Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Pricer ("we", "our" or "us") is a price comparison service that helps New Zealanders compare grocery, pharmacy and pet product prices. Pricer is run by Nick Vaudrey in New Zealand, who is responsible for your personal information and acts as our privacy officer.

This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with and the choices you have. It covers the Pricer website, the Pricer iOS app, the Pricer browser extension and any AI service you connect to your account. It is written to comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

2. Information We Collect

You can browse prices without an account. If you create one, we collect what we need for the features you use:

• Account details: your name and email address, and a securely hashed password if you set one. If you sign in with Apple, we receive the identifier, name and email address Apple provides, which may be a private relay address.
• Security details: two-factor authentication settings and recovery codes, sign-in sessions, and the access tokens used by the app, the extension and connected services.
• Shopping and store preferences: your list, chosen substitutes, home and selected stores, how far you are happy to travel, and your notification settings.
• Recipes and pantry: recipes you save or import, including ingredients, quantities, instructions, images and source links, your pantry staples and ingredients you exclude.
• Receipts: receipt photos or PDFs you upload, and the items and prices we read from them.
• Assistant conversations: the messages you send the Pricer assistant and its replies.
• Location: if you allow it, your device location when you look for nearby stores. We use it for that search only, and do not store it with your account or in our logs.
• Browser extension: when you use the extension on a retailer's product page, the address of that page, so we can show Pricer's prices for the product. It does not send us your other browsing.
• Devices: if you turn on push notifications, your device's notification token and app version.
• Communications: feedback, support requests and other messages you send us.
• Usage and technical data: your IP address, browser and device type, and a record of how you use Pricer (see section 8).

We never ask for bank account or payment card details, and you do not buy anything through Pricer. Receipts can include card digits, loyalty numbers or store locations, so please cover anything you would rather not share before uploading.

Most information comes directly from you. We also receive information from Apple when you sign in with Apple, from AI services you connect to your account, and from web pages you ask us to import. Retailer prices and product details are not personal information.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Create and manage your account and keep it secure;
• Price your list, recipes and receipts at the stores you choose;
• Answer your questions through the assistant and suggest cheaper alternatives;
• Send price updates for products you save, push notifications you allow, and product news if it is switched on in your settings;
• Respond to your enquiries and feedback;
• Understand which features are used so we can improve them, and keep product matching accurate; and
• Meet our legal obligations and prevent misuse or fraud.

Substitutes chosen by many people can help us spot products that are the same across retailers. We only use these choices in aggregate, never to identify you.

4. How We Use AI

Some Pricer features use AI models from established AI providers based in the United States. They process information on our behalf to provide the feature you are using:

• Assistant: your message, earlier messages in the conversation, and the account context needed to answer, such as your stores, travel preference, priced list, substitutes, pantry staples and recipes.
• Recipe import: the text of the recipe page you import, and its ingredients matched against products at your supermarkets.
• Receipt scanning: the receipt image or PDF you upload, and the items read from it.
• Substitutes and product matching: product names, sizes and prices. These do not include your name or account details.

Under their business terms, these providers do not use information we send them to train their models. They may keep it for a limited time to operate their service and prevent abuse.

We store your assistant conversations so you can continue them, and you can clear a conversation at any time. We also log which model handled a request and its cost, without the content of the request. Please do not share health, financial or other sensitive information with the assistant.

The "Ask AI" links on product pages open Claude or ChatGPT with a question about that product. What you do there is covered by that provider's own terms and privacy policy.

5. AI Services You Connect

You can connect an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT to your Pricer account. A connected service can read your list, stores, travel preference, pantry staples and recipes, look up prices and import recipes you ask it to. It cannot change your account or security settings.

A connected service is not acting for us. It handles what it receives under its own terms and privacy policy, which may involve processing outside New Zealand. You can disconnect it at any time from AI Agents in your account. Disconnecting stops further access but does not delete copies it already holds.

6. Who We Share Information With

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We use these service providers to run Pricer:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers that run our servers, store our backups and protect the site from attacks;
• AI providers for the features described in section 4;
• An email delivery provider, which handles the contents of the emails we send you;
• An error and performance monitoring provider, which sees your account details, IP address and the pages you request when something goes wrong or runs slowly;
• Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to measure how the website is used (see section 8);
• A maps provider, which receives your IP address and the map area you view; and
• Apple, if you use Sign in with Apple or push notifications, including the notification content.

These providers may only use your information to provide their service to us. We may also disclose information where required by law, a court order or a lawful request from a government agency, or to the new operator if Pricer is transferred, who must continue to honour this policy.

7. Information Stored Outside New Zealand

Most of our service providers store or process information outside New Zealand, including in Australia and the United States. They act on our behalf, so we remain responsible for your information under the Privacy Act 2020 and use established providers whose terms commit them to keeping it secure and using it only to provide their service to us.

8. Cookies and Analytics

We use an essential session cookie to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. Pricer will not work properly without it.

The website uses Google Analytics, which sets cookies and collects usage events, a random browser identifier and device information so we can see which pages are visited and how usage changes over time. We only look at aggregated reports, do not send Google your name or email address, and do not run Google Analytics on password reset or email verification pages. Google handles this information under its own privacy policy. You can block these cookies in your browser or with Google's opt-out add-on without affecting how Pricer works.

The website also uses Microsoft Clarity, which sets cookies and records how pages are used, including clicks, taps, scrolling and mouse movement, along with which features you use (such as adding a product to your list or choosing a store), so we can see where pages are confusing or broken and improve them. When you are signed in we tag these recordings with a random code derived from your account so we can follow one person's visits across devices; the code cannot be turned back into your account by Microsoft. Clarity masks the text you type and other sensitive content before it leaves your browser, we do not send Microsoft your name or email address, and we do not run Clarity on password reset or email verification pages. Microsoft handles this information under its own privacy statement. You can block these cookies in your browser without affecting how Pricer works.

Our own usage records

When you are signed in we keep a record, linked to your account, of the pages and features you open, when you sign in, and a session identifier, along with your IP address and browser and device type. We use it to understand which features are useful, keep accounts secure and decide which browsers to support. It does not include what you search for, save or ask the assistant. These records are stored on our servers, deleted after twelve months, and deleted straight away if you delete your account.

9. Data Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit, hashed passwords, optional two-factor authentication, access controls and security monitoring. No system is completely secure, but if a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell you and the Privacy Commissioner as the Privacy Act requires.

10. How Long We Keep Information

• Account, list, store and recipe information: until you delete it or your account.
• Assistant conversations: until you clear them, or twelve months after the conversation was last used.
• Receipt files: deleted once the receipt has been read. The items read from it are kept for twelve months.
• Recipe import drafts: deleted after one week if not saved.
• Usage records and AI usage logs: twelve months.
• Connections you revoke or that expire: removed within about two months.

When you delete your account, we immediately delete your account, list, recipes, receipts, assistant conversations, feedback, usage records, devices and connections. Copies in our backups are removed as those backups expire. Service providers keep information only for the limited periods set by their own terms.

11. Your Rights and Choices

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can ask to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you; and
• Correct information that is wrong. If we disagree, you can ask us to attach a statement of the correction you wanted.

We will respond within 20 working days. You can also delete your account from your profile at any time, change your email and push notification settings, unsubscribe from product news using the link in any of those emails, and disconnect AI services from AI Agents.

To make a request, email [email protected].

12. Children

Pricer is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us information, please contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time and will revise the "last updated" date above. We will tell you about significant changes through Pricer or by email before they take effect.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, contact our privacy officer at [email protected]. If you are not happy with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.