Runnerbean privacy policy
DRAFT for review. Last updated: [DATE]
Runnerbean is an app for your grocery shopping: you photograph your receipts, and it displays what you spend, learns what you buy regularly and keeps a shared shopping list. This policy explains what information we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it and your rights.
We do not show adverts, we do not sell your data, and we do not use tracking or advertising tools.
Who we are
Runnerbean is run by Richard Allwood, trading as Runnerbean, 17 Dunnets, Woking, GU21 2NU, United Kingdom. We are the "controller" of your personal data under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration number [ICO NUMBER].
Contact: hello@runnerbean.app
What we collect
Your account
- Your email address and password. Your password is stored scrambled (hashed), so we can't read it.
Your household
- Your household's name and invite code, and who belongs to it. Everyone in a household sees the same receipts, spending, shopping list and settings.
- The supermarket you choose as your usual shop, and your plan (free trial, free or Premium).
Receipts you scan
- Photos of your receipts. We use them only to read the receipt. If the receipt adds up, the photo is deleted as soon as it has been read. If it doesn't add up, the photo is kept so you can check it while correcting the receipt, and deleted when the receipt is corrected or deleted, or after 30 days at the latest.
- What's on the receipt: the shop and branch, the date and time, each item with its price, quantity or weight, any savings, and the total. Receipts can include a loyalty card number or the last digits of a payment card. We don't use these, and you can delete a receipt at any time.
What you add yourself
- Items you type into your shopping list, corrections you make to receipts and your appearance setting (light or dark).
How scanning is going
- For each scan we record technical information: how the photo was taken, the number of pages, the image size, whether it was read correctly first time, how long it took and what it cost us to process. This helps us improve reading. It contains no photos and no items.
We do not collect your location, contacts, or anything from your phone other than the photos you choose to scan.
Why we use it (and our legal basis)
| What we do | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Run your account, read your receipts, show your spending, keep your list and household working | Contract: it's the service you signed up for |
| Manage your free trial, free plan and subscription | Contract |
| Combine prices from many households into anonymous shop comparisons (see below) | Legitimate interests: a useful feature that doesn't identify anyone |
| Measure and improve how well receipts are read; keep the service secure and working | Legitimate interests |
| Keep records we're required to keep by law | Legal obligation |
Price comparisons ("Compare shops")
To show what your list would cost at other supermarkets, we combine the prices on receipts from Runnerbean shoppers. Other people only ever see a typical price for an item at a shop, worked out from at least three different households over the last 90 days. They never see your receipts, your dates, your branch or anything that could identify you or your household.
Who we share it with
We share data only with companies that help us run Runnerbean. They act on our instructions and must keep it safe:
| Company | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Stores your account, household, receipts and list (our database and file storage) | UK (London) |
| Anthropic (Claude) | Reads the text on receipt photos, and turns item descriptions into product names | USA |
| Google (Google Play) and Apple (App Store) | Handle subscription payments. We never see your card details | UK / USA |
| RevenueCat | Keeps track of whether your household has an active subscription | USA |
The receipt scanner on Android uses Google's document scanner, which runs on your phone.
Anthropic processes receipt photos and text only to return the reading to us. Under its commercial terms it does not use our data to train its models, and it deletes it within 30 days.
Transfers outside the UK: where data goes to the USA, it is protected by the UK's approved safeguards, such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the standard contractual clauses.
We don't share your data with anyone else, unless the law requires it.
How long we keep it
- Receipt photos: see above (at most 30 days).
- Your receipts, list and household data: until you delete them or delete your account.
- Deleting your account (Settings → Delete account) deletes your login straight away. If you're the only member of your household, all its receipts, spending history and list are deleted too. If you share the household, its data stays for the other members.
- Backups: deleted data can remain in encrypted backups for up to 7 days before it's gone for good.
- Anonymous price averages don't identify anyone, so they're not personal data and may be kept.
You can also delete scanned items, receipts or typed-in items at any time in Settings → Delete data.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- correct it if it's wrong (you can also correct receipts in the app);
- delete it (in the app, or by asking us);
- restrict or object to how we use it, including uses based on legitimate interests;
- take your data with you in a commonly used format.
To use any of these rights, email hello@runnerbean.app. We'll reply within one month.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, 0303 123 1113.
Security
Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Each household's data is walled off, so only its members can see it. Receipt photos are stored privately and are never public.
Children
Runnerbean is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data.
Changes to this policy
If we make important changes, we'll tell you in the app before they take effect. The date at the top shows when this policy was last updated.