LB: Universal Scanner

1. Scope and Core Principles

• No account is required to use the App.
• No third-party ads are shown in the App.
• The App is designed without a developer-run cloud profile for users.
• The App does not sell your personal data.
• The App does not include a developer-operated analytics or crash-reporting service. Google ML Kit diagnostics and app-store/platform diagnostics are separate exceptions described below.
• Most App data is stored locally, including scan history, saved product notes, local family profiles, allergen and sensitivity selections, digestive and keto settings, Healthy Longevity preferences, baskets, pantry or shelf items, fiber entries, translation preferences, voice settings, reminder settings, theme choices, and most other settings.
• Some features depend on external product databases, online translators, platform speech providers, public chemical and safety references, a public recalls API, donation providers, app stores, and websites you choose to open.
• The App does not send product questions to ChatGPT, Gemini, OpenAI, IBM, or a developer-operated large language model. The current product-question feature uses recognized speech text, available scan data, bundled knowledge, selected profiles, and deterministic App rules.

2. Data Flow at a Glance

The table below summarizes the main paths. More detail appears in later sections.

Any internet service normally receives technical connection data such as IP address, request time, protocol details, and a user-agent or app identifier. The developer does not control the independent retention practices of those services.

3. Information Processed or Stored on Your Device

a. Camera, photos, barcode scanning, and manual label scanning

• The App supports barcode scanning and manual label scanning for human food, pet food, cosmetics, cleaning products, and supported art, school, office, craft, and household supplies.
• The camera is used when you actively open a camera-based feature. Camera frames may be analyzed for barcodes, text blocks, focus, framing, and accessibility guidance.
• On Android, Google ML Kit may provide barcode scanning, OCR/text recognition, language identification, and on-device translation. On iPhone, comparable Apple system frameworks may be used where available.
• After manual OCR, the Review Scanned Text screen lets you correct recognized text, remove unrelated content, clear the result, or retake the photo before analysis. Your edits are processed locally.
• Temporary images, crop data, and cached files may be created in App-controlled cache storage. Cache is not intended as permanent photo storage.

b. Scan history, notes, favorites, shelf/pantry, and product identity

• Scan history can store recent results locally so you can reopen them. You can disable history saving or clear history in the App.
• Version 1.2.9 uses a stable product identity to reduce duplicate history entries and update a recent entry when the same product is scanned again.
• Per-product notes, safe-list entries, favorites, shelf or pantry items, and reminder-style information are stored locally, normally under a barcode or product key.
• These local items are not synchronized to a developer-operated account and are not visible to other users through the App.

c. Local profiles, sensitivities, diets, and household tools

• The App may support local profiles for different people or preference sets. These are convenience profiles, not online accounts.
• Local profile data can include profile names, allergens, cross-mode sensitivities, cosmetic sensitivities, digestive triggers, FODMAP or IBS/SIBO settings, keto settings, Healthy Longevity preferences, cleaner-label preferences, and other caution toggles.
• Basket, pantry, household-safety, fiber-tracking, weekly-pattern, and similar summaries are built from available local history, saved products, settings, and product data.

d. Ingredient analysis, relations, coverage, vitamins, and supply safety

• Bundled local JSON knowledge can provide aliases, summaries, ingredient families, related ingredients, source notes, warnings, benefits, digestive tags, cross-reactivity notes, and plain-language explanations where entries exist.
• Coverage spans food, cosmetics, pet food, cleaning products, and a separate supply-knowledge set. Cosmetics currently have especially detailed INCI aliases, position guidance, and sensitivity checks.
• The cross-mode relation system can compare recognized terms with a selected profile across product categories. A relation or cross-reactivity note is a caution signal, not a diagnosis or prediction of a reaction.
• Analysis Coverage can show how many parsed label segments matched bundled knowledge, matched examples, available product fields, and unmatched text. An unmatched segment is not proof that the ingredient is safe or unsafe.
• Warnings may explain their source, such as local ingredient knowledge, nutrition data, a selected allergen profile, a diet/caution profile, a cosmetic sensitivity, or a recognized label code.
• Vitamin and mineral names may be recognized from product data or label text and accompanied by general informational notes where available. The App does not invent a quantity when the label or source does not provide one.
• For cleaning and supply labels, the App can recognize likely use context, certain GHS H/EUH hazard codes, P precaution codes, signal words, Safety Data Sheet wording, and some standard or seal wording. It cannot authenticate a logo, certification, seal, or Safety Data Sheet.

