Last updated November 8, 2026
Taking part in our free pilot through the PlateWorks web app? The Pilot Privacy Notice applies to the pilot instead.
At a glance
We’re two parents building PlateWorks for families like ours, and we’d want to know exactly what happens to our kids’ information, too.
- We collect as little as we can: your child’s first name or a nickname, the foods on their menus and plates, and your email if you choose to give it. The specifics are below.
- Most of your family’s information stays on your own devices. Your kitchen, plate history, notes and Snapshots live on your phone. Menus and plates pass through our servers in encrypted form and are deleted within about a day.
- We use what we collect to run the app and to learn whether it helps. That’s it.
- We never sell your information, never show ads, and never use it to advertise to you or your child.
- Subscriptions are handled by Apple. We never see your payment details.
- A parent sets everything up and gives permission. Children don’t create accounts, enter contact details, see prices or buy anything, and can’t reach any settings.
- You can delete your family’s app data at any time in the app (Settings → Delete family and data), and ask us to delete anything else by emailing contact@plateworks.app.
Who we are
PlateWorks, Inc. is a Delaware company run by its co-founders, Deborah Barak and Jesse Reiner. This notice covers the PlateWorks app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store, and our website, plateworks.app. Questions go to contact@plateworks.app or by mail to PlateWorks, Inc. · 3571 Far West Blvd #3263, Austin, TX 78731.
What we collect
| Information | Where it comes from | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Your child’s first name or a nickname | You, in the app | To show it on the child’s screen, on your phone and in notifications. It’s stored encrypted |
| Foods in your kitchen, the menus you send, the foods your child picks | You and your child, in the app | This is how the app works. Your kitchen, plate history and plate notes are kept on your phone. Menus and plates pass through our servers, encrypted, to get between your phone and the iPad |
| Your email, if you give it | You, in the app (optional) or on our website | To send setup help, tips and product news. Every email has an unsubscribe link |
| A family code and random app IDs | Created by the app | To pair your phone and your child’s iPad, and to keep your subscription working on every device in your family. They don’t include your name |
| Subscription status and Apple purchase records | Apple, through RevenueCat | To unlock PlateWorks on your family’s devices. Apple handles payment; we never see your card details |
| A notification address for each device | Your device, if you turn on notifications | To send the notifications you’ve allowed, such as “menu is ready” on the iPad and “picked their plate” on your phone |
| How the app is used: screens opened, menus sent, plates returned, error codes | Collected automatically | To fix problems and to see whether families keep using PlateWorks |
| Your App Store country, for example USA (parent’s phone only) | Apple, through the app | To know which countries families are in. This is not your location |
What we don’t collect: your child’s full name, birthdate, photo, voice or diagnosis; precise location; contacts; or advertising identifiers. The app doesn’t use your location at all.
Snapshots, the one-page summaries you can make for your child’s care team, are created on your phone and are never uploaded to us. You decide whether and where to send one.
How we use it
- To run the app: send menus to your child’s iPad and plates back to your phone.
- To send notifications you’ve turned on. You can turn them off at any time in your device’s Settings.
- To manage your subscription across your family’s devices.
- To help you: setup emails, reminders if you’ve asked for them, and answers to your questions. If you’ve joined the launch list, we also send launch news and occasional updates.
- To learn whether PlateWorks helps and to improve it.
- To report results in anonymized form, for example “most families were still using PlateWorks after two weeks,” including to investors and grant funders. We may quote what you tell us without your name (e.g. “parent of a 10-year-old”). We’ll only use your name, or your child’s, if you tell us we can.
We don’t use your information for advertising, and we don’t sell it or share it for anyone else’s marketing.
Who we share it with
We share information only with the companies that help us run PlateWorks, and only so they can do that job. They aren’t allowed to use it for anything else.
| Service | What it does for us |
|---|---|
| Apple | Sells and manages subscriptions in the App Store; delivers notifications to iPhones and iPads. Notification text, which can include your child’s first name, passes through Apple to reach your device |
| RevenueCat | Keeps track of your family’s subscription status. It gets your family code, your phone’s anonymous app account ID and Apple’s purchase records, nothing about your child |
| Google (Firebase, Workspace) | Stores app data and syncs your phone and iPad; our email inbox |
| Vercel | Hosts the app’s servers |
| PostHog | Measures how the app is used, so we can fix problems and track results |
| Loops | Sign-up forms and the emails we send you |
| Hostinger | Hosts our website, plateworks.app |
We will also share information if the law requires it, or to protect someone’s safety.
