Privacy Policy

Last updated: 5 July 2026

This policy explains what data What shall I cook today? ("we", "this site") collects when you use whatshallicook.today, and why. We built this site to be usable without an account, and we've tried to keep data collection to the minimum needed to make it work.

Information we collect

We do not require an account, and we do not store the ingredients you search for on our servers. Your ingredient selections and meal-type filter are kept only in your browser's address bar (as URL parameters), so a search can be bookmarked or shared — they are not saved in any database.

We do not use tracking cookies, and we do not build user profiles.

Third-party services we use

• Exa.ai — the ingredients and meal type you search for are sent to Exa's search API purely to find matching recipes. This happens on every search and is how results are generated. See Exa.ai's own privacy policy for how they handle this data.
• Vercel Web Analytics & Speed Insights — privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics services we use to understand aggregate traffic and performance. They do not track you individually across sites.
• Upstash Redis — used only to rate-limit search requests per IP address, to prevent abuse. IP addresses are not stored beyond the rate-limit window.
• Content delivery networks (CDNs) — pages load some third-party resources (Google Fonts, Font Awesome icons, the Tom Select ingredient picker) directly from their providers' CDNs, which may set their own minimal technical cookies as part of serving those assets.

Cookies

This site does not set its own cookies. Any cookies present come from the third-party CDNs listed above, which are outside our control. You can block or clear these using your browser's settings at any time.

Outbound links

Clicking through to a recipe takes you to a third-party site (e.g. BBC Good Food, Tesco Real Food, Jamie Oliver, Waitrose), each of which has its own separate privacy policy governing what happens once you leave whatshallicook.today.

Data retention

Since we don't store your searches or maintain user accounts, there's no personal search history to retain or delete. Rate-limiting data is held only briefly (see above) and analytics data is aggregated, not tied to an individual identity we hold.

Your rights

If you're in the UK or EU, data protection law (UK GDPR / GDPR) gives you rights over personal data, including the right to access, correct, or request deletion of data held about you, and the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been mishandled. Given this site doesn't hold personal search data against an identity, most requests would concern the third-party services above directly — but get in touch (see below) if you have any concern and we'll help where we can.

Children's privacy

This site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we add a new feature or third-party service that changes what data is processed. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the most recent change.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Get in touch via GitHub.