Your skin, your data.

What we collect

• Account information: the email address you sign up with (or the name and email Google shares if you choose Continue with Google), and a password, stored securely and never visible to us in plain text.
• Before you have an account: so you can try MELAN before signing up, the app uses an anonymous identifier on our server. It isn't linked to a name, email address or phone number. Your answers and scan scores are kept under it, and if you then create an account, they move into your account.
• Scan scores: the numeric results of your skin and product scans (for example your overall score, sub-scores and detected tone band). The photos used to generate them are discarded immediately after analysis and are never saved.
• App preferences: your stated skin tone, concerns, product preferences, budget and similar answers you give during setup, used only to personalize what the app shows you.
• Technical data: what's needed to keep the app running, such as sign-in tokens and the times of your scans, which your streak is counted from.
• Usage data: basic records of how the app is used — for example that a scan was started, a product was checked, or a subscription page was opened — so we can see which parts of MELAN are confusing and fix them. See Usage data and analytics, including how to turn it off.
• Invites: if you invite a friend, or join with a friend's invite, we keep who invited whom and when, so we can give you both your days of Pro. The other person only ever sees your first name, as you gave it to MELAN.
• Feedback you send us: if you use the in-app feedback form, we store what you write so we can read and respond to it.

What we don't collect or do

• We don't store the photos you take to scan your skin or a product label. They're processed and discarded.
• We don't upload your before-and-after progress photos anywhere. They stay on your device only, in your phone's local storage.
• We don't sell, rent or share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers.
• We don't run ads inside MELAN.
• We don't use any third-party analytics or advertising service. Our usage data stays in our own database.
• We don't diagnose medical conditions. MELAN is a cosmetic wellness tool, not a medical device, and nothing in the app is medical advice. When something looks like it may need professional attention, we say so and recommend seeing a dermatologist or doctor.

How your data is used

Your scores and preferences are used only to personalize your experience inside MELAN: your dashboard, your routine, your progress graph and SIMI's replies to you. Nothing is used for any purpose outside making the app work for you.

Usage data and analytics

To understand which parts of MELAN work and which confuse people, we record a small set of events about how the app is used: that a scan was started or finished, that a product was checked, which onboarding slide was reached, that a subscription page was opened, or that a purchase succeeded or failed.

This is deliberately limited, and the limits are built into the app rather than only stated here:

• It never includes your photos, your scan scores, your skin concerns, your skin tone or anything you type.
• It is not shared with any analytics company, advertiser or data broker. There is no third-party analytics service in MELAN; the data is stored in our own database alongside your account.
• It is used only to improve the app — never to build a profile of you, and never for advertising.

Emails we send

We only email you about your account, and only these:

• A welcome when you create your account, with tips for scans you can trust.
• One note the day before your free Pro days end, saying what goes back to free. It is never sent if you already subscribe, and nothing is charged if you do nothing.
• The link to reset your password, when you ask for one.

None of them contain your scores, your photos or anything about your skin. We never send marketing emails without your permission, and any email that isn't about your account will always tell you how to stop them.

Services we use

MELAN runs on a few trusted providers. Each gets only what it needs to do its job:

• SupabaseSigns you in, and stores your scan scores and usage data — never photos.
• AnthropicThe AI that powers skin and product analysis. Photos are sent for a single analysis and are not kept afterwards.
• RevenueCatTells the app whether you have Pro — and tells us, so the note about your free days ending never reaches someone who already subscribes. It receives an anonymous app user identifier and your purchase status — never your photos, scores or skin data.
• GoogleIf you choose Continue with Google, Google confirms who you are and shares your name and email address with us.
• ResendDelivers the emails we send you: your welcome, the note before your free Pro days end, and password reset links. It receives your email address and the content of that email, nothing else.
• PaystackIf you subscribe on iPhone or the web, Paystack processes the payment. It receives what it needs to charge you and send your receipt, such as your email address and card details. MELAN never sees or stores your card details.
• Google PlayIf you subscribe on Android, Google Play handles the payment entirely. MELAN never sees or stores your card details.

Where your data is stored

Your account, scan scores and usage data are stored on servers in the European Union, operated by Supabase. Data is encrypted in transit between your phone and our servers. Your progress photos are never transmitted at all — they stay in your phone's local storage.

How long we keep it

We keep your account data, scan scores and usage data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, all of it is deleted from our servers and is not kept in backups beyond the time needed to rotate them. Scan photos and product label photos are never kept at all — they're discarded as soon as the analysis returns. Feedback you send is kept until we've acted on it.

Your controls

From inside the app, at You›Privacy & Data, you can at any time:

• Turn off usage data collection ("Help improve MELAN").
• Delete your entire scan history, permanently.
• Delete all progress photos on your phone.
• Delete your account and all associated data, permanently.

These deletions can't be undone once completed.

How to delete your data or account

• To delete your scan history but keep your account: You›Privacy & Data›Delete all my scan history
• To delete the progress photos on your phone: You›Privacy & Data›Delete all progress photos
• To delete your account and all associated data permanently: You›Privacy & Data›Delete my account & everything This removes your account, email address, scan scores, usage data and all history from our servers. Deleted data is not kept and can't be recovered.

If you've already uninstalled the app and can't delete your account from inside it, email us at melan.app.help@gmail.com from the address you signed up with, and we'll delete your account and all associated data within 30 days.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, or to object to how it's used. The controls inside the app cover access and deletion directly. For anything else, email us at melan.app.help@gmail.com and we'll respond within 30 days.

Children

MELAN is for people aged 13 and over. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian needs to know you're using MELAN and be OK with it, and the app asks you to confirm that before your first scan. Advice for under-18s stays gentle: no strong actives, and a nudge to see a doctor with a parent or guardian for anything serious. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If we learn that we have, we delete it.

Our promise on skin tone

MELAN never suggests bleaching or lightening skin beyond its natural tone. Where we help fade dark marks, the goal is always to return skin to your natural tone — never lighter. This is a permanent policy, not a feature we can change.

The melan.app website

Our website uses no cookies, no analytics and no advertising trackers. Before MELAN launched, the site had a waitlist. Everyone on it was sent the one launch email they asked for, and the list was then deleted: we no longer keep those addresses.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of MELAN after a change means you accept the updated policy.

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