e. Experimental ratings, baskets, and suggestions

• The App may show an experimental LB System Rating out of 100, Healthy Longevity fit, Blue Zone style information, Smart Swap guidance, FODMAP/IBS/SIBO or keto basket summaries, and household-safety summaries.
• These outputs are calculated from available data and selected settings. They are informational and can be incomplete or wrong.
• A safe-list label, positive score, suggested substitute, or high basket score does not guarantee that a product is safe, suitable, healthy, or free from contamination.

f. Translation settings and caches

• The App can remember the selected App and product-result language and can cache translations locally to avoid repeating work.
• Official product names, brands, barcode database names, scientific names, chemical names, GHS codes, and cosmetic INCI names may remain in their original form because translating them can make them harder to verify or less safe to recognize.
• If a translation is incomplete, the App may show original text and a partial-translation notice. Translation does not change the official packaging.

g. Product images, session caches, and App Health

• If a product source provides an image URL, the App may download and cache the image locally for display. The image host receives the normal image request.
• Recent barcode and product-name results may be cached for the current App session to reduce repeated requests. Session counters may show reused results and successful online requests.
• App Health can display local device and configuration checks, including permissions, speech availability, language/translator settings, reminder state, local database counts, session request status, and an offline bundled-data self-test.
• App Health and local self-test results are not uploaded to the developer.

h. Android backup behavior

Android version 1.2.9 disables Android backup for the App and excludes its root files, files, databases, shared preferences, and external App data from cloud backup and device transfer. Platform behavior may differ on iPhone and in other App versions.

4. Permissions and System Access

• Camera: Used for barcode and label scanning. You can deny or revoke it in system settings.
• Internet: Used for product databases, optional online translation, model or language downloads, recall checks, product images, and external references.
• Notifications: Optional on supported Android versions for daily scan reminders. You can deny the permission or disable reminders.
• Boot, time, and time-zone events: On Android, the App can receive reboot, clock-change, and time-zone-change events so an enabled daily reminder can be scheduled again at the chosen local time. This does not give the App general access to your device activity.
• Speech recognition: Android version 1.2.9 launches an installed system speech-recognition activity for spoken product questions or voice profile selection. The App itself does not declare Android's RECORD_AUDIO permission, but the selected speech provider may display its own interface, use microphone access, and apply its own privacy terms.
• Clipboard and sharing: Copy and share actions use Android or iOS system facilities only after you select the action.

5. Voice, Speech, and Accessibility Features

Availability depends on platform, installed speech providers and voices, permissions, selected language, and device support.

a. Text-to-speech and spoken results

• Voice Assistant Mode can send result text, warnings, ingredients, guidance, and question answers to the device's configured text-to-speech engine.
• On Android this may be Android Text-to-Speech, Google Speech Services, or another installed engine. On iPhone this may be an Apple system voice or another supported platform service.
• The App does not create or host a custom cloud voice. Voice language and pronunciation depend on the installed system voice.

b. Spoken questions and voice profile selection

• When you start a spoken question or voice profile action, the selected device/provider speech service may process your speech and return recognized text to the App.
• Recognition may occur locally or through the provider's online service, depending on provider, device, language, and settings.
• The App uses the returned text only to match the requested action against current scan data, local settings, and deterministic rules. It cannot answer reliably when the needed data is missing.

c. Warning tone and camera guidance

• An optional urgent tone can play before a severe matched profile warning is spoken.
• Barcode guidance uses detected barcode position. Ingredient-label guidance uses visible text position and capture conditions. Guidance such as left, right, up, down, closer, or hold steady can be wrong if the view is blurry, dark, reflective, blocked, tilted, or unsupported.

d. Machine learning is not the same as generative AI

The App can use machine-learning components for OCR, barcode detection, language identification, on-device translation, and platform speech recognition. The current App does not use a generative-AI or LLM service to decide whether a scanned product is safe or to compose product answers.

