P Legal · Privacy
Privacy policy.
Last updated: 12 May 2026
The short version: we collect as little as possible, your lists are yours, location stays on your device unless you sign in to share, and we don't sell data. The rest of this page is the long version, written in plain English.
Who we are
Grocery Buddy is operated by The Buddy Group (“we”, “us”), based in Aotearoa New Zealand. Reach us anytime at help@thebuddy.group.
What we collect
- Account info — if you sign in, we receive the email address and unique user id from your chosen provider (Apple, Google, or email sign-in). We don't see your password.
- Your lists — the items and stores you add to lists you create or accept an invite to.
- Learned aisle order — an anonymised record of which aisle order you confirmed for each store, used to keep your lists sorted.
- Device location — only while the app is open, only with your permission, only to detect which supermarket you're in. We don't store your location.
- Diagnostics — if the app crashes or errors, we receive an anonymised report via Sentry to help us fix it.
- Product analytics — we record events about how the app is used (which screens you visit, which features you tap) via PostHog. Before you sign in, those events are anonymous. Once you sign in, events are linked to your account — PostHog sees your user id, email address, and display name — so we can answer questions like “does this feature work better for people who share lists vs. people who shop solo?”. We don't send the contents of your lists or items to PostHog.
- Subscription receipts — if you subscribe to Pro, Apple/Google send us a signed receipt and renewal status so we can grant and maintain access. We don't see your card.
What we don't collect
- Your contacts, calendar, photos, microphone, or anything else you didn't expressly hand over.
- Background location, location history, or your routes outside the supermarket.
- Any information that would let us — or anyone else — build a profile of who you are or what you buy.
How we use what we have
We use the data above to run the service: keep your list in sync across devices, sort it for the store you're in, send invites you ask us to send, and grant the Pro features you've paid for. We use diagnostic reports to fix bugs. That's it.
We do not use your data to train models, profile your shopping, or build advertising audiences.
Who sees your data
Your lists are visible to:
- You, on the devices you've signed in on.
- People you've invited to a list (and only to that list).
- A very small operations team, only when needed to debug a specific issue you've reported.
We share data with the following providers, each of which only sees what's strictly required to do their job:
- Cloudflare — hosts the app's API and database.
- Kinde — verifies that you are who your sign-in provider says you are.
- Apple & Google — process your in-app purchases and (optionally) deliver push notifications.
- Sentry — receives anonymised crash and error reports.
- PostHog — receives product-analytics events. Anonymous before you sign in; after sign-in, events are tied to your user id, email, and display name so we can understand feature usage.
- Google AdMob — serves ads to free users. AdMob may set an advertising identifier on your device; iOS users can opt out via the App Tracking Transparency prompt.
Where it lives
Your data is stored on Cloudflare's global edge network. Backups are kept for 30 days. If you delete your account, your data is removed from the live database immediately and from backups within 30 days.
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- Export everything we hold about you.
- Correct anything that's wrong.
- Delete your account and the data tied to it.
Email help@thebuddy.group and we'll handle it within 30 days. If you're in the EU/UK or another region with stronger rights, those apply too.
Children
Grocery Buddy isn't directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you think we have, let us know and we'll delete it.
Changes
If we materially change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and, where appropriate, notify you in the app before the change takes effect.
Questions? help@thebuddy.group.