Privacy Policy
A plain-language, complete account of what this site collects and who processes it.
Effective September 2, 2026.
Interim, pending counsel review
This policy is written in house. It is accurate about what the site does today, and it has not yet been reviewed by counsel. A counsel-approved policy will replace it; until then, read it as a complete description of our practice rather than a finished legal instrument.
- Published by
- HigherBar
- Contact
- hello@higherbarfood.com
- Effective
- September 2, 2026
Without an account
You can use every check on this site without signing up. The searches you run (product, ingredient, and whole-food lookups), the ingredient lists you paste, and the barcodes you check are sent to our database and, for a barcode check, to Kroger's product API, to return results. Nothing about the product is stored on our servers: we do not keep the ingredient lists you paste, and nothing Kroger publishes about a scanned product (label, price, availability, image) is stored by us. The infrastructure that serves the site (Vercel) and our database (Supabase) generate standard technical logs such as IP address, browser type, and request details.
Searching
When you use the search box, the words you type are sent to our server to find matching products, ingredients, foods, and recipes, and sent again as you type so we can suggest matches. We do not store your searches or those suggestions, and neither is sent to analytics; like any other page request, the address appears in the standard technical logs described above, and nothing else records what you searched for. If you paste an ingredient list into the search box, it is held in your browser's session storage only until the checker page opens and is then removed; it is never put in a web address. If you scan a barcode, only the digits are sent to look up the product, and the camera image never leaves your device. We count anonymous usage: a search submitted, a result opened, a scope changed, a next page. Those counts carry ranges (how long the query was, roughly how many results came back, roughly how fast) and never the text you typed, and they are sent only when analytics is switched on for the site. While the new search is rolling out, a cookie holding a single number between 0 and 99 stays on your device for seven days to decide whether you see the new search entry points; it identifies nothing about you and is not sent to analytics.
On this device
Your preferences (diet, allergens, ingredient rules), your chosen store, and your recent barcode scans are kept in your browser's local storage so the site works signed out. The barcodes you scan stay on this device and you can clear them any time, from the Clear control on the scan page or by clearing your browser's storage. Device data stays on the device unless you create an account, in which case your preferences are copied to it once.
With an account
If you create an account we store your email address and a password hash, handled by Supabase Auth, plus a sign-in cookie so you stay signed in. Your preferences are stored in a row that only you can read or change. We use your email only to sign you in and to send the confirmation and password-reset messages you request.
Connecting a Kroger account
Adding an item to your Kroger cart requires connecting your Kroger account. Only after you approve that on Kroger's own consent screen do we store the access credential Kroger issues, in a row only you can read, and we use it for one thing: adding items you choose to your cart. Store search results, prices, availability, and product images shown on product pages come live from Kroger each time and are not stored. You can revoke the connection from your Kroger account or by emailing us.
Who processes data
Supabase (database and authentication), Vercel (hosting and logs), and Kroger (store, price, availability, product label, and cart requests). We do not sell personal data and we do not build advertising profiles. There are no advertising scripts on this site. Vercel's cookieless analytics is the only measurement script we will run; it is off unless it is switched on for a deployment, it sets no cookies, and it never receives what you searched for.
Your choices
If you are signed in, you can delete your account yourself from the preferences page; that removes the account, your preferences, and any Kroger connection immediately. To delete an account you can no longer sign in to, or to ask what we hold about you, email hello@higherbarfood.com from the address on the account. Signed-out data lives only in your browser and is yours to clear. If a verdict on this site looks wrong to you, tell us: report a wrong verdict and we will re-check it. It is the same address the site footer uses.
Have a question about your data?
Reach out any time. We are happy to walk through exactly what this site does and does not collect.