Terms of Service
These terms govern your use of the openplate instance that we, SPARQ VENTURES UG (haftungsbeschränkt), operate. Our provider details are in the imprint. openplate is a local-first food-tracking tool. On this instance, the AI that reads a plate photo runs through our server rather than through a provider you bring. By using an account on this instance, you agree to these terms. openplate is open-source and can be self-hosted. If you run your own copy, these terms apply only to our deployment and do not govern your instance.
1. Acceptance of terms
By accessing or using the hosted openplate service, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the hosted service. If you are using openplate on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you have authority to accept these terms on its behalf.
2. What openplate is
openplate is a food-tracking tool. It is built local-first. Your foods, food logs, weight entries, goals, fasts, fasting routine, saved meals, pantry, streaks and awards, and your sharing and research keys are written in your browser on your own device. On this instance, your account also keeps an encrypted copy of that data on our server. This ensures the same diary reaches your other devices and survives a reinstall. We hold that copy as ciphertext. We also hold a recovery key that lets a password reset restore your diary, as explained in the Privacy Policy. On this instance, AI plate identification is provided through us, so you do not buy it from a third-party provider yourself. It is part of the free tier and of the paid plans described in section 4a.
3. Not medical or nutritional advice
openplate is not a medical device. It does not provide medical or nutritional advice. Macro and nutrition figures shown after a plate scan are estimates from the AI provider on this instance. They are approximations, not measurements, and they can be wrong. Food search nutrition data is also provided for general information only. Do not rely on openplate for medical, dietary, or health decisions. Consult a qualified professional instead. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for the accuracy of AI estimates or nutrition data, or for any decisions you make based on them.
4. AI plate identification
On this instance, AI plate identification is part of the free tier and of the paid plans (section 4a). You do not need to provide an API key. When you scan a plate, your browser sends the photo to our server. Our server forwards it to the AI provider we use, under our key. The photo is read once to identify the food. We do not store or log the photo, but it does pass through our server. The AI provider is a third party, and its photo handling is governed by our contract with it, not your own account. We pay the AI provider for this service.
Your account carries a daily limit of AI scans. When you reach the daily limit, scanning stops until the next day. The free tier also has a fixed number of free scans and a time limit, and a paid plan has an end date. Section 4a explains what happens when the free tier or a plan ends. We may change the daily limit. An administrator can view your daily limit and the end date of your plan, as described in the Privacy Policy.
4a. Plans, prices and payment
The free tier
A new account starts on the free tier. The free tier includes 10 free AI scans or 14 days, whichever comes first. The 14 days count from the day you create your account. You do not need a payment card for the free tier. One scan is one AI action you start: a plate or label photo, a typed meal, or a pantry request. A scan that fails does not count.
When the free tier or a plan ends
After your tenth free scan or at the end of the 14 days, whichever comes first, the free tier ends and the app locks. The app also locks when a paid plan ends, for example after a cancellation or a failed payment. While the app is locked, you can use only the functions listed below. To keep using openplate on this instance, you need to order a paid plan. A lock deletes nothing. Your diary stays on your device and in your account, and you can use it again as soon as you order a plan.
What stays available without a plan
With or without a plan, and while the app is locked, you can always:
- export your data;
- delete your account;
- change your privacy settings;
- read these terms and our other legal pages, including the Privacy Policy, the imprint and the withdrawal page;
- cancel a plan on the page "Verträge hier kündigen", and declare a withdrawal on the page "Vertrag widerrufen".
Plans and prices
The price and the term of each plan are those shown on the order page before you place your order. Each stated price is a final price and includes German value added tax. No additional fees apply.
openplate Plus comes in two plans, a monthly plan and a yearly plan. The monthly plan renews each month until you cancel it. The yearly plan runs for one year and is paid in advance. After that year, it continues as the monthly plan at the monthly price and renews each month until you cancel it. It never renews for another year. You can cancel at any time on the public page named "Verträge hier kündigen", without signing in. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid billing period, and you retain access until that date.
Ordering and payment
You order a plan on the order page in the app. The contract is concluded there, when you press the button "Order with obligation to pay". After you press it, Stripe takes the payment.
If a payment fails, your plan ends when your paid period expires, and the app locks as described above. Your food diary remains intact.
Payments are processed by Stripe. You enter your payment card details directly with Stripe. They never reach our servers, and we never see or store your card number.
The seller is SPARQ VENTURES UG (haftungsbeschränkt), as identified in the imprint. Stripe issues an invoice for every payment, which displays our VAT identification number DE312546809.
