Privacy policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to MealSwap ("we", "our", or "us"). MealSwap is a community-driven home-cooked food sharing and exchange platform that connects local home cooks with food enthusiasts nearby. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy.

Questions or concerns may be sent to trustnoonekhan@gmail.com.

2. Information we collect

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you register, request information about our services, or participate in activities within the app.

A. Personal information provided by you

• Account data: Name, email address, profile photo, and phone number when signing in through Google Sign-In or Phone Authentication.
• Cook profile details: Cook bio, verified status, dietary preferences, and kitchen availability.
• Listings and content: Dish names, descriptions, pricing, food photos, dietary tags such as Halal, Vegan, and allergens, and swap offers.
• Orders and transactions: Order history, swap requests, delivery addresses, and pickup preferences.
• Ratings and reviews: Star ratings and review comments submitted for home cooks.
• In-app messages: Text communications between buyers and cooks regarding meal pickups and deliveries.

B. Location data

When you grant location permission, we collect precise or approximate location data from your mobile device to:

• Show nearby meal listings and calculate walking or driving distances using OpenStreetMap and osmdroid.
• Allow home cooks to place pickup-location pins for meal exchanges.
• Provide delivery-address mapping for orders.

You can enable, disable, or withdraw location access through your device settings.

C. Automatically collected information and analytics

Device and usage data: Firebase Crashlytics may collect device model, operating-system version, app-performance logs, and crash reports to help diagnose problems and improve stability.

3. How we use your information

We use collected information to:

• Facilitate account creation, login, and profile management.
• Display nearby home-cooked meal listings based on location.
• Enable real-time order requests, swap offers, and chat between buyers and cooks.
• Calculate distances and estimated walking or delivery times.
• Maintain security, prevent fraud, and enforce our terms.
• Monitor performance and fix software bugs through crash logs.

4. Permissions

MealSwap may request location, camera, photo or storage, notification, and internet access only where needed for nearby listings, food-photo uploads, order updates, maps, authentication, and cloud synchronization. You can manage optional permissions in Android settings, although disabling one may prevent its related feature from working.

5. Advertising

MealSwap does not sell personal information or use it for third-party behavioral advertising. If advertising is introduced in a future version, this policy and the app's required consent controls will be updated before that processing begins.

6. Third-party services we use

MealSwap integrates trusted providers that process limited data under their respective privacy policies:

• Google Play Services and Google Sign-In: Authentication and platform services. See the Google Privacy Policy.
• Firebase Authentication, Firestore, Storage, Crashlytics, and App Check: Authentication, cloud database management, content storage, abuse protection, and crash reporting. See Firebase Privacy and Security.
• OpenStreetMap, osmdroid, and Nominatim: Maps, distance features, and reverse geocoding. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.

7. Sharing your information

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information for marketing. Information is shared only:

• With other app users: Your public profile name, avatar, dish listings, ratings, and approximate location are visible as needed for meal discovery and exchanges.
• With service providers: Limited information is processed by the providers described above to operate app features.
• For legal requirements: We may disclose information when required by law or in response to valid requests from public authorities.

8. Data retention and account deletion

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to provide MealSwap, fulfill this policy, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and protect the service.

How to request data or account deletion

You can edit or delete listings and profile information inside the app under Settings > Edit Profile. To permanently delete your account and associated data:

1. Email trustnoonekhan@gmail.com with the subject Account Deletion Request.
2. Include the email address or phone number registered with your MealSwap account so we can verify the request.

After verification, we will permanently delete your user account, listings, order history, and stored photos from our Firebase systems within 7 business days, except information we must retain to comply with law or address security and fraud matters.

9. Children's privacy

MealSwap is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under 13. If we learn that a child under 13 provided personal data without verified parental consent, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians may contact us to request deletion.

10. Security of your information

We use appropriate technical and organizational safeguards, including SSL/TLS encryption in transit, Firebase App Check, access controls, and restricted database security rules, to protect information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. No electronic system is completely secure, so absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

11. Your rights and choices

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, obtain a copy of, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. Manage profile data and permissions in the app or device settings, or contact us to exercise an applicable right. We may verify your identity before completing a request.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The revised version will show an updated effective or last-updated date at the top. We encourage periodic review, and material changes may also be communicated within the app.

13. Contact us

For questions, comments, privacy requests, or account deletion:

• Email: trustnoonekhan@gmail.com
• Developer: Forge Pixel Studio
• App: MealSwap