Privacy Policy

At Sousy LLC ("Sousy," "we," "us," or "our"), we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you use our service. Sousy is your personal sous chef—a cooking companion powered by AI that helps you discover recipes, plan meals, and get personalized cooking assistance.

By using Sousy, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Your display name
• Email address (used for one-time passcode login)
• Third-party sign-in identifiers (e.g., Apple ID, Google ID) if you choose to sign in with those services
• Profile preferences (avatar animal and ring color)

Recipes and Cooking History

We collect information about your interactions with Sousy, including:

• Recipes you save, view, import, or create
• Grocery and shopping lists you build (including items, quantities, and notes)
• Ingredients, dietary preferences, and dietary restrictions or allergies you choose to share so we can personalize recipes and avoid recommending conflicting dishes
• Meal plans, cooking schedules, and guided cooking sessions
• Recipe ratings, notes, and feedback

Providing dietary restrictions or allergies is optional, but if you choose to share them, we use this information only to tailor your experience and help you avoid recipes that may not be suitable for you.

Chat Logs and Uploaded Images

When you chat with Sousy:

• Your conversations and questions are stored to provide personalized cooking assistance
• Chat history is used to maintain context and improve your experience over time

Over time, Sousy may remember certain details from your conversations—such as your favorite cuisines, ingredients you dislike, dietary restrictions you choose to share, or equipment you own—to personalize future suggestions. This “memory” is stored as part of your account data and is not shared with advertisers. You can remove this information by deleting your account as described below.

About uploaded images: Any images you upload to Sousy are stored and may be sent to AI providers for analysis—both when you first upload them and again during follow-up questions if the AI needs to re-examine the image. You are responsible for ensuring you only upload appropriate images. When you delete content that contains images (such as deleting a conversation, recipe, or removing an image from a recipe), the associated images are also deleted from our servers.

Device and Usage Data

We automatically collect certain technical information:

• Device type, operating system, and browser information
• IP address and general location (country/region)
• Usage patterns and feature interactions
• Performance data and error logs to improve service quality

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Provide and Personalize the Service

• Generate personalized recipe suggestions based on your preferences and dietary needs
• Create and maintain your cookbook, menus, and meal plans
• Provide cooking assistance and answer your culinary questions
• Remember your conversation history to maintain context across sessions

Improve Sousy

• Analyze usage patterns to identify and fix bugs
• Develop new features and improve existing functionality
• Refine how we interact with AI providers to give you better cooking assistance (we do not train AI models with your data)
• Conduct research to enhance recipe quality and recommendation accuracy

Communicate with You

• Send transactional messages (verification codes, password resets, account updates)
• Notify you about important service changes or updates
• Respond to your support requests and feedback

Display Relevant Product Recommendations

Sousy may display product recommendations (such as kitchen tools, ingredients, or cookware) that are relevant to your conversations. Here's how this works:

• We use AI to analyze your chat conversations and identify relevant product categories
• The AI generates search queries based on topics discussed (e.g., "stand mixer" if you're discussing baking)
• This analysis may happen in real time while you chat or shortly afterward as part of background processing to identify appropriate recommendation opportunities
• Your actual chat messages are not shared with advertisers or product providers
• Only the AI-generated search queries are used to fetch relevant product recommendations
• Currently, product recommendations are sourced from Amazon through their affiliate program

We may earn a commission if you purchase products through these recommendations. This helps support Sousy's development and operations.

Third-Party Services We Use

Sousy relies on trusted third-party service providers to operate:

AI Providers

We use AI language models from the following providers to power Sousy's cooking assistance:

• Anthropic (Claude) - Privacy Policy
• OpenAI - Privacy Policy
• Brave Search API - Privacy Policy

What is shared with AI providers: Your chat messages, any images you upload, and recipe content are sent to these providers to generate responses. We do not use your data to train AI models—these providers process your data solely to generate responses for your conversations. Each provider has their own data handling practices as outlined in their privacy policies.

Cloud Hosting and Infrastructure

We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host Sousy and store your data. AWS maintains robust security certifications and compliance with data protection regulations. For more information, see the AWS Privacy Policy.

Analytics Services

We may use analytics tools to understand how users interact with Sousy. This helps us identify which features are most valuable and where we can improve. Analytics data is typically aggregated and anonymized.

Payment Processors

If you subscribe to a paid plan, payment processing is handled by third-party payment processors including Stripe and Apple (for in-app purchases). We do not store your full payment card details on our servers. These processors collect and process your payment information in accordance with their own privacy policies.

Affiliate Partners

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. When we display product recommendations, we send AI-generated search queries (not your chat messages) to Amazon to retrieve relevant products. For more information, see the Amazon Privacy Notice.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. When we earn a commission from affiliate links, this is based on anonymized or aggregated queries and does not involve selling identifiable personal data about you to Amazon or other partners.

Imported Recipes and External Content

When you import recipes from external websites or share URLs with Sousy:

• We fetch and process the content from those URLs to extract recipe information for your personal use
• The extracted recipe data is stored in your personal cookbook
• We may use web search services to help find recipes you're looking for
• We do not redistribute or publicly share recipes you import

Imported recipes remain associated with their original source. We store original source URLs when available so you can reference the original content.

To improve import quality and performance, we maintain a global database of previously imported recipes. When you import a recipe from a URL that has been imported before, we may use the existing parsed data instead of re-processing the source. This global recipe data is not linked to any individual user account.

Data Location and International Transfers

Sousy is operated from the United States. Your data is primarily stored on servers located in the United States. If you're accessing Sousy from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States.

By using Sousy, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. We take steps to ensure your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy regardless of where it is processed.

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or other regions with data protection laws, we rely on appropriate legal mechanisms for international data transfers, including standard contractual clauses where applicable.

Legal Basis for Processing (EEA/UK Users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another region with similar data protection laws, we process your personal information on the following legal bases:

• Contract: To provide and maintain Sousy, including creating your account, saving your recipes, and delivering the cooking assistance and features you request.
• Legitimate Interests: To improve and secure Sousy, understand how features are used, prevent abuse, and show relevant product recommendations that help support the service.
• Consent: Where required by law, for example if we send you optional marketing communications or use non-essential cookies or similar technologies.

Cookies and Local Storage

Sousy uses cookies and browser local storage to:

• Authentication: Keep you signed in and maintain your session
• Preferences: Remember your settings and preferences
• Functionality: Enable core features like recipe saving and meal planning

We use essential cookies required for Sousy to function. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. You can configure your browser to reject cookies, but this may prevent Sousy from working properly.

Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with Sousy's services. You can request deletion of your account and associated data at any time through your account settings or by contacting us.

When you delete your account:

• Your profile, saved recipes, and conversation history will be permanently deleted
• Some information may be retained in secure backups and log files for a limited period consistent with our backup and audit policies. These backups are automatically purged and are only accessed if needed for security, fraud prevention, or legal obligations (for example, to maintain transaction records).
• Aggregated or anonymized data may be retained for analytics and service improvement

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Regular security assessments and updates
• Access controls to limit who can view your data
• Secure authentication mechanisms

However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate information through your account settings
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and personal data
• Data Portability: Request a copy of your data in a portable format
• Opt-Out: Unsubscribe from marketing communications (if applicable)

Sousy does not engage in automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you. We use automated systems only to personalize recipes, suggest features, and display relevant product recommendations.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information provided below.

Children's Privacy

Sousy is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have collected information from a child, please contact us immediately so we can delete it.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. When we make significant changes, we'll notify you by email or through a prominent notice in the app. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Your continued use of Sousy after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us: