Privacy Policy

MELAN (“we”, “us”, “the app”) is a cosmetic wellness app built to help you understand and track your skin — with a particular focus on melanin-rich skin, and built to work honestly for every skin tone. This page explains exactly what we collect, what we never do, and how you stay in control.

The short version

What we collect

• Account information: the email address you sign up with (or the info provided if you use Google Sign-In), and a password (stored securely, never visible to us in plain text).
• Scan scores: the numeric results of your skin and product scans (e.g. overall score, sub-scores, detected tone band). The photos used to generate these 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: information needed to keep the app running, such as authentication tokens and the timestamps of scans used for streak tracking.
• 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 below, including how to turn it off.
• 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 do NOT collect or do

• We do not store the photos you take to scan your skin or a product label — they're processed and discarded.
• We do not upload your before/after progress photos anywhere — they stay on your device only, using your phone's local storage.
• We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers.
• We do not run ads inside MELAN.
• We do not use any third-party analytics or advertising service. Our usage data stays in our own database.
• We do not diagnose medical conditions. MELAN is a cosmetic wellness tool, not a medical device, and nothing in the app should be treated as medical advice. Where 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 solely to personalize your experience inside MELAN — your dashboard, your routine suggestions, your progress graph, and SIMI's responses 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 parts 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.

You can turn it off. Open MELAN → You → Privacy & Data → “Help improve MELAN” and switch it off. Collection stops immediately, and anything still waiting to be sent from your phone is discarded. Deleting your account deletes this data along with everything else.

Third-party services

MELAN uses trusted infrastructure providers to operate:

• Supabase — for account authentication and storing your scan scores and usage data (not photos).
• Anthropic — the AI provider that powers skin and product analysis. Photos are sent for a single analysis pass and are not retained afterward.
• RevenueCat — manages subscription status so the app knows whether you have Pro. It receives an anonymous app user identifier and your purchase status. It never receives your photos, scores, or skin data.
• App store payment processors (Google Play / Apple App Store) — if you subscribe, your payment is handled entirely by the app store; 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 remain 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 retained in backups beyond the period needed to rotate them. Scan photos and product label photos are never kept at all — they are discarded as soon as the analysis returns. Feedback you send is kept until we have acted on it.

Your controls

From inside the app (You → Privacy & Data), you can at any time:

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

These deletions cannot be undone once completed.

How to delete your data or account

• To delete your scan history without deleting your account: open MELAN → You → Privacy & Data → “Delete all my scan history.”
• To delete progress photos stored on your device: 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 retained and cannot be recovered.

If you have already uninstalled the app and cannot delete your account from inside it, email us at melan.app.help@gmail.com from the address you signed up with, and we will 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 is used. The controls inside the app cover access and deletion directly. For anything else, email us at melan.app.help@gmail.com and we will respond within 30 days.

Children

MELAN is intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we learn that we have collected information from someone under 18, 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.

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.

Contact

Questions about your data or this policy? Email us at melan.app.help@gmail.com, or use the Feedback option inside the app.