LB: Universal Scanner

Scope & principles

LB: Universal Scanner is developed and published by Bálint László. It helps users inspect product information for food, pet food, cosmetics, cleaning products, and supported art, school, craft, office, and household supplies.

• No app account or third-party advertising. You can use the app without a developer-run account. The developer does not sell personal data.
• Local personal records. History, notes, saved products, local profiles, diet and sensitivity settings, baskets, fiber entries, translation caches, voice preferences, and daily reminder settings are stored on the device.
• Defined online features. Product databases, images, selected translation services, speech providers, recalls, GS1 linked sources, and external websites may require an internet connection.
• Local rule-based explanations. Product questions and ingredient analysis use available product information, bundled references, and app rules. They cannot establish facts that are missing from those sources.
• Diagnostics are distinguished. There is no developer-operated analytics or automatic crash-upload service. SDK providers and app platforms can collect their own diagnostics, as described in Provider diagnostics.

Where information goes

Local processing and internet access serve different purposes. A local scan can still be followed by an online lookup, image download, translation, or speech-provider request.

On deviceScanning & analysis

Camera frames, label photos, recognized text, barcode contents, and edited text are processed locally by the app and supported scanning components. Temporary images can be held in app cache.

On devicePersonal records

History, notes, saved products, profile names, allergies, diet settings, baskets, and fiber records remain in local app storage.

On deviceComparison & document checks

Product comparison and Safety Data Sheet section checks use available product records and captured text. Manufacturer questions are drafted locally; translation or sharing follows the separate paths below.

InternetProduct lookup & images

A product code or name query goes to the selected product database. Image hosts receive image requests. These requests include ordinary connection metadata.

Depends on providerTranslation & voice

Installed models or system services may work locally. An online translator receives the text and language pair. A speech provider may receive audio or text to speak.

When requestedOfficial Recall Radar

A product code and/or name is sent to supported FDA, UK Food Standards Agency, or CPSC sources according to the product category. Additional official portals open separately in your browser.

When requestedGS1 linked sources

The HTTPS resolver receives a product-level identifier request for its list of links. Package batch, serial, date, profile, notes, and history data are excluded from that request.

When selectedResearch, copy & share

Reference sites receive the query or page you open. The clipboard, share destination, email service, or payment provider receives the content you choose to pass to it.

An internet request normally reveals an IP address, request time, requested address, and technical details such as an app identifier or browser user-agent. Providers may process information outside your country, including outside the European Economic Area, under their own policies and applicable transfer arrangements.

Information on your device

Scanning, text review & product identity

The camera is used for active scanning features. Barcode and text recognition can inspect frames, label position, and capture conditions. Manual Ingredient Scan opens text review before analysis. You can correct recognition errors, remove unrelated content, clear the text, or retake the photo. Temporary photos and crop data may be stored in app-controlled cache; that cache is not a permanent label-photo archive.

Product codes are classified before lookup. Supported EAN, UPC, and GTIN check digits can be checked, valid UPC-E codes expanded, and normalized lookup alternatives tried. Recognition depends on the code format, encoded content, camera, focus, and print quality. A valid check digit verifies code structure, not the product's authenticity.

GS1 element strings and Digital Links can expose available package information such as GTIN, batch or lot, dates, serial number, variant, additional product identifier, and link domain. These fields can appear with the result and generate date cautions. Many codes contain no dates or ingredients.

History, notes, profiles & saved products

History stores product results locally for reopening. Stable product keys help reduce duplicates. Private notes, favorites or Safe List entries, and profile preferences are stored locally. Profiles are convenience settings for individuals or preference sets; they are not online accounts.

Profiles may include names, allergens, sensitivities, cross-reactivity preferences, digestive triggers, FODMAP or IBS/SIBO settings, keto settings, Healthy Longevity preferences, and other caution choices. These settings may reveal health-related information. Use only information you are comfortable storing on your device and have permission to record for someone else.

Basket summaries, household-safety views, fiber tracking, weekly patterns, and wellness summaries use available local history, saved products, and settings. They do not create a developer-hosted health record.

