Privacy Policy — Cheddar

Effective date: July 6, 2026

In one breath: Cheddar has no sign-up and runs no servers. Your child's photos live on your phone. Two optional, parent-controlled features (Cheddar Says and Sharing) can send a photo to Google — nothing else ever leaves the device.

No accounts

Cheddar has no sign-up, no login, and no user profiles. We never ask for a name, email, phone number, or any personal detail to use the app.

No ads, no analytics, no tracking

The app contains no advertising, no analytics, and no third-party tracking SDKs of any kind. We don't build profiles, we don't measure your child's behavior, and there is nothing to opt out of because there is nothing running.

Your photos stay on the device

Photos are saved locally on your device in the system gallery (DCIM/Cheddar). They never leave the device except in two situations, both controlled by a grown-up:

Cheddar Says (optional, off-switchable). When this feature is used, the photo is sent to Google's Gemini API to generate a fun description. Google processes the photo under Google's Privacy Policy and its API terms. Because Cheddar uses Google's paid Gemini API, Google uses the photo only to generate the description — it is not used to train Google's models or to show advertising. Cheddar does not store your photos on any server — Cheddar operates no servers at all. This feature is off unless a grown-up turns it on in the settings, and it can be turned off again at any time.
Sharing. A grown-up — behind the math gate — can explicitly choose to share a photo, or a rendered video, using your device's normal share sheet. Nothing is shared unless an adult taps share.

Microphone

The microphone is used for exactly two things, and nothing else:

Listening for the word “cheese” during the voice-shutter countdown. This is handled by your device's built-in speech recognition during that short window only.
Recording Story narrations, which are saved only on the device.

AI voices

The spoken audio for a Cheddar Says description is generated from the description text using Google's Gemini API, and the resulting audio is cached on the device so it can be replayed without going online again.

Deleting things

Parents and kids can delete any photo — along with its story and description — right inside the app. Uninstalling Cheddar removes all app data, except the photos already saved in your system gallery, which remain under your control like any other photo on your phone.

Children's privacy (COPPA)

Cheddar is designed for young children, and it is built so that it does not collect personal information from them. There are no accounts and no tracking, and every feature that could send data off the device (Cheddar Says and Sharing) is controlled by a parent or guardian behind a math gate. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and we do not direct any data collection at them. Parents control all cloud features.

Who we are, and how to reach us

Cheddar is made by Snacks Design. If you have any questions about privacy — or you're a parent who wants to review or delete your child's information — email us at support@cheddarcam.com or use our contact page. We're a very small team and we're happy to help.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy when the app's features change, and we'll revise the effective date above when we do. Because Cheddar keeps growing, it's worth checking back now and then.

This policy is written to be clear and accurate about how Cheddar actually works. It isn't a substitute for legal advice — before the app is submitted to an app store, it should be reviewed by someone qualified.