Right of withdrawal
As a consumer, you have fourteen days to withdraw from the contract. Our withdrawal instruction and the model withdrawal form are on the withdrawal page, titled "Right of withdrawal and model withdrawal form". You can save or print both from your browser. To withdraw, you can use the online function on the page "Vertrag widerrufen", or send the model form or any other clear statement to the postal or email address in the imprint.
When you purchase a plan, you expressly request that we begin the service before the withdrawal period expires, and you acknowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal once we have performed the contract in full. We record both statements with your order.
5. Acceptable use
When using the hosted service, you agree not to:
- scrape, crawl, or bulk-harvest the service or its food data by automated means;
- attempt credential stuffing, brute-forcing, or any other unauthorised access to accounts that are not yours;
- send excessive automated requests, for example hammering the food-search endpoint, beyond ordinary interactive use;
- probe, disrupt, or overload the service, or attempt to circumvent its rate-limiting or security controls;
- use the service for any unlawful purpose or to upload malicious code.
The hosted service applies rate-limiting and login/registration throttling to protect availability. Repeatedly tripping these limits, or otherwise abusing the service, may lead to temporary blocks or to suspension of your account under the next section.
6. Your account, suspension, and termination
You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure. We may suspend or terminate access to the hosted service if you breach these terms, abuse the service, or where we are required to by law. Where practical and lawful we will give notice, but for serious abuse or security reasons we may act immediately. Terminating your access to the hosted service does not affect the tracker data stored locally on your own device.
You can stop using the hosted service at any time. Because openplate is local-first, most of your data is already under your direct control. Clearing the site’s local storage erases your on-device tracker data. On this instance, every account syncs its diary to our server. You can delete your account in Settings at any time. It removes the account and every encrypted copy the server holds, immediately and with no grace period.
7. Encrypted sync
On this instance, sync is part of every account and is not optional. Every account keeps an encrypted copy of your tracker data on our server, and sync carries it between your own devices. You can request an account with an email address. We send a link to that address, and the link creates the account. Sync has no separate price. Like the rest of the app, it is available on the free tier and on a paid plan (section 4a).
- Encryption. Your data is encrypted on your device before upload, using keys derived on your device from a passphrase only you hold. Our server stores this encrypted data. It also stores an account recovery key. This key allows us to restore your data after a forgotten passphrase, and it technically allows us to read your data, as described in Section 3 of the Privacy Policy.
- Version retention. To make sync robust, the server keeps a limited history of your encrypted data for each account: the five newest versions, the newest version of each of the last 14 days, and up to 14 versions from before a sync that removed much of your diary at once, each for 14 days. The server keeps at most 33 versions of an account. It deletes a version when none of these rules keeps it. A deleted entry can therefore stay in an older encrypted version on our server for about 14 days. By using sync you agree to this retention model.
- Deleting your account. If you delete your account, your locally stored tracker data on your own devices is unaffected. Deleting the account removes your server-stored encrypted blobs immediately, with no grace period, and they cannot be restored. (Routine encrypted backups may retain the ciphertext a little longer before they rotate out, as described in the Privacy Policy. It stays encrypted there.)
- A forgotten passphrase. If you forget your passphrase, you can reset it by email. We send a reset link to the email address on your account. Opening this link provides your recovery key to your device, which then sets a new passphrase. The reset link can only reach you through that address. Maintaining access to that email address is your responsibility, and we are not liable for any data loss that results from losing access.
8. No warranty and limitation of liability
The hosted service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that AI estimates and nutrition data will be accurate. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, for loss of data (including data made inaccessible by a lost passphrase), or for decisions made in reliance on estimates produced by the AI provider we use on this instance. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
9. Self-hosting
openplate is open-source and can be self-hosted. These terms describe the specific hosted instance we operate. On a self-hosted deployment, the operator of that instance, not the openplate project, is responsible for its own terms, its own users, and its own operation, and these terms do not apply to it. We charge nothing for self-hosting the open-source software. The free tier and the paid plans in section 4a apply only to the instance we operate.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as openplate evolves. When we make a material change, we will update the "Last updated" date above. Continuing to use the hosted service after a change means you accept the updated terms.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Germany, where the operator is based, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Mandatory consumer-protection rights you have under the law of your country of residence are not affected.
The German version of these terms is the binding one. This English text is a translation, provided for information only.
12. Contact
Questions about these Terms of Service, or requests to delete your account, can be sent to us at info@openplate.de.