Bundled ingredient references & explanations

Six bundled reference sets cover food ingredients, pet-food ingredients, cosmetics, cleaning products, art and school supplies, and raw-food fiber. Available entries can contain names, aliases, ingredient families, cautions, benefits, digestive tags, source notes, and related-ingredient explanations.

Analysis Coverage distinguishes matched and unmatched label segments. Warnings can identify the supporting ingredient entry, nutrition context, profile choice, or scanned label code. Vitamin and mineral notes are general information; quantities depend on the label or source. Cosmetic ingredient-position guidance cannot establish exact concentrations.

Cosmetic ingredient-order rules, concentration thresholds, mixtures, colorants, and regional labeling exceptions limit position estimates. Ingredient-family relations and cross-mode sensitivity checks are caution signals, not diagnoses or predictions that a particular person will react.

Evidence-based product comparison

Comparison uses two selected Scan History records to show available sources, shared and differing ingredients, listed allergens or cautions, nutrition fields, and recognized supply hazard codes. It does not require uploading your history or profiles. Records can be incomplete or out of date, and food scores are estimates. The app does not decide whether a substitute is acceptable for you.

Supply Safety & Safety Data Sheet coverage

Recognized hazard codes, precaution codes, signal words, and label wording can provide supply context and exposure-route cautions. Precaution codes may be grouped into general guidance, prevention, response and first aid, storage, and disposal.

For readable Safety Data Sheet text with recognized numbered English headings, the app can detect the standard sections 1–16, show important excerpts, and flag critical sections not detected in the capture. This analyzes the text provided. It does not authenticate the document, confirm that an undetected section is absent from the original, or replace the complete current Safety Data Sheet.

Scores, suggestions & remaining local data

The experimental LB System Rating out of 100, Healthy Longevity or Blue Zone guidance, Smart Swap suggestions, and digestive or keto summaries depend on the data and settings available. A favorable score or Safe List entry is not a guarantee of safety, healthfulness, or suitability.

Other local data includes interface and product-language preferences, translation caches, downloaded models, voice and theme preferences, daily reminders, cached product images, and session lookup results. Android can retain a local crash message and stack trace for troubleshooting. App Health shows local configuration and bundled-data checks; its self-test results are not automatically uploaded to the developer.

Product results and successful request counters may be reused within the current session to reduce repeated network calls. Bundled references are delivered with the app; a new entry or correction does not necessarily reach an installed copy until its data or app is updated. A validated file structure does not independently verify every scientific statement.

Backups

On Android, the app disables Android backup and configures exclusions for cloud backup and device transfer of app files, databases, preferences, and app-managed external data. Device and operating-system behavior can vary. iPhone backup and restore behavior depends on its app implementation and system settings. A file you separately export or share can be backed up by its destination.

Permissions

• Camera: used for barcode and label scanning. You can deny or revoke access in system settings.
• Internet: used for product lookups and images, selected online translators, models or language downloads, requested recall or linked-source checks, and external references.
• Notifications: optional daily scan reminders, subject to system permission and your reminder settings.
• Boot, clock, and time-zone events: Android can reschedule an enabled daily reminder after a restart or time change. This does not provide general access to device activity.
• Speech input: Android launches an installed speech-recognition activity for supported voice actions. The app does not declare Android's microphone-recording permission itself; the speech provider can request microphone access and process audio under its own terms. Platform behavior differs on iPhone.
• Clipboard and sharing: system facilities receive content after you choose a copy or share action.

Voice & accessibility

Voice Assistant Mode can read product results, ingredients, cautions, guidance, and supported question answers through the device's configured text-to-speech service. Android may use Google Speech Services or another installed engine; iPhone uses supported platform speech services.

Voice selection, quality, speed, pitch, language, and offline availability depend on installed voices and platform support. An offline preference cannot guarantee offline operation if the required voice or speech service is unavailable. Some providers download voice data or use an online service.

When you start a spoken question or voice profile action, the provider processes your speech and returns recognized text. The app matches that text to supported actions and available scan information. Audio, recognized text, or spoken result text can reveal personal preferences or cautions to a provider that uses online processing. The developer does not receive recordings through an app-operated server.

