Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

What we collect depends on how you interact with our services. Family members can create accounts for secure access to recipes and profile settings. The Recipe & Memory Book is intended for trusted family use. Today, that includes:

• Account information. When you create an account, we collect your email address and the profile details you choose to provide. Passwords are stored using industry-standard hashing — we never store plain-text passwords.
• Recipe & Memory Book content. When household members add or edit recipes, we store titles, ingredients, cooking steps, notes, seasonal tags, meal categories, and optional photos of finished dishes. When members add family memories to a recipe, we also store stories, optional photos, heritage details (such as occasion or tradition labels), and the display name of the member who contributed the memory.
• Photos you upload. Recipe and memory images are sent to Cloudinary for hosting and delivery, and we store a reference to those images with the recipe or memory. You retain all ownership rights to the photos you upload. We only use and store them to display your recipes and memories within the Recipe & Memory Book, or on anonymous share pages when you opt a memory in (see below).
• Contact form messages. If you use the contact form on www.gerrardfamily.com, we receive your inquiry type (required), name, email address, message, and optional details you choose to provide: project or company name, budget range, timeline, and phone number. We send a one-time confirmation email to the address you provide when your message is delivered successfully. Contact submissions may be rate-limited per IP address to reduce abuse.
• Custom software inquiries. For commercial project work, development may use AI-assisted tools under Nathan Gerrard’s direct review; client-owned deliverables are handled with standard engineering practices including testing and code review.
• Usage and performance data. In production, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how pages are used and how the sites perform. This may include general device and browser information, page views, and performance metrics — not the contents of your recipes.
• Server logs. Our hosting and API providers may automatically record standard technical information (such as IP address, request time, and error details) to keep services running reliably and securely.
• Billing and payment information. When you subscribe to premium features, we collect the billing name, email address, and billing address you provide at checkout. Full payment card details (card number, CVV, expiration) are collected, processed, and stored securely by Stripe (our payment processor) in accordance with PCI DSS Level 1 standards. We do not receive, store, or have access to your complete card information. From Stripe we receive only limited metadata necessary to manage your subscription: payment success/failure status, subscription ID, invoice details, last four digits and brand of the card (for display in your account), and billing period information.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information above to:

• Operate, maintain, and improve the Recipe & Memory Book and related family tools
• Store and display recipes, photos, family notes, and memories you choose to add
• Respond to messages sent through our contact form
• Monitor site health, fix bugs, and understand aggregate usage patterns
• Protect our services against abuse and keep them secure
• Process payments, manage subscriptions, and provide access to premium features

We do not use your recipe content or contact messages for advertising, and we do not sell your personal information.

How We Share Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. Recipe content is primarily for household use — not a public social network.

Recipe share links. Household members with permission to manage share links may generate time-limited links that show a recipe to anyone with the link — without requiring a login. Those pages include the full recipe (ingredients, steps, and notes). Individual family memories are shown on share pages only when a household member with permission to edit memories explicitly opts them in using the “Visible on share link” setting. Opted-in memories include the contributor's display name, story text, and any photos attached to that memory. Share links can be revoked or expire; we rate-limit anonymous access to reduce abuse.

We share information only with trusted service providers that help us run our services, including:

• Vercel — website hosting
• Google — Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for usage analytics and AdSense for free-tier advertising support
• Render — API hosting (where applicable)
• Neon / PostgreSQL — database storage
• Cloudinary — image hosting and delivery
• Resend — transactional email delivery (e.g., verification, password resets, notifications)
• Stripe — payment processing infrastructure for premium billing and subscription features (card details handled directly by Stripe; we do not store raw payment card data). Stripe also provides billing portal and subscription management services.

These providers process data on our behalf under their own privacy terms and only as needed to provide their services to us. We may also use additional subprocessors to operate and improve our services. They may process your information only as needed to perform their functions and must maintain appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our family, our users, or our services.

Data Storage & Security

We store recipe data in a PostgreSQL database and serve our sites over HTTPS. We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

We generally keep your information for as long as your recipes or account remain active, or as needed to provide and improve our services. When recipes or memories are deleted, they are kept in household trash for up to 30 days so owners can restore them; after that window they are permanently removed from our systems (including associated photos, where applicable). Billing and subscription records are retained for at least seven (7) years to comply with tax, accounting, and legal requirements.

Children's Privacy

Our services are designed for family use. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without parental consent. Accounts and content creation are intended for household members under adult supervision. Family recipes and stories may mention children in a family context (for example, a recipe passed down to a grandchild). If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13 in a way that requires action, please contact us and we will work with you to address it promptly. We comply with COPPA and applicable state laws for family-oriented tools.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold about you. We want to make that straightforward:

• Access — ask what information we have about you
• Correction — ask us to fix inaccurate information
• Deletion — ask us to delete information where applicable

Utah residents and others under the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) or similar laws also have rights related to targeted advertising and the sale/sharing of personal information. Our consent management (where implemented) provides opt-out controls.

To exercise these rights, email us at contact@gerrardfamily.com. We will respond as soon as we reasonably can.

Advertising on the Free Tier

Our free tier is supported by advertising on the web. On production hostnames only, we may show Google AdSense display or in-feed ads on www.gerrardfamily.com and recipes.gerrardfamily.com, including anonymous recipe share pages. Premium households do not see ads while logged in (including on share pages). Anonymous visitors on share links may still see ads.

Google and its partners may use cookies or similar technologies to serve and measure ads, including personalized ads where permitted. You can manage ad personalization in Google Ad Settings. Where required by law, we use a consent management platform with Google Consent Mode before loading advertising scripts.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

In production, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4). These may use cookies or similar technologies to collect aggregated usage and performance data. They help us understand how our sites are used.

On the free tier we may also use advertising cookies through Google AdSense (see Advertising on the Free Tier). Where required, a consent banner lets you accept or decline non-essential cookies before advertising or analytics scripts load. Residents of certain U.S. states may use “Do Not Sell or Share” controls offered by that banner where applicable.

We also use essential cookies required for sign-in and basic site functionality, or local storage needed for the same purpose (for example, session tokens and household context).

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some features or analytics.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example, when we add new features or services. When we make changes, we will post the updated policy on this page and revise the effective date at the top. If the changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to notify you.

Payment Processing

Payment processing via Stripe is now live for premium subscription tiers. When you upgrade, you are presented with clear pricing, plan details, and billing terms at checkout before any charge occurs. Stripe handles all sensitive payment card data under PCI-compliant systems; we receive only the limited information needed to activate features and manage your account. Subscription and billing records are kept for tax, accounting, and legal compliance (minimum 7 years). See the Terms of Service for cancellation, refund, and billing dispute policies. We do not sell payment data.

Contact Us

Questions about this policy or your information? We would love to hear from you.