Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information GutCompass ("the app," "we," "us") collects, how it's used, and the choices you have. GutCompass is a personal gut-health tracking tool for people managing IBD, IBS, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, and other gut and digestive conditions.

GutCompass is not a medical device. Nothing in the app — including AI-generated suggestions, trigger-food analysis, or chat responses — is medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional about your symptoms, diagnosis, medications, or treatment plan.

Information We Collect

Account information: your name and email address, used to create and secure your account.
Health information you log: symptoms, bowel movements, food entries, medications, sleep, and daily check-ins you choose to record. This is the core purpose of the app — it's stored so it can be shown back to you in your dashboard and used to power features like trigger-food analysis and Gut Bud.
Photos: if you use photo-based logging (e.g. a food photo or ingredient label), the image is sent for AI analysis to identify potential triggers, then the result is shown back to you.
Profile details you provide: pronouns, date of birth, timezone, diagnosed condition, allergies, and dietary pattern — all optional, used only to personalize the app for you.

How We Use Your Information

Every piece of data listed above is used solely to operate the app's core features for you — showing your own data back to you, powering your dashboard, medication reminders, and AI features. We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell or share it with third parties for marketing purposes. GutCompass has no ad SDKs and does not run analytics that track you.

Who We Share Data With

Your data is only shared with the infrastructure providers required to run the app:

Google Firebase — used for account authentication and to securely store your logged data. Access is restricted so that only you can read or write your own data.
Google Gemini API — when you use an AI feature (Gut Bud, trigger-food analysis, photo logging), the relevant text or image is sent to Google's Gemini API to generate a response. It is not used by Google to build advertising profiles.

We do not sell your personal or health information to anyone, under any circumstances.

Face ID / Biometric Lock

If you enable the optional app-lock feature, Face ID authentication is handled entirely by your device's operating system. GutCompass never receives, sees, or stores your biometric data — only a yes/no confirmation that you unlocked your device.

Data Retention & Deletion

Your data is retained for as long as your account is active. You can permanently delete your account and all associated data at any time from Settings → Account → Delete Account. You can also request deletion or correction of your data by contacting us at the email below.

Children's Privacy

GutCompass is not intended for children under 13. During setup, we ask for your date of birth and block anyone who indicates they are under 13 from using the app.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit and stored in Google Cloud Firestore, protected by security rules that restrict every user's data to that user alone.

Changes to This Policy

If this policy changes, the "Last updated" date above will be revised. Continued use of the app after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

Questions about this policy or your data? Email us at support@gutcompass.app.