Scanning, recognition, language identification, and translation can use machine-learning components. Product explanations and supported question answers are based on deterministic app rules and the available evidence; the app does not send those questions to a third-party conversational model to decide whether a product is safe.

Camera guidance and an optional urgent warning tone can support scanning. Position guidance can be inaccurate with poor lighting, reflections, blur, tilt, or an obstructed view. Speech recognition, pronunciation, and translations can also be wrong or unavailable.

Online features & sharing

Product databases & images

A barcode or product-name query can be sent to Open Food Facts, Pro Open Food Facts, Open Pet Food Facts, Open Beauty Facts, or Open Products Facts according to the selected category. FoodRepo is an optional legacy source where available. Universal / Auto Detect may try multiple databases for the same code.

• Human food: Open Food Facts and Pro Open Food Facts, with optional FoodRepo use where enabled and available.
• Pet food: Open Pet Food Facts.
• Cosmetics: Open Beauty Facts.
• Cleaning and other non-food products: Open Products Facts.

Lookup requests include an app user-agent and may include the developer's support email for service identification. They do not include your profile, private notes, or scan history. Product image hosts separately receive requests for images displayed in results.

Provider diagnostics

Google states that ML Kit processes input images, video, text, and resulting outputs on the device without sending those inputs or outputs to Google servers. It can contact Google for model downloads, updates, compatibility information, and performance or usage metrics.

ML Kit diagnostics can include device and app information, per-installation identifiers, performance, feature configuration, input/output sizes, events, errors, identified languages, and translation language pairs. Google's disclosure says the listed diagnostic data is encrypted in transit and is not transferred by ML Kit to third parties. Exact handling depends on the SDK and features used. See ML Kit Terms & Privacy and Android data disclosure.

App stores, operating systems, device manufacturers, and other speech or translation providers may separately process installations, updates, crashes, reviews, and diagnostics under their own policies.

Translation

Translation may use on-device ML Kit, supported Apple system translation, LibreTranslate, or Lingva depending on platform, settings, language, and availability. Preparing a language can require model downloads. Android can fall back from a selected online translation service to its on-device translator.

An online translator receives the text being translated and the language pair. That can include product ingredients, result explanations, personalized caution text, spoken-answer text, or a manufacturer-question draft. Although the app does not attach your entire profile or history, the text itself may reveal a sensitivity or other personal context. Avoid including personal information in scanned text or drafts you send to an online service.

The configured Android online services include libretranslate.de and lingva.ml. Lingva requests include encoded source text in the request URL, which may appear in the provider's logs. Online providers also receive connection metadata. Caches are local; providers control their own retention.

Names, brands, scientific names, ingredient identifiers, and hazard codes may remain in their original form. Translations can fail, remain partial, or use incorrect wording. The original package remains the reference.

Official Recall Radar

A recall check starts when you request it from a product result. Depending on category, the app queries supported U.S. Food and Drug Administration, UK Food Standards Agency, or U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission services using a product code and/or available product name.

Results distinguish exact product-code matches from name matches and indicate which sources were reached or failed. Links to additional official portals, including Health Canada, RASFF, and EU Safety Gate, are separate browser visits. A listed portal is not a promise that its full database was searched.

No match does not prove a product has never been recalled. Check the official notice against the actual brand, model, package, date, and affected batch or lot. Country, category, source coverage, and update delays limit results.

GS1 Digital Link & Linked Sources

Decoding supported product-bearing GS1 content and checking recognized Application Identifier fields happens locally. Unrelated web, Wi-Fi, contact, and other non-product QR contents are rejected as product identifiers and are not opened automatically.

For a supported HTTPS Digital Link, the optional Linked Sources action requests the resolver's machine-readable list of links. The resolver may be run by a brand or another third party. The request is reduced to a product-level identifier; package batch, serial and date details, profiles, notes, and history are not included. The resolver still receives the product request, IP address, request time, and app user-agent.

