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Last update 17 Oct 2026

Privacy policy

charlies.recipes gives designers practice challenges. It’s run by Charlie Mitchell in the UK, who is responsible for your information (the “controller”). Questions or requests: hello@charlies.recipes.

The short version: you can use the challenges without an account, there are no ads, nothing follows you around the web, and we never sell your information or show ads.

Without an account

Your settings (what you design, your levels, light or dark) and anything you save are kept in your browser on this device. They aren’t sent to us. Our host, Vercel, handles each request to the site and keeps short-lived logs, including your IP address, to run it and keep it secure.

With an account

When you sign in, we keep:

  • Sign-in details: your email address and, if you use Google or Apple, the name and email they share with us.
  • Your profile: the display name and website you choose, what you design, your levels and your preferences.
  • Your work: the briefs you save, when you start and finish them, the time you spent, your notes, links, and the images and videos you upload.
  • Gallery activity: the work you like and any work you report.
  • Security records: sign-in times and IP addresses, kept by our database provider to protect accounts.

Google user data: signing in with Google or Apple

If you sign in with Google, we ask Google only for the basic sign-in scopes, openid, email and profile, and Google shares your name, email address and profile picture with us, as its sign-in screen says. We use them only to create your account and sign you in:

  • Sign-in (openid): confirms it’s you, so Google can sign you in to your account here.
  • Email address (email): identifies your account, and lets you sign in again with Google or an email link.
  • Name (profile): fills in your display name to start with. You can change it on the Account page, and it’s only shown to others alongside work you choose to share.
  • Profile picture (profile): kept with your sign-in record by our database provider, but not used or shown anywhere in the app.

We don’t ask for access to anything else in your Google account: no contacts, files, calendar or email. We never sell information from Google, use it for advertising, or pass it to anyone other than the providers below that run the app, and only for running it. You can remove our access at any time in your Google Account (Security → Your connections to third-party apps), and deleting your account here deletes what we hold.

charlies.recipes’ use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

If you sign in with Apple, Apple shares your name and email address, or a private relay address if you choose to hide yours. We use them in the same way.

Why we use it

  • To run your account and keep your work and settings in sync across devices (to provide the service you asked for).
  • To show work you choose to share in the public gallery (the same).
  • To keep the app secure, deal with reports and stop misuse (our legitimate interest in running a safe service).
  • To answer you when you get in touch.
  • To see which parts of the app are used, by counting visits without identifying anyone (our legitimate interest in improving the app).

We don’t use your information for advertising, profiling or training AI, and we don’t sell it.

You don’t have to give us anything to use the challenges. An account needs an email address, since that’s how you sign in; without one you can’t save work to your account or share it. No decisions about you are made automatically.

What other people can see

Your work is private unless you share it. When you share a piece to the gallery, anyone can see it along with your display name and website, and how many likes it has. Your email address, settings and private work are never shown. People who report work aren’t shown to anyone.

As the person running the app, Charlie Mitchell can technically see stored information, and only looks when needed: to review reported work, fix a problem or answer you.

Who helps us run the app

They act on our instructions and can’t use your information for their own purposes. Some are based in, or use servers in, the US; where information leaves the UK, it’s protected by the UK’s approved safeguards (such as the UK-US data bridge or standard contract clauses).

Cookies and storage

We don’t use cookies for tracking or advertising. The app stores only what it needs to work in your browser: your settings, light or dark mode, and, when signed in, your sign-in session. That’s why there’s no cookie banner.

We count visits with Vercel Web Analytics: which pages are viewed, the site you came from, your country, browser and device type. It uses no cookies and doesn’t identify you; visits are told apart for 24 hours by an anonymous code, then it’s discarded. We remove anything personal from page addresses before they’re counted.

Data retention and deletion

We keep your account and work until you delete them. Deleting a piece removes it straight away; deleting your account (Account → Delete my account) removes your account, all your work, your uploads and your likes, including everything we received from Google or Apple. Copies in our provider’s backups are gone within 7 days. Reports are deleted along with the work they’re about.

To delete your data or remove our access:

  • delete your account yourself: Account → Delete my account;
  • or email hello@charlies.recipes from your account’s email address, and we’ll delete it within one month;
  • remove our access to your Google account at any time: Google Account → Security → Your connections to third-party apps → charlies.recipes → Delete all connections.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can:

  • get a copy of your information;
  • correct it (you can change most of it yourself on the Account page);
  • have it deleted;
  • object to or limit how we use it;
  • take it to another service in a common format.

Email hello@charlies.recipes and we’ll reply within one month. It’s free.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, tell us first: email hello@charlies.recipes. We’ll confirm we’ve got it within 30 days, look into it, keep you updated, and tell you what we found and what we’ve done.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time, at ico.org.uk.

Age

You need to be 13 or older to create an account.

Changes

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top, and tell signed-in users about anything important.