Privacy Policy

Welcome to Food Crossing. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and how long we keep it, within the app and the website.

1. Data Controller

The data controller is Room26 Labs.
For any request regarding your personal data, you can contact us at: info@room26.info.

2. Data we collect

2.1 Account and profile data

At registration: email, username, city, age (free-text field), country, nationality, language.
In your profile (optional, entered voluntarily): bio, culinary specialty, links to Instagram/TikTok/YouTube/personal website, profile photo.

2.2 Content you publish

Recipes, posts, comments and replies to other users.
Photos and videos attached to recipes and posts.
Text and images you send to Chingu Chef (our AI-powered cooking assistant) — see section 4.
Listings posted in the SOS Ingredienti feature (food exchange between users).

2.3 Geolocation TO BE CONFIRMED

When you post or accept an exchange through SOS Ingredienti, we collect the GPS location of the agreed pickup point and, at the time of pickup, the location of the person collecting it — to verify that the meeting took place at the stated location. This location data is not collected at any other time while using the app. The retention period for this data is still being finalized with legal counsel.

2.4 Communications

Private chat messages and any attached images, visible only to those taking part in the conversation.

2.5 Purchases

If you purchase a subscription, a video course or Chingu Tokens, payment is handled entirely by Google Play or the Apple App Store — we do not handle or store your payment card details. We only store the outcome of the purchase (active plan, unlocked course, receipt) to provide the service and prevent duplicate redemptions.

2.8 Marketplace applications

If you apply to sell products or courses on the Marketplace, we collect: for products, a free-text message with your proposal; for courses, title, price, duration and description of the course, along with confirmation that you hold the rights to the material. This data is visible only to you and our review team, until the application is decided.

2.9 Advertising (Google AdMob)

If you use the Free plan, we show ads through Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK). With the Premium plan, the amount of advertising shown is reduced compared to the Free plan. If you have a Gold or Diamond plan, no ads are shown to you. To provide this service, the Google Mobile Ads SDK may automatically collect:

an advertising identifier (Advertising ID), an app set identifier (App Set ID) and, if applicable, other device identifiers;
your IP address, which Google may use to estimate the general location of the device — this is not your precise GPS location, which we collect separately and only for SOS Ingredienti exchanges (see section 2.3);
information about your interactions with the app (for example opening the app, taps on the screen, viewing video content);
diagnostic information related to the performance of the app and the advertising SDK.

Google uses this data for advertising, analytics and fraud prevention/security purposes. This advertising processing is carried out by Google — for more information see Google's privacy policy. The first time you open the app you are shown a consent form compliant with European regulations, through which you can manage your personalized advertising preferences; you can review this choice at any time from the app's legal settings.

2.6 Notifications

A technical identifier for your device (push notification token), used exclusively to send you notifications — it is never accessible even to you within the app.

2.7 Impact data

Statistics generated from your use of the app: kilograms of food saved, number of completed exchanges, achievements earned.

3. Why we process this data

To create and manage your account.
To let you publish and discover recipes and community content.
To make food exchange work through SOS Ingredienti.
To let you communicate with other users through chat.
To provide the Chingu Chef service.
To manage subscriptions and in-app purchases.
To send you notifications related to your activity on the app.
To show you ads, with the amount depending on your active plan — no ads on the Gold and Diamond plans (see section 2.9).

4. Artificial Intelligence (Chingu Chef)

When you use Chingu Chef, the text and/or images you send are transmitted to a dedicated external service of ours, which in turn relies on Google's Gemini model to generate the recipe. Do not voluntarily enter sensitive data (e.g. health information) in the text you send to Chingu Chef: although it is not a field intended for this purpose, free text can contain anything you write.

5. Third-party services we use

Service	What it's for
Google Firebase	Accounts, database, photo/video storage, notifications, security, anonymous usage statistics
Google Play / Apple App Store	Management of in-app purchases and subscriptions
Bunny.net	Hosting of videos uploaded by users
Google ML Kit	Automatic translation (processed on your device)
Google AdMob	Advertising, with the amount varying by active plan (see section 2.9)

6. How long we keep your data

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion (see section 7), some data is deleted, other data is kept for longer for technical or security reasons — the following section explains exactly what happens.

7. Account deletion TO BE CONFIRMED

When you request deletion of your account:

First 30 days: your account is suspended and your content is hidden from the app. You can still log in and cancel the request, restoring everything.
After 30 days, if you have not cancelled the request: your account, your recipes/posts/comments, your photos and your videos are permanently deleted.
We keep a minimal record (email, name, request date) for 365 days after permanent deletion, for any security needs or legal obligations, after which it is automatically deleted as well.

What is not deleted: messages you wrote in a chat remain visible to the other person (deleting them would destroy their conversation); GPS coordinates of already-completed SOS exchanges remain archived; reports and notifications concerning you may remain in our systems.

8. Your rights

You have the right to:

Access the data we hold about you.
Correct inaccurate data (from your profile, on your own).
Request deletion of your account (see section 7 for exactly what this involves).
Object to the processing of your data for purposes other than operating the service.

To exercise these rights, write to us at info@room26.info.

9. Minimum age TO BE CONFIRMED

The app asks for an age at registration, but currently does not perform automatic verification. The final policy on any minimum age for using the app will be defined and published here following legal review.

10. Cookies

The website uses exclusively technical cookies necessary to keep your login session active. We do not use third-party profiling cookies for advertising purposes.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy over time. The last-updated date is always shown at the top of the page.