6. Information Shared With Third-Party Services

The App sends only the request data needed for the feature being used. Third-party services also receive ordinary network metadata and apply their own terms, privacy practices, security measures, and retention periods.

a. Product barcode lookups and product-name search

• Human food: a barcode or name query may be sent to Open Food Facts and Pro Open Food Facts. Optional legacy FoodRepo use can be enabled where available.
• Pet food: a barcode or name query may be sent to Open Pet Food Facts.
• Cosmetics: a barcode or name query may be sent to Open Beauty Facts.
• Cleaning and non-food products: a barcode or name query may be sent to Open Products Facts.
• Universal / Auto Detect: the same barcode may be checked against multiple supported sources one by one. This can be slower and can expose the barcode to more than one database.
• Requests identify LB: Universal Scanner and its current version in the user-agent and include the developer's support email for API identification. They do not include your local profile, notes, or scan history.

b. Google ML Kit and platform machine-learning services

• Google states that ML Kit processes input images, video, text, and resulting outputs on-device and does not send those inputs or outputs to Google servers.
• ML Kit may still contact Google for bug fixes, updated models, model downloads, and hardware compatibility information.
• Google states that ML Kit SDKs can collect diagnostics and usage information such as device and App information, per-installation identifiers, performance metrics, API configuration, input/output size, feature versions and events, error codes, identified languages, and configured translation source/destination languages. Google states this data is encrypted in transit and is not transferred by ML Kit to third parties.
• Google notes that its disclosure page describes the latest SDK versions. Exact handling can vary with the ML Kit version packaged in the installed App.
• See Google ML Kit Terms and Privacy and ML Kit Android data disclosure.

c. Translation providers

• Translation can use Google ML Kit, Apple system translation services, LibreTranslate, or Lingva depending on platform, version, selected setting, language pair, and service availability.
• For on-device translation, language models may be downloaded and related SDK diagnostics may be sent as described above.
• For an online translator, the text you ask to translate, source/destination language, App user-agent, IP address, and normal request metadata are sent to that provider.
• Online translation can fail, be rate-limited, return partial text, or become unavailable. Do not rely on translation alone for safety-critical label decisions.

d. Speech providers

Spoken questions, voice profile selection, and text-to-speech use the device's installed provider. The provider may process audio, recognized text, text-to-speech input, language, voice configuration, device identifiers, and diagnostics according to its own terms. The App developer does not receive the voice recording through a developer server.

e. Chemical, ingredient, safety, and supply references

• If you request extra chemical information from an ingredient card, the ingredient name may be sent to PubChem. This is available for supported cosmetic and cleaning/supply ingredients.
• The App may open CosIng, ECHA, EWG Skin Deep, EPA CompTox, EPA Safer Ingredients, NIOSH, CPSC guidance, ACMI product information, EU Safety Gate, UN GHS resources, or another listed source in your browser.
• Opening a resource sends ordinary browser data to that website. A search link may include an ingredient name, product term, barcode, or other visible query in the URL.
• External research links are for convenience. A link does not mean the source endorses LB: Universal Scanner or that the App authenticates a product, seal, standard, or claim.

f. Optional CPSC recall lookup

• For supported supply results, you may choose to query the official U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls API.
• The App sends the barcode first and may send the available product name if needed. The request also includes normal connection metadata and the App user-agent.
• Returned items are possible matches only. You must compare exact brand, model, date code, packaging, and UPC with the official notice.
• A result or no-result response is not proof of current product safety, regulatory compliance, or recall status in every country.
• See the official CPSC Recalls API information.

g. Copy Summary, Share Summary, and PDF reports

• Copy Summary places the displayed summary on the system clipboard. Clipboard content is then governed by your device and any apps with permitted clipboard access.
• Share Summary opens the system share interface with the current product summary. The selected destination app or service receives the shared text.
• Product share summaries are designed to omit private notes, note-influenced warning sections, and profile settings, but you should still review the displayed summary before sharing.
• A doctor/dietitian wellness PDF is created only when you request it. It can contain the selected profile name, basket and household summaries, recent food scans, and pantry information. The PDF is created in temporary App cache and shared through the destination you choose.
• Once content is copied or shared outside the App, the App cannot control how the clipboard, receiving app, recipient, or provider stores or uses it.

h. Product pages and contribution websites

If you open a product's source page or a contribution option, the browser URL may contain the barcode, product code, or search query. Any information you submit on that external site is governed by that site's policies.

i. Email, suggestions, donations, and app stores

• If you email the developer, your email address, message, attachments, and provider metadata are processed by your email provider and received by the developer.
• If you open PayPal or Wise to donate, the selected provider processes payment and account information. The App never directly receives your card or bank credentials.
• Donations are optional and do not unlock premium features, faster scans, badges, or digital extras.
• Google Play, Apple App Store, Android, iOS, and device manufacturers may independently process installs, updates, crashes, diagnostics, reviews, ratings, or store interactions.

7. Summary of Services, Libraries, and Public Sources

Open Facts product information is community-maintained and may be incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated. The App uses read requests for lookups. If you choose to contribute on an external website, that contribution is a separate interaction with the external service.

Third-party names are used only to identify services and sources. Their inclusion does not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

8. This Website and GitHub Pages

• This legal page is a static GitHub Pages site. It does not contain a developer-added analytics script, advertising tracker, account system, form, or first-party cookie mechanism.
• GitHub hosts and delivers the page. GitHub states that a visitor's IP address is logged and stored for security purposes whether or not the visitor is signed in.
• GitHub may process service-usage information and cookies according to its own policies and the visitor's circumstances.
• External links and the email link leave this page. The selected website, browser, email app, or provider can then receive normal request or message information.

For more information, see GitHub Pages data collection and the GitHub General Privacy Statement.

9. Important Accuracy, Allergy, Health, Recall, and Supply-Safety Notice

• Barcode databases and public sources can be incomplete, delayed, community-maintained, region-specific, or wrong. A barcode can still point to an older formulation while the package in your hand has changed.
• Manual OCR can omit, merge, or misread words and codes. Review and correct the recognized text before analysis, especially for allergens, concentration values, hazard codes, and look-alike characters.
• No match, no warning, high score, positive spoken answer, or database no-result means only that the App did not identify a problem from the information available. It does not prove safety.
• Allergy and cross-reactivity rules cannot predict whether a particular person will react. Ingredient families and related-ingredient notices are educational cautions, not diagnoses.
• FODMAP, IBS/SIBO, keto, Healthy Longevity, Blue Zone, nutrition, fiber, vitamin, mineral, score, basket, and swap features are informational and are not medical or dietetic advice.
• Cosmetic INCI position guidance estimates where an ingredient appears in the list. Ingredient ordering rules, concentration thresholds, mixtures, colorants, and regional labeling exceptions mean position does not reveal an exact percentage.
• Pet-food and cross-mode warnings do not replace veterinary advice and do not establish that exposure is safe for a specific species, animal, dose, or medical condition.
• Cleaning and supply analysis does not replace the current label, Safety Data Sheet, poison-control guidance, occupational-safety procedure, teacher/supervisor instructions, or local law.
• Recognized GHS codes can be false positives or incomplete after OCR. P codes remain for verification because their exact wording and context matter.
• The App cannot authenticate ACMI or other marks, certifications, seals, regulatory status, age suitability, or manufacturer claims from an image or OCR text.
• CPSC results are possible U.S. recall matches only. Recall systems differ by country, and a no-match result is not proof that a product has never been recalled.
• Translations and spoken output can be incomplete, mistranslated, mispronounced, or unavailable. Official names may remain untranslated for verification.
• The App does not provide medical, nutritional, veterinary, pharmaceutical, dermatological, toxicological, occupational-safety, regulatory, recall, or legal advice.

10. Your Rights and Choices

• Camera: deny or revoke camera permission in system settings.
• Notifications: disable daily reminders in the App or revoke notification permission.
• Speech: avoid voice-input features, change the installed provider, revoke provider microphone permission, turn off Voice Assistant Mode, stop speech, or change speech settings.
• History and saved data: disable history where offered, clear history, remove saved products and notes, edit profiles, clear fiber entries, and change local preferences.
• Translation: keep original text, select another language/provider, or clear App data to remove local translation cache.
• Online databases: change supported database settings, avoid Universal / Auto Detect, or use manual label scanning and local analysis instead.
• Recall and research: do not start an optional recall lookup or open an external reference link.
• Copy/share/PDF: do not choose these actions; review content and the selected destination before sending.
• Local removal: clear App storage or uninstall the App to remove local data. There is no developer-run account to delete.
• Email data: you may contact the developer to ask about access, correction, or deletion of personal information you voluntarily sent by email, subject to applicable legal and record-keeping requirements.

11. Data Retention and Deletion

• Persistent local App data generally remains until you delete it through the App, clear App storage, or uninstall the App.
• Temporary images and generated reports are stored in cache. The operating system or App may remove cache; clearing App storage or uninstalling removes App-controlled cache. A file shared elsewhere can remain with the recipient or destination service.
• Current-session lookup caches and request counters normally last only for the active App process/session.
• Translation caches may persist locally to improve repeat translations until App data is cleared, the cache is reset by an App change, or the App is uninstalled.
• Because no account is required, there is no developer-operated cloud history or account-deletion process.
• If you email the developer, the email may be retained for as long as reasonably needed to respond, investigate, maintain support records, protect the App, or improve it.
• Third-party databases, speech providers, translation services, GitHub, app stores, payment providers, and external websites control their own retention and deletion practices.

12. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to children under 13 and does not invite children to create an account, because no App account exists. A parent, guardian, teacher, or responsible adult should supervise children's use, especially for allergies, chemicals, art materials, school supplies, cleaning products, sharp tools, heat, fumes, or other hazards. Third-party services used through the App apply their own age and privacy rules.

13. Data Security

• Most personal App data is local, so protection depends significantly on device security such as screen lock, encryption, system updates, permissions, and control of physical access.
• Android version 1.2.9 blocks cleartext network traffic at the App level and uses HTTPS endpoints for supported network services.
• Temporary files shared from Android use an App-controlled FileProvider and temporary read permission for the destination selected by the user.
• No storage method, software, device, internet transmission, third-party service, or security control can be guaranteed perfectly secure.
• The developer does not control the security of external product databases, speech or translation providers, GitHub Pages, app stores, payment services, browsers, email providers, or shared-file destinations.

14. Terms of Use

• By using the App, you agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, do not use the App.
• The App is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis to the extent permitted by applicable law.
• The developer does not guarantee uninterrupted operation, continued availability of any third-party source, complete database coverage, error-free OCR or translation, accurate speech recognition, accurate scoring, or fitness for a particular purpose.
• You are responsible for decisions made using the App and for independently checking safety-critical information with current packaging, manufacturers, official recall notices, qualified clinicians, veterinarians, pharmacists, dietitians, dermatologists, toxicologists, occupational-safety professionals, teachers/supervisors, or other appropriate experts.
• Third-party content, databases, images, translations, APIs, websites, libraries, trademarks, and services remain subject to their owners' terms, licenses, availability, and rights.
• You must not use the App unlawfully, interfere with its services or third-party services, or misrepresent an App result as a professional diagnosis, official certification, regulatory decision, or guarantee of safety.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes rights or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable consumer or other law.

15. Changes to This Policy

This page may be updated to reflect new App features, platform behavior, third-party services, legal requirements, or clearer explanations. The Last Updated date at the top identifies the latest revision. Material changes should be published before or when the changed behavior becomes available.