App Privacy Policy

Who we are and what this policy covers

GoutBye is a wellbeing and education app, not a medical service. It helps you build daily habits that people living with gout often find helpful. It does not diagnose, treat or give medical advice; see "Not a medical app" below.

GoutBye is operated by ITWS EOOD ("we", "us"), registered office blvd "Hristo Smirnenski" 18, Sofia 1164, Bulgaria (EU VAT BG175271116). ITWS EOOD is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

This policy covers the GoutBye app on iOS, Android and in a web browser. The goutbye.com website and its waitlist have their own, separate privacy policy.

Contact us at [email protected] about your personal information or your privacy rights.

The short version

Your health tracking records stay on your device; we do not keep a copy of them on our servers. Our servers hold your sign-in email address and whether your account is free or paid, and RevenueCat records what you have purchased. When you request an AI recipe, the app sends the products you chose and, only if you allow it, your allergies and related conditions. We use that request only to create your recipe, delete it after seven days and never use it to train AI models. We also process limited technical data to diagnose errors.

Health records and local storage

Your health tracking records include flares, medications and reminders, uric acid and weight readings, water intake, habits, fridge contents, food diary, allergies and related conditions. The app stores these on your device and we do not keep a server copy of them. Information leaves your device only when you request an AI recipe, as explained below.

In the iOS and Android apps, the local database is encrypted with SQLCipher, and its key is kept in the device's secure storage. In the browser app, records are stored in the browser's IndexedDB storage without that database encryption. The two kinds of protection are not equivalent.

What we and our service providers receive

• Account: Logto handles sign-in. We keep your email address, an account identifier and your account status (free or paid). Logto runs on our own server in the EU.
• AI recipes: When you request a recipe, the app sends the products you selected, the meal type, the model you chose and your language. If you have switched on the options in the app's recipe screen, it also sends your allergies and your related conditions (for example, other diseases). A self-hosted AI model on Verda infrastructure in the EU generates the recipe; Verda does not store the request. Our job-processing service (Windmill, on our own server in the EU) keeps the request for seven days so we can investigate errors, then deletes it. A recipe you save stays on your device.
• How recipe requests are authorised: Each request is authorised with a sign-in access token. The stored request does not contain your email address, and we do not use it to identify you. Because a request could still relate to you, we treat it as personal data.
• Error diagnostics: JavaScript errors are reported to Bugsink, on our own server in the EU, and native app crashes to Sentry, in its EU data region (Germany), so we can investigate failures. Reports can contain error details, stack traces, and operating system, device and app information. The app filters JavaScript error reports to limit their contents and attaches a hashed account identifier so related reports can be linked. A hashed identifier is not anonymous data.
• Purchases and subscriptions: Apple and Google process payments for paid plans and in-app purchases. RevenueCat validates purchases and records which paid features your account can use, using an app user identifier, your purchase history and device and app details. We never send health information to RevenueCat. We do not receive your payment card details.

What we do not do

We do not use your recipe requests to train AI models, and we do not sell your data or use it for advertising. We use Bugsink and Sentry only to diagnose errors.

The app does not currently offer AI reports or AI analysis of your health records. If we add such a feature, we will update this policy first.

Research enrolment is not currently available. Any future research participation would come with separate information and an appropriate consent process.

Why we process your data (legal bases)

• Your account, AI recipes you request and your purchases: to provide the app under our contract with you (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).
• Allergies and related conditions in recipe requests: your explicit consent (GDPR Articles 6(1)(a) and 9(2)(a)), which you give by switching these options on in the app's recipe screen. They are off until you switch them on, and recipes work without them. You can withdraw consent at any time by switching them off; this does not affect requests already sent.
• Error diagnostics and server logs: our legitimate interest in keeping the app working and secure (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)).
• Purchase records: our legal obligation to keep accounting records under Bulgarian law (GDPR Article 6(1)(c)).

Who processes data for us

• Our own server in the EU: Logto (sign-in), Windmill (recipe request processing) and Bugsink (error reports).
• Verda (EU): runs our self-hosted AI model.
• Sentry (EU data region, Germany): native app crash reports.
• Cloudflare: stores our daily server backups in its R2 storage service.
• RevenueCat (USA): purchase validation and access to paid features.
• Apple and Google: process payments as independent controllers under their own privacy policies.

RevenueCat and Cloudflare are US companies, so data they handle may be processed outside the EU/EEA. These transfers are covered by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses in their data processing terms.

Your choices and rights

You can manage your health records in the app and delete your account with the app's account deletion function. Deleting your account removes your account from our sign-in system and clears the account's local records and settings in the app. Copies in our server backups are overwritten within three days. Files you have exported or shared outside the app are not removed.

To delete your account without the app, email [email protected] from the email address linked to your account. We may ask you to confirm the request from that address before we act on it.

Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription. Cancel it in your Apple or Google account settings. Purchase records we must keep by law are kept for the period below; we ask RevenueCat to delete the rest.

The app's backup export feature can create a file that you can choose to encrypt. Whether you can use this feature depends on your feature access.

You can contact [email protected] about access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection or portability, where those rights apply. Access to an optional paid feature, such as backup export, does not determine your legal rights. You can also complain to a data protection supervisory authority, including Bulgaria's Commission for Personal Data Protection.

How long data is kept

• Local health records: stay in the app's local storage until you remove them with the app's data or account controls, or with your device or browser storage settings. Copies you export outside the app are handled separately.
• Account (email address and account status): kept while your account exists and removed when you delete it.
• Recipe requests: kept for seven days in our job-processing service, then deleted. Verda does not store them.
• Error reports and server logs: 30 days.
• Purchase records: five years, as Bulgarian accounting law requires.
• Server backups: made daily, with the latest three kept, so deleted data leaves the backups within three days.

Not a medical app

GoutBye provides education and wellbeing tracking. Its information and AI-generated suggestions do not replace advice from a qualified healthcare professional. This does not limit our responsibilities for handling your personal information.

Age and children

GoutBye is for adults aged 18 and over, for both free and paid features. Do not use the app if you are under 18.

If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact [email protected].

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, we update the effective date at the top of this page. For important changes, we will also tell you in the app, with a link to the updated policy.