ChefCheck ("the app") is a food-safety record-keeping app published by ByteHaven Studios ("we", "us"). This policy explains how the app handles your information. The short version: it doesn't collect any.
We do not collect any data
- We do not collect, transmit, or store any of your information on any server.
- We do not require an account, sign-up, email address, name, or password.
- We do not use analytics, advertising, tracking, or third-party SDKs that collect data.
- We do not share or sell any information, because we never receive any.
The app's only network use is through Google Play's own services: processing the optional one-time Pro purchase, and showing Google Play's rating window — see "The Pro purchase" and "Rating the app" below. Your records take no part in either and are never transmitted anywhere.
The Pro purchase
ChefCheck offers one optional, one-time in-app purchase ("Pro"), handled entirely by Google Play's billing system. When you buy or restore it:
- The transaction is processed by Google Play under Google's Privacy Policy. We never see your payment details, name, or address.
- The app receives only a confirmation that the purchase exists, and stores that yes/no fact on your device so Pro keeps working offline.
- No purchase, and no use of the free app, ever sends your food-safety records anywhere.
Rating the app
After a day where every check is done and nothing was flagged, the app may occasionally offer Google Play's own rating window. Any rating or review you choose to write there goes to Google Play, which publishes it on the Play Store under Google's Privacy Policy; we receive nothing through the app. The app asks at most three times, at least 90 days apart, and nothing happens if you dismiss it. The About screen's "Rate this app", "Privacy policy", "Website" and "More from ByteHaven Studios" rows simply open the Play Store or your browser when you tap them.
Your data stays on your device
Everything you create in ChefCheck is stored only in the app's private storage on your device:
- temperature readings, checklist completions, corrective actions and deviations;
- cooling runs, goods-in and cook/reheat checks, probe calibrations, verification sign-offs;
- date labels and the allergen matrix;
- photos you attach as evidence;
- staff members you add, and your jurisdiction, units, fixtures and reminder settings.
None of it is sent to us or to any cloud service by the app.
You remain in control of this data:
- The app opts your records out of Android's cloud backup, so they are never uploaded to Google's servers. On Android 12 and newer, direct device-to-device transfer is still allowed, so your records can move with you when you set up a new phone — that copy travels straight between your own devices.
- It is removed if you uninstall the app, clear the app's data in Android settings, or use the app's own start-over reset.
Photos
Photos you attach are taken through your device's own camera app and saved inside ChefCheck's private storage. ChefCheck does not ask for camera or storage permissions to do this, and it cannot see any other photos on your device.
Every photo you attach is re-encoded when it is saved, which removes all embedded metadata — including any GPS location your camera may have recorded. The stored photo is just the picture.
Staff names
If you add staff members so readings can be attributed, their names are stored on your device. Your records refer to staff by an internal identifier, never by name, and exports show initials by default — full names appear only if you switch that on when exporting. If you record other people's names, you are responsible for handling them appropriately under the rules that apply to your business.
When you export, archive, or back up
You can take your records out of the app at any time — that's deliberate, because records you can't review or produce on demand aren't much use:
- Export a PDF or CSV and send it via the Android share sheet;
- Share a single photo from the photo viewer via the Android share sheet;
- Archive a month, or make a full backup, saved to a location you pick.
Once you do, that copy is outside the app's protected storage and ChefCheck no longer controls it. Two things worth knowing:
- Backups and archives are not encrypted. A full backup contains your records and your photos, and may include staff names. If you save one to a folder that syncs to a cloud service, that service will receive it. Choose the destination accordingly.
- A PDF report includes any staff training certificate photos you attached, and those usually show a person's name. Check who you are sending it to.
- When you share an exported file or a photo, the app you send it to governs what happens next. Shared photos carry no location or other metadata — they are the same cleaned copy the app stores.
Permissions we request
- Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS): only to show the optional daily reminder you set. Used entirely on-device; no notification content leaves your phone.
- Run at startup (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED): only to re-arm your daily reminder after the device restarts.
- Alarms and reminders (SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM): only so cooling-checkpoint prompts arrive on time, because a cooling window is measured in minutes. You can refuse it; the app then uses approximate timers and says so clearly rather than pretending they're exact.
- Internet and network state (INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE) and Google Play billing (com.android.vending.BILLING): these arrive with Google Play's billing library and are used solely for the one-time Pro purchase and its restore, and for Google Play's rating window. The app opens no connection of its own, and your records are never sent over the network.
We request no location, camera, storage, contacts, or microphone permissions.
Children's privacy
ChefCheck is a tool for food businesses and is not directed at children. It collects no personal information from anyone.
Writing to us
About → Contact support opens your own email app with a message to support@bytehavenstudios.com, prefilled with the app version, Android version and phone model so we can reproduce a problem. Nothing is sent unless you send that email yourself, and none of your records go with it. We use what you write only to answer you, keep it in our support inbox for as long as the conversation needs, and delete it on request.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new "last updated" date.
Contact
Questions about this policy: support@bytehavenstudios.com