or browsing history, and there are no user accounts. We only ever receive a photo or voice note if you choose to attach one in Chat (above). The app doesn't otherwise read your photo library or listen through your microphone.

How We Use It

To provide the app's features, answer your questions in Chat, send you batch reminders, improve the app through anonymous analytics, fix bugs through crash reports, process subscriptions, and measure whether the ads we run are worth running.

We never sell your data. The only way we use your data for advertising is to measure whether our own ads worked, as described under Advertising measurement above, and only if you allow it.

Data Storage

Your batch data (recipes, notes, journal entries, and dates) is stored on your device and synced via iCloud (Apple's infrastructure). We don't keep a copy on our own servers. The one exception is Chat: when you send a message, it's processed by our backend and an AI model to answer you, and not stored afterward (see *What We Collect*).

Third Parties

We use two advertising-measurement SDKs (Singular and Meta), described under *Advertising measurement* above. No data brokers, and we never sell your data.

Your Rights

You can view, export, or delete all your data at any time from within the app. When you delete the app, your on-device data is removed. iCloud data can be managed through your Apple ID settings.

Children's Privacy

Ferment is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll notify you through the app.

Contact

Questions? hello@heyferment.com