Privacy Policy.
What information Ascend collects, why, and the choices you have about it.
Last updated: August 20, 2026
Information We Collect
Depending on how you use Ascend, we may collect:
- Account information — such as your name, email address, and authentication details.
- Food and nutrition entries — the meals, foods, and nutrition data you log, whether entered manually or through the AI scanner.
- Uploaded food images — photos you take of meals for the AI food scanner to process.
- Subscription information — purchase and entitlement status provided by Apple; Ascend does not directly receive or store your full payment card details.
- Device and analytics information — such as device type, operating system, and general usage data used to keep the app working and to understand overall product usage.
Ascend does not connect to or read from Apple Health.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information above to provide and improve Ascend’s core features — food and nutrient tracking, the AI food scanner, your dashboard and score, and account and subscription management — and to communicate important updates about your account or the service.
AI Photo Processing
When you use the AI food scanner, photos you submit are transmitted to Anthropic, PBC, through the Claude API to identify foods and estimate nutritional information. Under Anthropic’s standard commercial API retention policy, API inputs and outputs are automatically deleted from Anthropic’s backend within 30 days, subject to limited exceptions such as legal requirements or enforcement of Anthropic’s usage policies. Anthropic states that retained API data is not used to train its models without express permission.
Third-Party Services
Ascend relies on third-party service providers to operate its website and application. These providers may include Apple Inc. for App Store purchases and Apple-related services, Anthropic, PBC for AI-powered food image analysis through the Claude API, and Netlify, Inc. for website hosting and related infrastructure.
These service providers may process information as necessary to provide their respective services and maintain the security and functionality of Ascend.
Data Retention
We retain account and nutrition data for as long as your account is active and for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or abuse, and enforce our agreements.
When you request deletion of your account, we will delete or de-identify personal information associated with your account within a reasonable period, except where retention is required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, or other legitimate purposes.
Photos submitted through the AI food scanner are transmitted to Anthropic for processing through the Claude API. Under Anthropic’s standard API retention practices, API inputs and outputs are generally deleted from Anthropic’s systems within 30 days, subject to limited legal, safety, and policy-enforcement exceptions. Ascend does not retain uploaded food photos longer than necessary to provide the AI food-analysis feature unless the photo is intentionally saved as part of a user’s account or meal history.
Your Rights & Choices
You may review, correct, or delete your information and may request deletion of your account at any time through our Delete My Account / Data Request process.
Depending on where you live, you may have additional privacy rights. Residents of the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions with applicable data-protection laws may have rights including access to, correction of, deletion of, restriction of, objection to the processing of, and portability of their personal data, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with an applicable data-protection authority.
California residents may have rights under applicable California privacy law, including the right to know about and access personal information collected about them, request correction or deletion of personal information, and receive equal service when exercising their privacy rights. Where applicable, users may also have rights concerning the sale or sharing of personal information. Ascend does not sell users’ personal information.
Children’s Privacy
Ascend is not directed to children and is not intended for use by anyone under the minimum age required to hold an Apple ID and use the App Store in their region.
Cookies & Similar Technologies
Ascend does not currently use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies on this website. The website may use strictly necessary technologies required for security, hosting, network management, and basic website functionality.
Ascend does not use cookies or similar technologies to sell or share your personal information for targeted advertising.
International Users
Ascend and some of its service providers may process or store information in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. These countries may have data-protection laws that differ from those in your country of residence.
Where required by applicable law, we use appropriate legal mechanisms and safeguards for international transfers of personal information, which may include contractual protections, Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions, or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated date at the top of this page.
Contact Us
Questions about this Privacy Policy can be sent to ascendsupportteam@gmail.com.