Your cookbook. Your choices.

Saltpaper privacy

Effective October 23, 2026

Saltpaper is a personal cookbook for iPhone. This page explains what stays on your device, what leaves it when you use connected features, and how to reach us.

Saltpaper is developed and operated by Joshua Smith. For privacy questions or requests, email dev@getsaltpaper.app.

Your cookbook on your iPhone

Recipes, personal versions, typed and handwritten notes, photos, collections, meal plans, pantry items, shopping lists and cooking progress are stored in the app on your iPhone. These local features work without a Saltpaper account. Local recovery copies and cached photos may remain after an item is removed. Your device’s backup settings can also create copies.

Saltpaper contains no advertising or analytics SDK. We do not sell personal data or use it for advertising tracking.

Importing and scanning recipes

Website importing requests the recipe page and its images from the publisher, either from your iPhone or through Saltpaper’s hosted service. The publisher receives the normal information associated with those network requests. A link sent through our service is kept while its import is waiting or running, and the extracted result can remain for up to seven days after completion.

Camera and photo scanning use Apple’s text-recognition tools on your iPhone. Raw scan images are not uploaded to Saltpaper’s recipe-assistance service. Text you choose to save becomes part of the recipe and may be included if you later request recipe assistance.

Optional assistance with OpenAI

Saltpaper asks for permission before sending recipe information to OpenAI through our service. You can decline and continue using your local cookbook.

• Ingredient tidying sends ingredient names, preparation notes and row identifiers. It does not send separate amount/unit fields or recipe directions. Numbers contained in the names or notes may still be included.
• Substitution and recipe-adjustment requests send selected recipe text, ingredient and step identifiers, your request, and the cooking preferences shown with the request. These preferences may include dietary information you choose to enter.
• Recipe photographs and handwritten drawing data are excluded from these assistance requests. Text saved as part of the recipe or its preparation notes can be included.

You can withdraw permission in Settings, under OpenAI and your recipes. This stops new OpenAI requests; requests already sent may finish. Removing permission does not erase information already processed.

Our provider requests disable stored Responses application state. That setting is not a promise of zero provider retention. OpenAI may retain information under its applicable service policies and security requirements. See OpenAI’s privacy policy and API data controls.

Service information and retention

The recipe service runs on infrastructure hosted by DigitalOcean. It uses Apple-signed app transaction information to verify the app installation and issue a separate installation credential. The credential is kept in your iPhone Keychain. Our service keeps identifiers, credential hashes, quota records and job identifiers needed to authenticate requests, protect the service and return the right result.

Saved assistance jobs hold recipe input while waiting or running. That input is cleared when work finishes or is cancelled. Results and errors normally expire after seven days. Removing a request from Activity asks the service to remove its recipe content when connected. A small record of opaque identifiers may remain until expiry to prevent duplicate processing.

Deletion from live records does not instantly erase every technical copy. Database journals, recovery data, infrastructure snapshots and limited operational or security records may persist as needed to run, protect or recover the service, or meet legal obligations. We do not claim that all records disappear on a fixed seven-day schedule.

Optional iCloud and shared cookbooks

If you enable iCloud, cookbook content and photos can sync through Apple’s CloudKit. A household cookbook gives the people you invite access to that shared cookbook, including its notes, shopping list, pantry and meal plan. Device cooking sessions, service credentials and device preferences are excluded from cloud records. Preferences shown with a recipe-assistance request can still be sent with that request.

Turning off syncing stops future automatic sync; it does not delete existing cloud copies or end sharing. Manage participants through Apple’s sharing controls. Apple processes iCloud data under its privacy policy.

Permissions, notifications and exports

Camera, photo and notification permissions are optional and can be changed in iPhone Settings. Cooking timers use local notifications, which may include the recipe title. If remote ready notifications are available and you enable them, the service can store an installation identifier and Apple device token to deliver generic job alerts. Inactive registrations expire after 180 days without refresh. Disabling notifications on the iPhone does not necessarily remove a service registration immediately.

You choose where exported backups and shopping lists go. A cookbook backup is readable JSON and may contain recipes, photos, notes, drawings and preferences. It does not include the Keychain credential. Keep exported copies private. People or services receiving a copy control their own retention.

This website and support email

This website does not use advertising trackers, analytics, contact forms or cookies. Our server receives the network information needed to deliver the page and may record limited errors or security events. Routine website access logging is disabled.

If you email support, Namecheap forwards your message to our Gmail inbox. Those email providers process the content and routing information needed to deliver and store it. We retain correspondence while needed to answer your request, maintain support history or meet legal obligations. Please send only what is needed and do not include service credentials, keys or sensitive cookbook content.

Access, removal and other requests

Email dev@getsaltpaper.app to request help with data held by Saltpaper’s service. Tell us what you want removed and include the request identifier from Activity if available. Do not send a service token. We may need additional information to verify ownership before changing service records. Local cookbook files, iCloud data, other household participants’ copies and exported backups are separate copies, so a service request does not remove all of them.

We will update this page when Saltpaper’s data handling changes. The effective date appears at the top.