Recognized Application Identifier fields are checked against a bundled snapshot of the official GS1 Barcode Syntax Dictionary. A syntax check can recognize field structure and basic constraints; it cannot confirm that a manufacturer encoded truthful or current information. The snapshot does not require sending your scan to GS1 for this local check.

Results can be cached locally with a retrieval time, source domain, and response fingerprint, grouped by evidence type, and checked for conflicting GTIN anchors. The app limits responses and blocks unsafe or redirecting resolver responses. Opening a listed destination requires confirmation and starts a separate browser interaction governed by that destination's policy.

A code match, HTTPS connection, response fingerprint, or signature-related link does not authenticate the product or verify a document's contents. Signature-related information is shown as unverified unless cryptographic verification actually takes place.

Ingredient & supply research

Requesting extra chemical information can send an ingredient or chemical name to PubChem, including from supported cosmetic, cleaning, and supply results. Other reference links may open CosIng, ECHA, EWG Skin Deep, EPA CompTox, EPA Safer Ingredients, NIOSH, ACMI, CPSC, EU Safety Gate, or UN GHS resources. A linked query can include a term or product code. The website receives ordinary browser information and applies its own policies.

Manufacturer Question Builder

Ask the Manufacturer prepares a written request from the selected product, available identifiers, broad label terms, unmatched ingredient text, and recognized hazard or precaution codes. Available batch and package-date details can appear in the draft. Questions adapt to the product category.

Private notes, profile settings, and scan history are excluded from the draft. Review it before copying or sharing, particularly if the scanned text contains personal information. The app does not find a recipient, send the message automatically, authenticate a manufacturer response, or promise a reply. Translation of a draft follows the translation rules above.

Copy, share & wellness reports

Copy Summary puts content on the system clipboard. Share Summary sends the product summary to the destination you select. Product summaries are designed to omit private notes, note-influenced warning sections, and profile settings; review the content before sharing.

A doctor or dietitian wellness PDF is a different, intentionally more personal export. It can include the selected profile name, basket and household summaries, recent food scans, and Safe List information. It is created in temporary app cache when requested and passed to your chosen destination.

Files, text, or questions shared outside the app can remain with recipients, email providers, storage services, or other apps. Deleting the local original cannot recall those copies.

External pages, creator links, support & donations

Source-product and contribution links open external sites, possibly with a product code or query. Anything you submit there is governed by that site's terms.

Optional creator links can open YouTube or Bálint's Discord Server. These are separate creator communities, including content unrelated to the app. Their account, moderation, age, and privacy requirements apply; the Discord server also requires accounts to be older than 30 days. They are not official product-safety advice channels.

When you email the developer, your address, message, attachments, and email metadata are received through the email provider. Include only what is needed for your question. Support does not require sending your full profile, medical records, or scan history.

PayPal or Wise may be available for optional external donations. The provider processes the payment and may give the recipient normal transaction records; the app does not receive card or bank credentials. Donations do not unlock app features or digital extras.

Services & sources

Availability depends on the platform and feature. A library bundled in the app is not necessarily a separate network recipient.

Open Facts databases

Food, pet-food, cosmetic, and other product lookups. Receive a code or name query and request metadata.

FoodRepo

Optional legacy food lookup where available. Receives the requested product code and connection data.

Google ML Kit

Supported local scanning, language identification, and translation. Model downloads and provider diagnostics are disclosed above.

Apple & installed speech services

Platform scanning, speech, or translation where supported. Permissions and network use depend on the selected service.

LibreTranslate & Lingva

Selected online translation. Receive source text, language information, and technical request data.

PubChem & chemical references

Requested chemical details or external research. A chemical name or visible query may be sent.

FDA, UK FSA & CPSC

Supported requested recall searches. See openFDA food enforcement, FSA food alerts, and CPSC API information.

Health Canada & European portals

Additional official browser resources. Portal links are distinguished from searches performed inside the app.

GS1 Digital Link resolvers

Independent hosts identified by a scanned product link. Receive the product-level request when you choose Linked Sources.

USDA references

Raw-food fiber reference entries are bundled locally. Opening a source website creates a separate request.

