Privacy Policy

Real Food Balance

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Real Food Balance ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data when you use realfoodbalance.com and our related app and services (the "Service"), and explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Who we are

“Real Food Balance” is the trading name of a sole trader operating in England. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

Data protection contact: info@realfoodbalance.com.

3. What personal data we collect

Account data

Name, email address, password (stored securely, never in plain text), and account preferences.

Health, nutrition and goal data

Information you choose to provide about your dietary preferences, allergens, nutrition goals, and wellbeing goals. This may constitute special category data under Article 9 UK GDPR — see Section 5.

Payment data

Subscription and billing status. Your card details are entered directly into our payment processor, Stripe, and are not stored on our own servers.

Usage and technical data

Device and browser type, IP address, pages visited, and interactions with recipes and features, collected via cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.

Communications

Records of correspondence if you contact us for support, along with any marketing preferences you set.

4. How we use your data and our legal basis

To create and manage your account, and to provide the Service you request — necessary to perform our contract with you.

To personalise recipes and meal plans based on your stated goals and preferences — performance of contract, and consent where special category data is involved (see Section 5).

To process subscription payments and prevent fraud — performance of contract and our legitimate interests.

To send you service-related communications (e.g. billing, security, changes to these terms) — performance of contract and legal obligation.

To send you marketing communications, where you have opted in — consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

To analyse and improve the Service — our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights.

5. Special category data (health-related information)

Because Real Food Balance lets you set goals and preferences related to the information you provide may be classed as special category data (health data) under Article 9 UK GDPR, which requires a higher standard of protection.

We only collect and use this information where you have given your explicit, informed consent. You can withdraw this consent at any time from your account settings or by contacting us at info@realfoodbalance.com; withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal but may limit which features and personalised content we can offer you.

We do not use special category data for advertising or share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

6. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies for essential site functionality, analytics, and (where you consent) marketing. Full details, including how to manage your preferences, are set out in our Cookie Policy, which will be published alongside our cookie consent banner.

7. Who we share your data with

We share personal data with the following categories of trusted service providers, who process it on our behalf under data processing agreements:

Supabase — our database and backend infrastructure provider, which stores account and app data.

Vercel — our hosting and content-delivery provider for the website and app.

Stripe — our payment processor, which handles subscription billing and card payments.

Buttondown – our newsletter processor, to deliver our newsletter in accordance with their Privacy Policy.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may disclose data where required by law, to protect our rights, or in connection with a business transfer (e.g. merger or acquisition), in which case we will notify you.

8. International data transfers

Some of our service providers (including Supabase, Vercel, Buttondown and Stripe) may store or process data outside the UK, for example in the European Economic Area or the United States. Where this happens, we rely on appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum, or transfers to countries recognised as providing adequate protection.

9. Data retention

We keep your account and health/nutrition data for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 90 days, except where we need to keep certain records for longer to comply with legal, accounting or tax obligations (such as payment records).

10. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption in transit, access controls, and secure storage of passwords. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you;

have inaccurate data corrected;

request erasure of your data (“right to be forgotten”), subject to certain exceptions;

restrict or object to certain processing, including for marketing;

receive your data in a portable format;

withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent (this will not affect processing carried out before withdrawal).

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@realfoodbalance.com. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you believe we have not handled your data properly.

12. Children's privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under this age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can remove it.

13. Marketing communications

Where you have opted in, we may email you about new recipes, features or offers. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any marketing email or via your account settings.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes and update the “last updated” date below.

15. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, contact us at info@realfoodbalance.com.

Last updated: August 22, 2026