Privacy Policy

1. Data we process

Account and installation data: a Firebase user identifier, Mello internal user identifier, installation identifier, account status, language and onboarding preferences, app version, and locally cached entitlement state. The technical account does not require a name or email address.

Import and recipe data: TikTok links you submit, public post and creator identifiers, public captions, transcripts, on-screen text, temporary video or image material, structured recipe data, evidence and confidence metadata, import status, your edits, and at most one stored thumbnail per canonical recipe.

Purchase data: Apple product and transaction identifiers and subscription, trial, renewal, cancellation, expiration, refund, environment, and entitlement information made available by Apple and RevenueCat. Mello does not receive complete payment-card details.

Technical and security data: request timestamps, server and deployment logs, response and error codes, security and rate-limit signals, device or app technical information, and IP addresses processed by network, authentication, update, and hosting providers.

Support data: the content of your message, sender address, Support ID, submitted links or screenshots, and our correspondence if you contact support or make a rights request.

Meal Planner entries and some preferences are currently stored only on the device. The iOS share extension uses a local App Group queue to pass submitted links to Mello.

2. Sources of data

We receive data from you and your device, from publicly accessible posts whose links you submit, from Apple and RevenueCat for purchases, and from the technical providers listed below. Mello does not read your address book, private TikTok messages, or private TikTok groups.

3. Purposes and legal bases

We process account, installation, import, recipe, and entitlement data to create the technical account, perform requested imports, provide your library and paid features, synchronize access, and support account deletion (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).

We process limited logs, security signals, canonical recipe and source records, and provider status data to prevent abuse, diagnose failures, deduplicate repeated public sources, maintain reliability, and defend legal claims (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Our legitimate interests are secure and economical operation, source traceability, and avoiding repeated processing. You may object as described in Section 9.

We process data where necessary to comply with legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR). If a future optional feature requires consent, we will ask first (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR); consent can then be withdrawn for the future. Version 1.0 does not enable optional advertising or product-analytics tracking.

4. Providers and recipients

Google Firebase Authentication creates and secures the pseudonymous account. Replit hosts the API, PostgreSQL database, object storage, and deployment logs. Expo/EAS provides application updates and related update-delivery infrastructure.

Apple distributes the app and processes App Store purchases. RevenueCat assigns and verifies subscription entitlements using Mello’s internal user identifier and Apple purchase information.

Apify retrieves data from a public TikTok URL submitted for import. OpenAI receives the recipe evidence needed for extraction, such as public captions, transcripts, on-screen text, selected frames or slides, and an existing draft. Temporary media is transmitted only when required by the import path.

Our email service processes support and rights correspondence sent to the @blytz.dev address. Professional advisers, authorities, or courts receive data only where required for advice, legal claims, or a legal obligation.

Providers act under their applicable contracts and safeguards. We do not disclose personal data to advertisers or data brokers.

5. International transfers

Some providers process data in the United States or other countries outside the European Economic Area. Firebase Authentication is operated from US data centers. Depending on the provider and service, transfers rely on an adequacy decision such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, or another lawful mechanism, together with supplementary safeguards where required.

6. Retention

Your live technical account, installation links, personal recipe records, edits, import jobs, and subscription state are kept while the account is active and are removed from Mello’s live systems when account deletion completes, unless a legal duty requires limited further retention.

Firebase Authentication retains logged IP addresses for a few weeks. After Mello requests deletion of the Firebase user, Google states that other authentication information is removed from live and backup systems within up to 180 days.

Downloaded videos, slides, selected frames, and transcription work files are temporary and are deleted after processing. Production debug-artifact storage is disabled. If it is deliberately enabled for a documented troubleshooting case, Mello applies a maximum seven-day expiry. Replit deployment logs are retained for seven days under the current service configuration.

A canonical recipe record can be shared by several users. Deleting a recipe or account removes the user association, but the canonical recipe, public source URL, creator handle or identifier, provenance metadata, and thumbnail may remain independently for deduplication, source traceability, and other users’ libraries. Such records are reviewed and deleted when no longer required or when a valid rights or objection request outweighs our interests.

We request deletion of the RevenueCat customer record associated with the Mello user identifier as part of account deletion. Apple retains transaction data under its own legal obligations and policies; deleting Mello does not cancel the Apple subscription.

Support correspondence is kept for the duration of the request and ordinarily for up to twelve months after closure for follow-up and evidence. Data needed for legal claims or statutory obligations may be retained for the applicable limitation or retention period. Protected residual backups are deleted on the provider’s normal rotation and are not returned to live use except for disaster recovery.

On-device preferences and Meal Planner entries remain until they are cleared in Mello, removed during account deletion where implemented, or deleted by iOS or app uninstallation. Provider-side transient data is also subject to the applicable provider contract and configured account retention.

7. Account and recipe deletion

In Mello, open Settings > Account > Delete account. After confirmation, Mello disables access, deletes the Firebase user and the associated RevenueCat customer record, and removes the Mello user record and linked personal data. The app then clears its local account, recipe, import, planner, and entitlement state.

If an external provider is temporarily unavailable, final deletion may require a retry. Contact us with the Support ID if the app reports that cleanup is pending. Deleting the app alone does not delete the server-side account. Subscription cancellation remains a separate Apple action.

8. Device storage and access

Mello stores or accesses identifiers, settings, entitlement cache, share-extension queue, and Meal Planner data on the device only where needed to provide the app feature, remember a requested setting, secure access, or complete a link shared by you. Version 1.0 does not use this device access for advertising or cross-service tracking.

9. Your rights and right to object

Subject to the legal requirements, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or information about your data. You may withdraw consent at any time for the future where processing is based on consent.

You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. We will then stop that processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or the processing is needed for legal claims.

Send requests to melloapp@blytz.dev. Include the Support ID shown in Mello Settings and the relevant source URL where possible, but do not send passwords or full payment details. You may lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority, in particular in your habitual residence, workplace, or the place of the alleged infringement.

10. Automated processing and security

AI-assisted recipe extraction does not make a decision that produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you. Recipe results remain editable and may carry evidence, confidence, or quick-check notices.

We use safeguards appropriate to the risk, including authenticated API access, separation of user and canonical data, transport encryption, access controls, rate limits, limited logs, secret management, and provider contracts. No system can guarantee absolute security.

11. Children

Mello is not directed to children and does not intentionally request a child’s name, email address, or profile. If we learn that personal data was collected from a child without legally required permission, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. Changes and contact

We update this policy when data practices or providers materially change. The current version and effective date remain accessible in the app and at the published Privacy Policy URL.

Controller: Sebastian Scharlipp, trading under the business name blytz, Havelweg 11, 89233 Neu-Ulm, Germany. Privacy and rights requests: melloapp@blytz.dev. Support: melloapp@blytz.dev. Phone: +49 172 9498804. Website: https://melloapp.replit.app.