TasteTraceLegal
Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 22, 2026
TasteTrace is a mobile app that helps you log meals and symptoms so you can spot patterns in how food affects your body. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It covers the TasteTrace iOS app and this website (together, the "Service").
TasteTrace is operated by Taylor Josephson ("TasteTrace," "we," "us"). Questions about this policy can be sent to Taylor.Josephson@gmail.com.
Important things to know up front
- We do not sell your data and we do not use it for advertising.
- Your logs are private. Other users cannot see your meals, symptoms, or account details.
- TasteTrace uses AI to analyze your food and symptom logs and suggest possible patterns. These insights are generated automatically and are not reviewed by a medical professional.
- TasteTrace is not a medical device or a healthcare provider. It does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition. Talk to a licensed clinician about any health concern, and seek medical care for severe or worsening symptoms.
- TasteTrace is not covered by HIPAA. We are not a healthcare provider or health plan. We still treat your health-related information as sensitive and protect it as described below.
- You can delete your account and data at any time from within the app.
Information we collect
We collect only what the Service needs to work. Most of it comes directly from you.
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account information | Email address, display name, login credentials | You, when you sign up |
| Onboarding answers | Why you downloaded the app, any food sensitivities you already suspect, your preferred confidence level for pattern alerts | You, during setup |
| Meal logs | Foods, ingredients, meal type, date and time, where the food came from (home, restaurant, packaged), cooking method, and any clarifying details you add | You |
| Symptom logs | Symptoms (for example digestive discomfort, headaches, skin flare-ups, energy, mood), severity, onset time, duration, and notes | You |
| Preferences | Notification and reminder settings | You |
| Support messages | Anything you send us when you contact support or give feedback | You |
| Device and usage data | Basic technical information such as device type, operating system version, app version, and crash reports | Automatically, from the app |
Symptom and meal logs can reveal information about your health. We treat all of it as sensitive personal information.
We do not collect your precise location, contacts, photos, or advertising identifiers, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
Research participation. Some users may be invited to take part in an optional usability study. If you agree, we may also collect your feedback about the app. Participation is voluntary, and declining does not affect your use of the app.
Waitlist. If you join the waitlist on this website, we collect the email address you enter so we can tell you when TasteTrace launches.
How we use your information
We use your information to run TasteTrace for you, and for nothing unrelated to that.
- Provide the Service: create and manage your account, store your logs, and show your history, timelines, and summaries.
- Find patterns: analyze your meal and symptom logs to surface possible links between foods and symptoms, using the confidence level you choose.
- Ask clarifying questions: prompt you for missing details, such as a cooking oil or ingredient, so your patterns are more reliable.
- Send reminders: deliver the notifications you opt into. You can turn them off in the app or in iPhone Settings.
- Support and safety: respond to your messages, fix bugs, prevent misuse, and keep the Service secure.
- Improve TasteTrace: understand how features are used and make the app easier and more accurate.
- Legal obligations: comply with law and respond to valid legal requests.
How the AI works
TasteTrace uses automated analysis, including AI, to compare what you eat with the symptoms you log. There is no chatbot; the analysis runs in the background and its results appear as insights in the app.
- Only your meal and symptom logs and related settings are used for this analysis. Your name and email are not included.
- Insights are possibilities to consider, not conclusions. They can be wrong, especially when ingredients are unknown, such as with restaurant or packaged food.
- No person reviews an insight before you see it, and no insight is medical advice.
- AI analysis is part of how the app works, so it cannot be turned off while you use TasteTrace. If you do not want your logs analyzed, you can stop using the app and delete your account.
Improving our models. We may use logs from TasteTrace users to improve TasteTrace's own pattern detection, after removing names, email addresses, and other direct identifiers.
Third-party AI providers. Some AI processing is handled by a third-party service provider acting on our behalf.
How we share your information
We do not sell your personal information, share it for targeted advertising, or give it to data brokers, insurers, or employers. We share it only in these situations:
- Our team. A small number of authorized team members can access user data to operate, support, and improve the Service. They are required to keep it confidential.
- Service providers. Companies that host our servers and website, run our database, process AI analysis, send emails or notifications, and report crashes. They may use your information only to provide services to us.
- At your direction. If you export or share a summary, for example with your doctor, it goes where you send it.
- Legal reasons. When required by law, subpoena, or court order, or to protect the safety and rights of users or others.
- Business transfer. If TasteTrace is acquired, merged, or transferred, user data may transfer with it. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
We may share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be linked to you, such as "most users log three meals a day."
Keeping and deleting your data
We keep your information while your account is active. You can delete individual logs at any time.
Deleting your account. Go to Settings in the app and choose Delete Account, or email Taylor.Josephson@gmail.com from the address on your account. We permanently delete your account and logs from our active systems within 14 days. Copies in backups are deleted on our normal backup cycle, within 30 days.
We may keep a limited record if the law requires it, for example a record that you asked us to delete your data. De-identified information that can no longer be linked to you is not affected by deletion.
If you take part in the usability study, you can withdraw at any time. Your study data is deleted the same way.
Security
We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS), access limited to authorized team members, and secure login. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you as required by law.
Children and teens
TasteTrace is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. Users aged 13 to 17 may use TasteTrace only with a parent's or guardian's permission. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Your choices and rights
All users can, at any time:
- See and correct your information in the app.
- Get a copy of your data by emailing us.
- Delete individual logs or your whole account.
- Turn off notifications in the app or in iPhone Settings.
- Withdraw consent to our collection and use of your health-related information by deleting your account.
Depending on where you live, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington, Nevada, and other states, you may have additional rights under state privacy or consumer health data laws. These can include the right to know what we collect and share, to access, correct, or delete it, to withdraw consent, to obtain a list of third parties we share it with, and to appeal a decision about your request. We honor these requests for all users regardless of state. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.
To make a request, email Taylor.Josephson@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity, and we will respond within 45 days. If we deny your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision; if you remain unsatisfied, you may contact your state attorney general.
Consumer health data. Your meal logs, symptom logs, and suspected sensitivities may be "consumer health data" under laws such as Washington's My Health My Data Act. We collect and use this data only to provide the features you ask for, with your consent, and we never sell it.
Where your data is stored
TasteTrace is operated from the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the United States. If you use the app from another country, your information will be transferred to the U.S.
Changes to this policy
We will post any changes here and update the effective date. If a change materially affects how we use your health-related information, we will notify you in the app or by email and ask for your consent where required.
Contact us
Taylor Josephson
Taylor.Josephson@gmail.com