Kcal — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 July 2026

Kcal is a calorie and macro tracker built to keep your data on your device. It has no account, no sign-up, and no analytics. This policy explains exactly what stays on your iPhone and the few cases where information leaves it.

In short: everything you log lives only on your device. Kcal contacts outside services only when you actively look up a food — and only sends what that specific lookup needs. There are no accounts, no advertising, and no tracking.

What stays on your device

The following is stored locally on your iPhone and is never transmitted to the developer or anyone else. It is included in your device's normal encrypted backups (iCloud or iTunes/Finder) only if you have those enabled, and it is controlled entirely by you:

Everything you log — foods, meals, portions, dates, and history
Foods and recipes you save to your Food Library
Your calorie and macro goals, streak, and app settings

Deleting the app removes this data from your device.

When information leaves your device

Kcal reaches the internet only to look up nutrition information, and only at the moment you ask it to. Each lookup sends the minimum needed to answer your request. Nothing is sent in the background, and none of it is tied to your identity.

When you…	What is sent	To
Scan a barcode	The barcode digits	Open Food Facts; if no match is found, FatSecret
Search for a food	The text you type	USDA FoodData Central and FatSecret
Use AI photo	The meal photo you choose (resized)	Groq (AI estimation)
Use AI describe	The description you type	Groq (AI estimation)

These requests contain no name, email, account, device identifier, or location — only the food-related content described above. Kcal does not store this content on any server of its own; it has no server. The responses are used to fill in nutrition values, which you then confirm and save locally.

About AI photos: when you use AI photo, the image you select is resized and sent to Groq solely to estimate the food's calories and macros for that one request. It is not stored by Kcal, not linked to you, and not used for advertising or tracking. If you never use the AI photo feature, no photo is ever sent.

Third-party services

Kcal uses these services only to answer the lookups above. Their handling of the requests they receive is governed by their own policies:

Open Food Facts — barcode product data
USDA FoodData Central — generic food data
FatSecret — branded food and barcode data
Groq — AI calorie and macro estimation

Kcal contains no advertising SDKs, no analytics SDKs, and no third-party tracking of any kind.

Camera

Kcal asks for camera access for two purposes only: scanning barcodes and taking meal photos for AI estimation. A photo you take or select is either kept on your device or, if you use AI photo, sent to Groq for that single estimate as described above. Kcal does not upload your photo library and does not access photos you don't choose.

Purchases

Kcal offers a free trial followed by a one-time unlock. Purchases are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. Kcal never sees or stores your payment details. Whether you have unlocked the app is determined by Apple's StoreKit on your device.

Children

Kcal is a general-audience nutrition tool and is not directed at children under 13. It does not knowingly collect any personal information from children.

Data you control

Because your data lives on your device, you are in full control of it. You can delete individual entries in the app, or remove everything at once by deleting the app. There is no account to close and no server-side data for the developer to hold.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new "last updated" date. Material changes will be reflected before or when they take effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your privacy in Kcal:

Zsombor Tóth
zsombor.toth@tuta.com