Forka LLC ("Forka," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use the Forka mobile and web application, related websites, and services (collectively, the "Service"), how we use and share that information, and the rights and choices available to you.
By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our practices, please do not use the Service.
1. Scope and Eligibility
This Privacy Policy applies to all users of the Service worldwide, including users in the United States, the European Economic Area ("EEA"), the United Kingdom ("UK"), and California.
The Service is intended for users who are at least 13 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the details in Section 12, and we will take steps to delete that information.
If you are located in the EEA or UK, you must be at least 16 years old to use the Service, or have the consent of a parent or legal guardian.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information in three ways: information you provide directly, information collected automatically, and information received from third parties.
2.1 Information You Provide Directly
- Account Information. When you create an account, we collect your full name, email address, and password. If you sign up using Google or Facebook, we receive your name, email address, and profile identifier from those providers.
- Dietary and Food Preferences. During onboarding and through the settings screen, we collect your dietary preferences (such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free), food allergies, foods you dislike, and household serving size. This information is used to personalize meal suggestions.
- Meal Plans, Favorites, and Notes. We store the recipes you save, favorite, add to your meal plan, or annotate with notes.
- Shopping Lists and Cart Items. We collect the ingredients you add to your shopping list and any quantities or modifications you make.
- Recipe Feedback. If you rate or leave feedback on a recipe, we store that feedback associated with your account.
- Payment Information. If you upgrade to Forka Pro, payments are processed by our payment processor, Stripe. We do not collect or store your full credit card number, expiration date, or CVV. We receive limited information from Stripe such as the last four digits of your card, card brand, billing ZIP code, and transaction status.
- Communications. If you contact us for support, respond to a survey, or sign up for marketing emails, we collect the information you provide, including your email address and the contents of your message.
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
- Usage Data. We collect information about how you interact with the Service, such as the pages and screens you view, the features you use, recipes you tap on, search queries, and time spent in the app.
- Device and Technical Data. We collect device type, operating system, browser type, language settings, screen size, IP address, and approximate location derived from your IP address.
- Cookies and Similar Technologies. We use cookies, local storage (including the browser localStorage API), and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, and understand how the Service is used. See Section 7 for details.
- Analytics. We use third-party analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to help us understand aggregate user behavior and improve the Service.
- Push Notification Tokens. If you enable push notifications, we collect a device-specific token that allows us to deliver notifications to your device.
2.3 Information from Third Parties
- Social Sign-In Providers. If you sign in through Google or Facebook, we receive basic profile information as authorized by you and the provider.
- Recipe Data Providers. We use Spoonacular to fetch recipe content. When you search for or open a recipe, we send the relevant query to Spoonacular. Your account identity is not shared with Spoonacular.
- Grocery Fulfillment Partners. If you choose to send your shopping list to Instacart for fulfillment, your shopping list contents (and information needed to complete the handoff) will be transmitted to Instacart. Instacart's use of that information is governed by Instacart's own privacy policy.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To create and maintain your account, authenticate you, and provide the Service.
- To personalize meal recommendations, generate weekly meal plans, and tailor the in-app experience to your preferences, allergies, and dislikes.
- To generate and manage shopping lists and, at your direction, send them to grocery fulfillment partners such as Instacart.
- To process payments and manage Forka Pro subscriptions.
- To send transactional communications (such as account confirmations, receipts, and security alerts) and, where you have consented, marketing communications about new features, recipes, and offers.
- To send push notifications you have opted into, such as meal-plan reminders.
- To analyze usage, monitor performance, debug issues, and improve the Service.
- To detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, or violations of our Terms of Service.
- To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and lawful requests from public authorities.
4. Legal Bases for Processing (EEA and UK Users)
If you are located in the EEA or the UK, we rely on the following legal bases under the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and the UK GDPR:
- Performance of a contract. To provide the Service you have requested, including account creation, meal planning, and order processing.
- Legitimate interests. To improve the Service, ensure security, prevent fraud, and conduct analytics, where these interests are not overridden by your rights.
- Consent. For optional features such as marketing emails, push notifications, non-essential cookies, and processing of dietary information that may reveal health-related characteristics. You may withdraw consent at any time.
- Legal obligation. To comply with applicable laws, including tax, accounting, and consumer protection requirements.
5. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information for money. We share information only as described below.
- Service Providers. We share information with vendors that help us operate the Service, including hosting providers (Supabase), payment processors (Stripe), email and marketing platforms (such as Mailchimp), analytics providers (such as Google Analytics), and push notification infrastructure providers. These providers are bound by contracts limiting how they may use your information.
- Recipe and Grocery Partners. As described in Section 2.3, we share limited information with Spoonacular and Instacart to deliver core features of the Service.
- Authentication Providers. If you sign in through Google or Facebook, those providers receive information about your sign-in event in accordance with their own privacy policies.
- Legal and Safety. We may disclose information when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
- Business Transfers. If Forka is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to standard confidentiality protections.
- Aggregated or De-identified Data. We may share aggregated or de-identified data that cannot reasonably be used to identify you for any purpose.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Service. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 90 days, except where we are required to retain it to comply with legal obligations (such as tax records), resolve disputes, prevent fraud, or enforce our agreements. Backups containing your information are overwritten on a rolling basis.
7. Cookies, Local Storage, and Similar Technologies
Forka uses cookies and browser local storage to:
- Keep you signed in and remember your authentication session.
- Remember your dietary preferences and onboarding status (for example, the "forka_onboarding_complete" and "forka_preferences" entries stored locally in your browser).
- Cache your favorites, meal plan, and shopping list locally for faster performance.
- Measure and analyze how you use the Service.
You can clear local storage and cookies through your browser settings at any time. Doing so will sign you out and may reset your in-app preferences. Where required by law, we will request your consent before placing non-essential cookies.
8. Your Rights and Choices
8.1 All Users
- Access and update your account information through the in-app Settings screen.
- Update your dietary preferences, allergies, and dislikes at any time.
- Unsubscribe from marketing emails using the unsubscribe link in any marketing message.
- Disable push notifications through your device settings.
- Delete your account by contacting us using the details in Section 12.
8.2 EEA and UK Users
If you are located in the EEA or the UK, you have the following rights, subject to applicable law:
- Right of access to your personal information.
- Right to rectification of inaccurate information.
- Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten").
- Right to restrict or object to certain processing.
- Right to data portability.
- Right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
- Right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 12. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.
8.3 California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CCPA"), provides you with the following rights:
- Right to know what categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
- Right to delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
- Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
- Right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information. Forka does not sell your personal information for monetary value, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Right to limit use of sensitive personal information. Information about your health-related dietary needs (such as allergies) may be considered sensitive personal information. We use this information solely to provide and personalize the Service and do not use it for purposes that would require offering a separate "limit use" option under California law.
- Right to non-discrimination for exercising any of your CCPA rights.
To exercise these rights, contact us using the details in Section 12. We will verify your request by matching the information you provide against information already in our records. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, subject to verification.
9. International Data Transfers
Forka is based in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your jurisdiction. Where required by law (for example, for transfers from the EEA or UK), we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses to protect your information.
10. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your personal information, including encryption in transit (HTTPS), encrypted storage of passwords, and access controls on our systems. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you and applicable authorities as required by law.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email or through a prominent notice in the Service before the changes take effect, and we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Policy. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the updated Policy constitutes acceptance of the changes.
12. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, or if you want to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at:
For users in the EEA or UK, you may also contact your local data protection authority if you have concerns about our processing of your personal information.
