Privacy Policy
Last updated September 3, 2026
The short version
Food Flagger has no accounts. We never ask for your name, email address or phone number, and we don’t have them. There is no advertising, no analytics and no tracking, and nothing is ever sold or shared for marketing.
What is stored, and why
A random device ID. The first time you open the app, your device generates a random identifier and keeps it in your browser’s local storage. It is not derived from anything about you or your phone. Its only job is to let your device find its own saved items. Clearing your browser data erases it, and a new one is made.
Your pantry. Barcodes you scan are saved against that device ID, with the product name and image where we have them, so they can be re-checked against new recalls.
Your favorite stores. Which chains you starred, against the same device ID.
Push subscriptions, if you enable alerts. Your browser issues an anonymous delivery address; we store that plus the alert scope you chose. It contains no personal information and cannot be used to identify you.
Feedback you send. Whatever you type, plus your browser type, app version, chosen theme and most recent scan — so a bug report can actually be reproduced. Please don’t include personal details in the message itself.
Location
If you use location on the Store tab, your coordinates or ZIP code are used to look up nearby stores and work out which state you’re in. We never store your coordinates. Only the two-letter state code is kept, on your device, so recall alerts can be filtered to your area.
The app cannot read your location in the background. Alerts scoped to “my area” use the place you last set yourself — nothing is tracked while the app is closed.
Who we send data to
Food Flagger looks things up from public services. These are the only outbound requests, and they are made to answer your question, never to profile you:
- FDA (openFDA and fda.gov)
recall data — no user data sent - USDA FSIS
meat and poultry recalls — no user data sent - Open Food Facts, UPCitemdb
a barcode you scanned, to get the product name - OpenStreetMap (Overpass, Nominatim)
approximate coordinates, to find nearby stores - Zippopotam.us
a ZIP code you typed, to convert it to a location - Supabase, Vercel
hosting the database and the app itself
A scanned barcode and an approximate location are the only things about your session that ever leave the app, and neither is attached to your identity, because we don’t have one.
What we never do
No advertising. No analytics or tracking pixels. No selling, renting or sharing data for marketing. No cross-site or cross-app tracking. No profile of you, anywhere.
Deleting your data
Remove pantry items and favorites in the app at any time. Turning alerts off deletes your push subscription. Clearing your browser data — or deleting the app from your Home Screen and clearing site data — discards the device ID, after which nothing stored can be connected back to you. To have everything removed, email privacy@mezmalz.com.
Children
Food Flagger is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.
Not a safety guarantee
Food Flagger surfaces public government recall notices. A result of “no known recall” means nothing in our index matched — not that a product is safe. Recalls are announced with delays and many never list a barcode. Always read your packaging and follow official FDA and USDA notices.
Contact
Food Flagger is made by Mezmalz Media LLC. Questions about privacy: privacy@mezmalz.com. If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.