Ceres.
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Privacy Policy

Last updated 5 July 2026 · Operated by Wei-chih Hsu

01Who we are

Ceres is operated by Wei-chih Hsu, a sole trader based in Australia. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with, and your rights.

Contact for privacy questions and requests: wilson.hsu.1115@gmail.com.

This policy is written with reference to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

02What we collect

Account information

  • Your email address and password (your password is handled by our authentication provider, Google Firebase; we do not see it in plain text).
  • Your name, which you provide during onboarding and which is shown as the author on any recipe you make public.

Profile and preferences

  • Dietary preferences: allergies, diet type, a nutrition target, preferred cuisines, meal times and meal slots.
  • Country and language.
  • Your subscription tier.
  • Your favourited and hidden recipes.

Content you create

  • Recipes you create, import, or adapt — including ingredients, steps, descriptions, and any images you add.
  • Meal plans and shopping lists you build.

What we do not store: figures you enter into the nutrition-target calculator — such as weight, height, date of birth, gender, and activity level — are used only on your device to calculate a target and are not saved to our systems. Only the resulting nutrition target is stored.

Technical information

  • Standard information generated when you use an app or website, such as basic device and log data handled by our infrastructure providers.
  • Local browser storage (e.g. IndexedDB) used to keep you signed in on the web.
  • Analytics data about your visit to our website — such as pages viewed, approximate location (country or region), referring site, and device or browser type — collected via cookies by Google Analytics. This helps us understand whether and how people are finding the site.

Waitlist information

If you request an invite to the beta, we collect the email address you submit and any optional details you provide (your name, how often you cook, and any message). We collect this to contact you about the beta and its launch. This information is stored by our email provider, MailerLite (see section 4).

03How we use your information

We use your information to:

  • create and operate your account and authenticate you;
  • provide core features — storing recipes, generating meal plans, building shopping lists, and estimating nutrition;
  • personalise the Service to your dietary preferences and allergies;
  • manage your subscription;
  • publish recipes you choose to make public (showing your name as author);
  • maintain security, prevent misuse, and comply with legal obligations; and
  • communicate with you about your account or the Service.

04Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it with service providers who help us run the Service:

  • Google Firebase (authentication, database, file storage, hosting): stores your account, profile, recipes, and images.
  • MailerLite (waitlist email): stores the email address and any details you submit when requesting a beta invite, so we can contact you about the beta and its launch.
  • Google Analytics (website analytics): sets cookies and collects information about your visit to our website — pages viewed, approximate location, referrer, and device or browser type — so we can measure traffic. You can opt out using Google's browser add-on or by blocking cookies.
  • Google Gemini API: we send the content of recipes you create or import (ingredients and steps) to the Gemini API so it can be parsed, classified, and have nutrition estimated.

Recipe content sent to the Gemini API is processed by Google to return parsing and nutrition results. Because we use the paid Google Gemini Developer API, Google does not use this content to train its models.

  • App stores (Apple, Google): process subscription payments. We receive confirmation of your subscription status but do not receive your full payment details.

We may also disclose information where required by law, or to protect our rights or the safety of others.

05Where your information is stored, and overseas disclosure

Our providers (Google Firebase, the Gemini API, MailerLite, and Google Analytics) may store and process your information on servers outside Australia.

By using the Service you acknowledge that your information may be handled overseas, where privacy laws may differ from Australia's.

06Public recipes

If you choose to make a recipe public, that recipe — including its content and your name as author — becomes visible to anyone, including people without an account. You can make a recipe private again at any time, but we cannot guarantee removal of copies or caches others may already have made.

07Data retention and deletion

We keep your personal information while your account is active. When you delete a recipe it is archived and removed from your active library.

You can request deletion of your account and associated personal information by emailing wilson.hsu.1115@gmail.com. We will action deletion requests within a reasonable time, subject to any information we must retain for legal or security reasons. Note that content you previously made public, or the licence you granted us over your content, may be subject to the Terms of Service.

08Security

We rely on Google Firebase's security infrastructure and apply access controls so users can only access their own data. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

09Children

The Service is for users 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

10Your rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles you can:

  • request access to the personal information we hold about you (APP 12); and
  • request correction of information that is inaccurate or out of date (APP 13).

To make a request, email wilson.hsu.1115@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity first.

If you have a privacy complaint, contact us first and we will try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

11Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified through the Service or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed.

12Contact

Privacy questions or requests: Wei-chih Hsu — wilson.hsu.1115@gmail.com.