Coil & image hosts

Coil is an image-loading library inside the Android app. The host of a product image receives its image request.

GitHub Pages

Hosts this page. Its request logging and privacy practices are described in the next section.

YouTube, Discord, email & donations

Selected external interactions. The chosen service handles account, message, community, or payment information.

Google Play & Apple App Store

App distribution, updates, reviews, and platform diagnostics under each store's policies.

Public product data can be incomplete or outdated. Names, content, images, databases, and services remain subject to their owners' rights and licenses. Listing a source does not imply endorsement or certify its contents.

This website

This is a static GitHub Pages document. It has no developer-added analytics, advertising trackers, account system, or submission forms. The app icon, styles, and page scripts are included in the page itself; it does not load external fonts, embedded videos, or third-party scripts.

The appearance control, document search, and section navigation run in your browser. Search terms are not transmitted or saved by the page. This page does not store its theme choice in cookies or browser storage. It follows your system appearance unless you select a theme for the current page. Printing uses your browser's print interface and the destination you choose.

GitHub states that GitHub Pages records visitors' IP addresses for security, including visitors who are not signed in. GitHub may also process service information under its own policies. See GitHub Pages data collection and the GitHub General Privacy Statement.

External links and the email link open other services. Those destinations receive the request or message you initiate and apply their own privacy terms.

Accuracy & safety

• Identification is not verification of contents. A barcode may point to an older formulation. A structurally valid code or Digital Link does not prove product authenticity, completeness, or freshness.
• OCR needs review. It can omit, merge, or misread ingredients, dates, concentrations, and codes. Check and correct captured text before analysis.
• No warning is not proof of safety. No match, a favorable score, a positive spoken answer, or an unmatched ingredient means only that the available information did not produce a particular warning.
• Personal reactions vary. Allergy, sensitivity, and cross-reactivity rules cannot diagnose a condition or predict an individual's reaction.
• Nutrition and diet features are informational. Vitamin, mineral, fiber, FODMAP, IBS/SIBO, keto, Healthy Longevity, Blue Zone, basket, comparison, and swap outputs are not medical or dietetic advice.
• Cosmetic and pet results have limits. Ingredient order is not an exact concentration. Pet-food warnings cannot establish safety for a particular species, dose, life stage, or animal.
• Supply checks have limits. Hazard or precaution-code matches and detected document headings can be incomplete or false positives. Follow the current label, full Safety Data Sheet, poison-control advice, workplace procedures, and applicable rules.
• Marks and documents are not authenticated. The app cannot confirm a certification, regulatory status, age suitability, ACMI mark, seal, manufacturer claim, or document signature merely by reading text or displaying a link.
• Recalls are source-specific. A match needs package-level confirmation. No result, an unreachable source, or a listed portal cannot establish worldwide recall clearance.
• Translation and speech can be wrong. Keep the original wording available for verification, especially scientific names, allergens, hazard codes, and official notices.
• You decide. Comparisons, suggestions, and manufacturer-question drafts do not choose an acceptable substitute or certify a response for you.

The app provides information, not medical, nutritional, veterinary, pharmaceutical, dermatological, toxicological, occupational-safety, regulatory, recall, or legal advice.

Your choices & rights

• Permissions: change camera, speech-provider, and notification permissions in system settings. Turn off voice features or daily reminders when you do not want them.
• Local records: disable history saving where offered, clear history, remove saved products or notes, edit profiles, and manage fiber entries and preferences.
• Online access: use manual label scanning and available local analysis; avoid online lookups, online translation, or optional research when you do not want those requests. Required models may need downloading first.
• Recalls and linked sources: choose whether to request a check, refresh a cached result, or open an external destination.
• Sharing: review summaries, manufacturer questions, and wellness reports, then choose whether and where to copy or share them.
• Removal: clear app storage where supported or delete the app to remove app-managed local data. Offloading an iPhone app preserves its documents and data; use the system's full deletion option when removal is intended.

Privacy requests

The developer cannot retrieve your locally stored history or profiles through an account server. For personal information you have sent directly to the developer, such as support correspondence, contact lbfoodscannerapp@gmail.com.

