Privacy Policy
Last updated 11 October 2026
NeedRecipe is an Instagram account (@needrecipe) that replies to a cooking Reel with a written version of its recipe when someone tags it in a comment. NeedRecipe is operated by ZELF. This policy explains what we receive when you use it and what we do with it.
What we receive
When you comment @needrecipe under a Reel, Instagram sends us:
- your Instagram username and an Instagram user ID that is specific to our app;
- the text and ID of your comment;
- the public Reel you commented on: its video, caption, creator's username, link and public comments.
We do not receive your password, your private messages, your followers or anything from private accounts. Instagram does not notify us about tags on private accounts or in Stories.
How we use it
- To produce the recipe: we transcribe the Reel's audio on our own servers, then send the transcript, a few still frames, the caption and the public comments to Anthropic's Claude API, which turns them into a written recipe. Anthropic processes this data on our behalf under its commercial terms, which do not permit using it to train its models.
- To post the recipe as a public reply to your comment.
- To avoid replying twice to the same comment, and to answer later tags on the same Reel from the recipe we already produced.
- To count how many people use NeedRecipe and how often.
We do not sell your data, use it for advertising or share it with anyone other than the service providers named here.
How long we keep it
- The Reel's video, audio, still frames, transcript, caption and comments are deleted as soon as the recipe has been produced.
- We keep the written recipe and the Reel's ID so later tags can be answered instantly.
- We keep a record of each tag (your app-specific user ID, username, comment ID and the date) until you ask us to delete it.
Deleting your data
See how to delete your data. You can also delete your comment on Instagram at any time; our public reply is attached to it.
Contact
Questions about this policy: privacy@needrecipe.app.