This policy explains how the ColdSpot app for iPhone and iPad ("ColdSpot", "the app") handles information. ColdSpot is made by Ruben van Tienen ("we", "us"), who is responsible for the app. The short version: the app is built so that we never receive your data. Section 13 covers this website, coldspot.online, which uses Google Analytics only if you accept cookies.
1. Information you add to the app
The items, packages, photos, quantities, dates, take-out reminders, Cold Spots, categories and activity log you create are stored on your device. We have no server that receives them and no way to see them.
2. iCloud sync
If you use sync (part of Premium), your inventory and photos are stored in your private iCloud database using Apple's CloudKit service. This data belongs to your Apple Account and is handled by Apple under the Apple Privacy Policy. We cannot access your private iCloud data.
3. Sharing with your household
When you share your inventory, everyone who joins through your link or QR code can see and edit the shared items, packages, photos, take-out reminders and activity log. Each member chooses a display name, which is stored in the shared household data so the others can see who is who. If no name is set, members see the iCloud name, email or phone number Apple shows for that participant. You can change your name at any time in Settings › Sharing. You can stop sharing or make a new link at any time; old links then stop working. A participant can leave a shared inventory at any time.
4. Barcode lookup
When you scan a barcode, the app sends only the barcode number to Open Food Facts, along with the app's name and version so the service can identify the request. No personal information, photos or inventory data are sent. As with any internet request, Open Food Facts receives your device's IP address; see the Open Food Facts privacy policy. If you don't scan barcodes, the app makes no such request.
5. Camera and photos
The camera is used only when you take a photo of an item or scan a barcode. When you choose a photo from your library, the app receives only that photo. Photos are resized and saved inside the app.
6. Notifications
Expiry and take-out reminders are local notifications scheduled on your device. No server of ours is involved. A take-out reminder set for Everyone is saved with the item and synced through iCloud, and each member's device then schedules its own notification. iCloud sync can use Apple's push service to tell the app that something changed; these messages carry no inventory content.
7. Purchases
Premium (the yearly and monthly subscriptions and the one-time Lifetime purchase) is sold and processed by Apple through the App Store. We do not receive your name, email or payment details. The app only checks with Apple whether Premium is active on your Apple Account (bought by you or shared through Apple Family Sharing), and when the current period or free trial ends, so it can show this in Settings and remind you before a trial ends. That reminder is a local notification on your device. If you share your inventory, the app saves the date your Premium runs until in the shared iCloud data, so the people who joined your household get Premium too. No other purchase information is stored. You manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple Account settings.
8. Backups you export
Export Data creates a file with your inventory, packages and photos. It is saved wherever you choose, such as the Files app, and is under your control.
9. Keeping and deleting data
Your data is kept until you delete it. Delete items in the app, or delete the app to remove all data on that device. To remove data stored in iCloud, open the iOS Settings app › your name › iCloud › Manage Storage and delete ColdSpot's data. The app keeps its activity log to the newest 500 entries.
10. Children
ColdSpot is a general household app and not directed at children. It collects no personal data from anyone, including children.
11. Your rights
Depending on where you live, including the EU and EEA, you have rights to access, correct and delete personal data. Because the app sends us none of your data, you exercise these directly in the app and in your iCloud settings. For website analytics, withdraw consent with Cookie settings at the bottom of any page and contact us to have data deleted. You can contact us with any question, and you have the right to complain to your data protection authority; in Norway that is Datatilsynet.
12. Changes to this policy
If the way the app or this website handles data changes, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect.
13. This website (coldspot.online)
This section is about the website only. Nothing in it applies to the app.
The site is served by Cloudflare, which processes your IP address to deliver the pages and keep the site secure.
Google Analytics, only with your consent. On your first visit a banner asks whether we may use Google Analytics. If you choose Accept, the site loads Google Analytics 4, which sets cookies (_ga and _ga_…, kept for up to two years) and sends Google the pages you visit, the site that sent you, your browser, device type, approximate location and your IP address, which Google Analytics does not store. We use this only as statistics about how people find and use the site: Google signals and advertising features are off, and the data is kept for two months. Google is the provider (Google Ireland Limited in the EEA) and the data may be transferred to the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; see Google's privacy policy. The legal basis is your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and the Norwegian Electronic Communications Act).
If you choose Decline, or don't choose, Google Analytics is never loaded and no cookies are set. Your choice is stored in your browser so the banner doesn't come back. Change it at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page; withdrawing consent removes the analytics cookies.
14. Contact
Ruben van Tienen
Email: ruben@viastep.com