Privacy Policy
KAI-ching is a free, independent New Zealand grocery price-comparison tool at kaiching.co.nz. This page explains what personal information we collect, why, and your rights under New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020. Plain English, no surprises.
- We collect as little as possible, and we never sell your data.
- Your trolley, preferences and budget stay on your own device, so we don't see them.
- The only personal information we hold is your email, and only if you choose to give it (newsletter signup or to be notified about a feature).
What we collect, and why
- Your email address, if you give it to us. That's when you subscribe to the newsletter, or ask to be notified about an upcoming feature. We store it with our email provider (Mailchimp) so we can send you the weekly savings email. Signups use double opt-in — we email a confirmation link first, and you can unsubscribe anytime via the link in any email.
- Email newsletter analytics. Our newsletters, sent via Mailchimp, include standard open and click tracking so we can see how many people opened an issue and which links were useful. This applies only to the emails we send, not to the website.
- Feature interest (no personal data). When you tap "I want this" on an upcoming feature, we record only which feature and store you were interested in — never your email or anything identifying — so we can gauge demand. Asking us to notify you is a separate, optional step (see above).
- Website usage analytics. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which is privacy-first: no cookies, no cross-site tracking, no personal identification. It only tells us aggregate things like how many people visited and which pages are popular. If you arrive via a campaign link (say, from our newsletter or a social post), we also count which campaign brought you — just the campaign label, nothing about you.
- On-device data (we don't collect this). Your trolley, preferences, budget and saved shop are stored locally in your browser on your own device. They never leave your device or reach us. Clearing your browser data removes them.
- AI features. If you use "Build my shop", the text you type (which may include household or dietary details you choose to share) is sent to our AI provider (Anthropic) to generate your result. If you use "Scan a receipt", the receipt image is sent to Anthropic to read; we ask it to extract only store, date, items and total, and to ignore any card or loyalty numbers or names. In both cases the result is returned to you and we don't store your text, images, or AI requests. Please don't upload anything you wouldn't want processed, and crop out personal details from receipts where you can.
- Basic technical data. Like any website, our server briefly handles technical data such as your IP address, used only to keep the service running and to apply fair-use limits on the AI. It isn't used to identify you and isn't kept long-term.
Who we share it with, and where it goes
We don't sell or rent your information to anyone. We use a small number of trusted providers to run the service, and they store and process data outside New Zealand, mainly in the United States. Each is bound by its own privacy commitments and data-processing terms, which provide safeguards comparable to those required by New Zealand law. By using these features you consent to your information being processed overseas as described.
- Mailchimp (Intuit, USA): the email newsletter; holds your email only if you give it, and handles newsletter open/click analytics.
- Anthropic (USA): powers the AI features; processes your request text or receipt image to generate a result.
- Cloudflare (USA): privacy-first, cookieless analytics and security.
- Railway (USA): hosting.
How long we keep it
We keep your newsletter email for as long as you're subscribed, and remove it when you unsubscribe or ask us to. Feature-interest records (which hold no personal data) are kept only as long as useful for gauging demand. Technical data like IP addresses is short-lived and not retained long-term. We don't store AI request text or receipt images.
Your rights
Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can ask to see, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you (in practice, your newsletter email). Unsubscribing removes you from the list, or you can email us and we'll sort it. If you're ever unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to us first, and then to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz).
Data breaches
If a privacy breach occurs that could cause you serious harm, we'll notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as required by Part 6 of the Privacy Act 2020.
Cookies
The website doesn't use tracking or advertising cookies, and our website analytics are cookieless. Emails we send via Mailchimp do include standard open/click tracking, as noted above.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.
Contact
Questions or requests: hello@kaiching.co.nz.