Privacy Policy

Effective October 24, 2026

This policy explains how the ClearShelf app for iPhone and iPad ("ClearShelf" or "the app") and this website, clearshelf.app, handle information. ClearShelf is published by Jonas Goddard ("we" or "us"). Questions or requests: clearshelf.support@gmail.com.

At a glance

Information	Where it goes	Why	How long it's kept
Your grocery list, shopping list, saved recalls, and settings (including your state and allergens)	Only your device, and your device's backups	To run the app	Until you delete it or the app
Package photos you choose	Only your device, and your device's backups	To show your photo on a recall	Until you remove it or delete the app
The camera view while you scan	Nowhere; it's read on your device	To read barcodes	Not kept
Barcodes you check with the scanner, and your Recall History searches	The FDA (openFDA)	To find matching recalls	Under the FDA's policies
Barcodes you scan into My Groceries	Open Food Facts	To look up product names and brands	Under Open Food Facts' policies
Ad information (free plan only)	Google	To show and measure ads and prevent fraud	Under Google's retention policies
Emails you send us	Us, through Gmail	To answer you	As long as needed to help you, or until you ask us to delete them

Information that stays on your device

These are stored only on your iPhone or iPad, and we can't access them:

• Groceries you scan or type into My Groceries, your shopping list, and saved recalls.
• Your settings, such as your state, allergens, food types, alert choices, and app color. Your allergen choices are used only on your device to sort and match recalls; they're never sent to us, to Google, or to anyone else.
• Package photos you choose with the system photo picker. They aren't uploaded, and you can remove them on the recall's screen.
• Camera images while you scan barcodes. They're processed on your device and aren't saved or uploaded.

The app and its Home Screen widgets read this information from your device's storage. It may be included in your device backups (for example, iCloud Backup), depending on your device settings. Deleting the app deletes it from your device; copies in old backups remain until those backups are replaced.

ClearShelf doesn't use your device's location; you choose your state yourself.

Information sent to public data sources

ClearShelf connects directly to these services to get recall and product information. Like any website, they receive ordinary connection information such as your IP address.

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The app downloads recall information from openFDA and fda.gov. When you check a barcode with the scanner, its digits are sent to openFDA. When you search Recall History, your search words are sent to openFDA. That includes a grocery's brand, or its name if it has no brand, when you tap "Past recalls" on that grocery. See the FDA's website policies and openFDA terms.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA FSIS). The app downloads recalls and public health alerts. See the USDA privacy policy.
• Open Food Facts. Barcodes you scan into My Groceries are sent to Open Food Facts to look up product names and brands. When a recall notice lists a single clearly labeled barcode, the app sends that barcode to find a product photo; this uses the recall's barcode, not your groceries. With each lookup, the app sends a label naming the app, its version, and our support email, as Open Food Facts asks of every app. See the Open Food Facts privacy policy.

Ads (free plan only)

The free plan shows a small banner at the bottom of Settings and, now and then, a full-screen ad when you go back to the Recalls list after reading a few recalls. Ads are provided by Google AdMob. ClearShelf Pro removes all ads: with Pro, the app doesn't show or request ads, and it doesn't start Google's ad software when it opens.

• Non-personalized only. ClearShelf requests only non-personalized ads and turns on Google's restricted data processing. Non-personalized ads are chosen from context, such as the app and your general location, not from a profile of you.
• No tracking. ClearShelf never asks for permission to track you, so iOS doesn't give the app or Google your device's advertising identifier.
• What Google receives. Google's ad software collects information such as your IP address, approximate location (estimated from your IP address), device and app details, an identifier that iOS gives each app developer (it's the same across one developer's apps, not across different developers' apps), which ads you see and tap, and diagnostic information such as crashes and performance. Google uses identifiers and similar technologies to show ads, measure them, limit how often you see the same ad, and prevent fraud.
• What Google doesn't receive. Your grocery list, saved recalls, allergens, searches, scans, and photos are never shared with Google.
• Privacy check. Before ads load, Google's consent tool contacts Google to find out which privacy rules apply where you are, using your IP address.
• App ads. If you tap an ad for another app and install it, Apple's SKAdNetwork may tell the ad network that the install happened, without identifying you.

Google handles this information under its own policies. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services, the Google Privacy Policy, and how long Google keeps information.

Notifications

If you turn on alerts, the app downloads new public recall information in the background and decides on your device whether to notify you. We don't run a notification server, and your alert settings never leave your device.

Purchases

ClearShelf Pro is sold through Apple's App Store. Apple handles payment; we never receive your payment details. The app checks with Apple whether Pro is unlocked on your Apple Account.

Support emails and crash reports

If you email us, we receive your email address, your message, and anything you include. The app's Contact support option fills in the app version, build, iOS version, and device type. We use these only to answer you. Our support email is hosted by Google (Gmail). We keep support emails only as long as we need them to help you and keep a record of our conversation, and we'll delete them sooner if you ask.

If you've chosen to share analytics with app developers in your device settings, Apple may send us crash reports that don't identify you.

Sharing and links

If you share a recall, it goes to the app or person you choose. Links in ClearShelf, such as official notices and company websites, open websites with their own privacy practices.

This website

clearshelf.app is hosted by GitHub Pages. It has no ads, cookies, analytics, or trackers. GitHub may log visitors' IP addresses to run and protect the service; see the GitHub General Privacy Statement.

How information is shared

• We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for targeted advertising based on your activity across other companies' apps or websites.
• We don't share personal information with anyone for their own direct marketing.
• Information goes only to the services described in this policy, and only what each needs. Google receives the ad information described above under its agreements with us, which require it to protect that information and, with restricted data processing, limit how it may use it. The public data sources receive only the lookups described above, along with ordinary connection information.
• We'd disclose the little information we hold, such as support emails, only if the law requires it.
• If ClearShelf is ever transferred to a new owner, this policy will continue to apply to information collected under it.

Your choices and rights

• On your device: you can edit or remove your groceries, saved recalls, and photos, and change your settings at any time. Deleting the app removes everything it stored.
• Turning features off: you can turn off alerts in the app or in iOS Settings, and stop camera access in iOS Settings.
• Ads: where state privacy law gives you choices, such as opting out of the sale or sharing of personal information or targeted advertising, the app shows Settings → Privacy choices. ClearShelf Pro turns ads off entirely.
• Requests to us: because we don't keep your app data, there's usually nothing for us to access, correct, or delete. You can still email us with any privacy request, including requests under state privacy laws such as California's, and we'll respond within the time those laws require. We won't treat you differently for making a request.
• Information held by others: Google, the FDA, the USDA, and Open Food Facts handle requests about information they hold under their own policies, linked above.

Do Not Track and other companies' tracking

Do Not Track is a web browser setting. We don't change how ClearShelf or this website works in response to it, because neither tracks you across other companies' apps or websites. On the free plan, Google may collect information about your use of ClearShelf over time, as described under Ads; with the settings we use, Google doesn't use it to personalize ads.

Children

ClearShelf is a general-audience app and isn't directed to children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we'll delete it.

Where ClearShelf is offered

ClearShelf is offered in the United States, and its recall information covers U.S. agencies.

Security

The app connects to the services above only over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Information on your device is protected by your device's own security, such as your passcode. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure.

Changes to this policy

If we change how ClearShelf handles information, we'll update this page and its effective date before the change takes effect. For significant changes, we'll also mention them in the app's App Store release notes.

Contact

Jonas Goddard
clearshelf.support@gmail.com