Clinicians: if a clinician gave you a code, we only ever tell them how many families used it, never who. If you want your clinician to see your child’s plate history, you can show it to them yourself or send them a Snapshot.
If PlateWorks is ever sold or merged, your information would move to the new owner only under the same promises in this notice, and we’d tell you first.
Children’s privacy
PlateWorks is used by children, so we follow the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and equivalent rules elsewhere.
- A parent or legal guardian sets up PlateWorks on their phone, agrees to this notice, and sets up the child’s side of the app. Children can’t sign up on their own.
- What the child’s side collects: only the foods your child puts on a plate and three basic events (connected, plate sent, reconnected). Children don’t enter names, contact details or free text.
- The child’s iPad never shows prices, purchases, ads or links out of the app. Its only settings are behind a grown-up question.
- We collect only what the app needs to work. You don’t have to give us anything extra to use it.
- You’re in control: you can review what we hold about your child, ask us to delete it, or delete it yourself in the app. Stopping collection means stopping use of the app, because it can’t work without menus and plates.
How long we keep it
- On your devices: your kitchen, plate history, notes and Snapshots stay until you delete them, delete the app, or delete your family. Snapshot files are cleared from the app after 24 hours.
- Menus, plates and your child’s name on our servers: deleted automatically within about 24 hours of the last change.
- Your family record (family code, encryption key, the list of paired devices, your consent, your email if you gave it, and reminder settings): until you delete your family in the app or ask us to.
- Usage statistics: deleted after 12 months.
- Subscription records: Apple and RevenueCat keep purchase records for as long as tax and accounting rules require.
Anonymized totals (like “45 families took part”) can’t identify anyone, and we may keep those.
Security
Information is encrypted in transit. Your child’s name, menus and plates are also encrypted with a key unique to your family before they’re stored. We use well-known providers, and only PlateWorks founders and employees can access family information.
If family information is ever exposed or shared without permission, we’ll tell affected families promptly, and within 60 days at most.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your family: in the app, Settings → Delete family and data. This deletes your family record, menus, plates and your child’s name from our app database right away and unpairs your devices. To remove what’s on a device, delete the app. Usage statistics expire on their own after 12 months, and subscription records stay with Apple and RevenueCat; email us if you also want your usage statistics, email address or subscription record deleted sooner.
- Subscriptions: deleting your family doesn’t cancel an App Store subscription. Cancel it in your iPhone’s Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions.
- Notifications: turn them on or off in your device’s Settings → PlateWorks → Notifications.
- Emails: every email has an unsubscribe link. Reminders, launch news and updates can each be stopped separately.
You can also email contact@plateworks.app to see what we hold about you and your child, correct anything that’s wrong, or have it deleted. We’ll reply within 30 days, and it’s always free. We’ll check it’s really you before we share or delete anything, usually by replying to the email address you gave us.
Families outside the US
PlateWorks is based in the United States, and your information is stored with US providers. That means it’s handled under US law, and US courts or authorities may be able to require access to it.
Australia: we handle your information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled a concern, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Canada: we handle your information in line with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, in Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector. Our person in charge of protecting personal information is Deborah Barak, co-founder, reachable at contact@plateworks.app. You can ask to see or correct what we hold, withdraw your consent (which means leaving PlateWorks, because the app can’t work without menus and plates), or ask us to delete it. If you’re unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or in Quebec to the Commission d’accès à l’information.
New Zealand: we handle your information in line with the Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles. Your information is sent to and stored with providers in the United States, which we’ve chosen because they protect it in ways comparable to New Zealand law. You can ask to see or correct what we hold, and you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner if you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled a concern.
UK: we rely on your consent to handle your information, and you can withdraw it at any time. You have the rights listed above under UK data protection law, and you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Changes to this notice
If we change how we handle your information, we’ll update this page and change the date at the top. If the change matters, for example if we collect something new, we’ll tell you first, by email or in the app.
Contact
Deborah Barak and Jesse Reiner
contact@plateworks.app
PlateWorks, Inc. · 3571 Far West Blvd #3263, Austin, TX 78731