Where the GDPR applies, rights can include access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent where processing relies on it, subject to the relevant conditions. You may complain to a competent data-protection authority. Withdrawal does not undo processing that was lawful beforehand. See the European Commission's explanation of data-protection rights.

Support correspondence is used to answer your request and resolve issues, based on the developer's legitimate interest in providing support. Legal record-keeping obligations may also apply. Consent will be requested where required for additional processing; using the app is not blanket consent to unrelated data use. Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive health information.

Retention & deletion

• Saved app data generally remains until you remove it through the app, clear app storage, or fully delete the app. Some preferences or caches may also be reset by an app change.
• Temporary photos, files, and reports are held in app cache, which the app or system can clear. Copies exported elsewhere are separate.
• Session caches and counters normally last for the active app process. Translation caches and downloaded models can persist for reuse.
• GS1 linked-source snapshots on Android become stale after 24 hours. The cache is bounded to 32 entries, with records older than 30 days removed when cache access or maintenance runs. These are cache-management limits, not a timed background deletion promise.
• Support emails may be kept for as long as reasonably needed to respond, investigate, maintain relevant records, or meet legal obligations. You can ask about access or deletion.
• External providers determine retention for their requests, speech, translations, payments, messages, and shared files. Contact the relevant provider for those records.

There is no developer-run app account to delete. Device backups, offloaded app data, exports, recipient copies, and provider logs are not necessarily removed when you delete a local app record.

Children's privacy

The app is not directed to children under 13 and does not ask them to create an app account. A parent, guardian, teacher, or responsible adult should supervise children's use, especially where allergies, chemicals, art materials, heat, fumes, tools, or other hazards are involved.

Third-party services and communities have their own age requirements, which may differ by country. A local household profile is not a child account or a request to send a child's health information to the developer.

Security

Local information depends on your device's security: its screen lock, encryption, permissions, system updates, backups, and physical access. Android blocks cleartext traffic at the app level and uses HTTPS for supported network services. Android file sharing uses an app-controlled FileProvider with temporary read access for the selected destination.

GS1 resolver requests apply destination, response-size, content-type, and redirect checks. These reduce certain risks; they do not authenticate every linked page or ensure that external information is correct.

No software, storage method, or transmission is perfectly secure. The developer does not control the security of independent databases, speech or translation services, app platforms, GitHub, email or payment providers, browsers, or shared-file destinations.

Terms of Use

These terms govern use of LB: Universal Scanner. By using the app, you agree to these terms to the extent an agreement is validly formed under applicable law. If you do not agree, stop using the app. The privacy disclosures explain data handling; they are not a blanket consent request.

• Purpose. The app is an informational tool. Independently check safety-critical information against current packaging, manufacturers, official notices, and appropriate professional advice.
• Availability. The app is provided "as is" and "as available" to the extent permitted by law. Uninterrupted operation, complete coverage, error-free recognition or translation, and continued third-party service access are not guaranteed.
• Responsible use. Do not use the app unlawfully, interfere with its operation or third-party services, or present its results as a professional diagnosis, certification, regulatory decision, or guarantee of safety.
• Third-party rights. Databases, content, images, services, libraries, and trademarks remain subject to their owners' terms and licenses. Access through the app does not transfer ownership or grant additional reuse rights.
• Personal decisions. You remain responsible for how you use available information, including reviewing a comparison or proposed alternative. This does not remove any developer responsibility imposed by applicable law.
• Mandatory rights remain. Nothing here excludes or limits rights, remedies, or liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited, including applicable consumer protections.

Policy changes

This page may change as features, platform behavior, providers, or legal requirements change, or to explain existing behavior more clearly. The date at the top identifies the latest revision. Material changes should be communicated before or when the affected behavior takes effect, with consent requested where required.

Contact

For privacy questions, support, corrections, or questions about these terms, contact the developer and publisher:

Bálint László
LB: Universal Scanner

lbfoodscannerapp@gmail.com

Please include only the information needed to explain your request. You do not need to send a full personal profile or scan history.