Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how GutChat (“GutChat,” “we,” “us”) handles information when you use the GutChat application and website (the “Service”). It applies to all users and supplements our Terms of Service.

• Profile information — your name, gut-health goal, focus, optional dietary notes, time zone, and your privacy choices.
• Health and sample data you log — stool/urine sample readings, meals (by photo or text), symptoms, and lifestyle factors such as sleep, hydration, stress, and movement, plus the estimated daily score derived from them.
• Apple Health (optional) — if you turn on Health sync in Settings, we read steps, sleep, activity, and heart-rate variability that you already store in Apple Health (including data other apps or wearables wrote there). We do not write anything back to Health. Disconnecting stops new reads; you can delete imported log entries in Settings.
• Images — photos you submit of samples, meals, barcodes, or a scale display. Those photos leave your device: they are sent to our servers and to third-party AI providers to produce a reading. We do not keep the original photo on our servers. A blurred thumbnail may be retained in your private history on your device unless you turn photo retention off, and it is removed when you delete the related reading.
• Coach conversations — messages you exchange with the in-app coach, which are also sent to AI providers to generate replies.
• Account and identifiers — if you sign in, an account identifier and the email (or Apple private relay email) associated with Google or Sign in with Apple.
• Device permissions — camera and photo-library access you grant so you can capture or pick images; local notification permission for reminders you schedule. Reminders are scheduled on-device and do not send your health data to a push server.

Connecting Apple Health is optional and off until you turn it on. When enabled, GutChat reads HealthKit data of the types you allow in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → GutChat (typically steps, sleep analysis, activity, and heart-rate variability). That data is used only to populate your private GutChat log and daily score. We do not sell it, do not use it for advertising, and do not write data back to Apple Health. You can disconnect anytime in GutChat Settings; that stops new reads.

• Provide the Service — analyze your entries, compute your score, surface insights, and power the coach.
• Maintain, secure, debug, and improve the Service.
• Communicate with you about the Service and respond to your requests.
• Contribute de-identified data to product research — only if you expressly opt in, and revocable anytime in Settings.

To interpret your photos and text, the Service transmits that content off your device to our servers and then to third-party AI model providers (such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google) that process it on our behalf to return an analysis. These providers act as service providers and are not permitted to use your content to train their models for their own purposes under our configuration. Original sample and meal photos are not stored on our servers after analysis. AI outputs are estimates — see our Terms of Service.

We do not sell your personal or health information. We share it only as follows:

• Service providers — AI model providers (for analysis) and our cloud hosting and database provider (for storage), under agreements that limit their use of your data to operating the Service.
• Sign-in providers — Apple and Google, only if you choose Sign in with Apple or Google, to authenticate your account.
• Apple — if you connect Apple Health, Apple’s HealthKit APIs deliver the readings you authorized. Apple handles Health data under Apple’s policies; we receive only the types you allow.
• Telehealth and care resources — independent, licensed providers you choose to contact. They handle your information under their own privacy policies; we do not transmit your data to them unless you choose to share it.
• Affiliate merchants — if you follow a Shop link, the merchant handles any purchase under its own policies. We share no health data with them.
• Legal and safety — when required by law or to protect rights, safety, and the integrity of the Service.

We treat the gut-health information you log, including optional Apple Health readings, as sensitive consumer health data and apply these commitments:

• What we collect — sample readings and images, meals, symptoms, lifestyle factors, optional Apple Health data, and derived scores, as described above.
• Why — solely to provide the tracking and insights you requested, and for research only with your separate opt-in. HealthKit data is not used for research unless you separately opt in.
• Sharing — only with the service providers needed to run the Service, as listed above. We do not sell consumer health data and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Your control — you can access and delete your health data in Settings, disconnect Apple Health, withdraw research consent at any time, and email us to exercise these rights. We will not condition core functionality on Health sync or research consent.

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. Deleting a reading removes its retained image; deleting your account or data in Settings removes your information from your account, subject to limited copies that may persist briefly in backups or as required by law.

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including access controls and encryption in transit. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

You can edit your profile, toggle photo retention, connect or disconnect Apple Health, toggle research participation, and delete your data from Settings. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your information, and to withdraw consent.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA).You have the right to know what personal information we collect, to access and delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of “sale” or “sharing” — though we do not sell or share your personal information as those terms are defined. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights. To make a request, email gutchat12@gmail.com.

GutChat is for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, email us and we will delete it.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will revise the effective date above and, for material changes, provide notice in the Service where appropriate.

For privacy questions or requests, email gutchat12@gmail.com.