Last updated: October 3, 2026
I Hate Perfume is a free app from ihateperfume.com. It has no account, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking. This policy explains what the app does with your information. It is also published at https://ihateperfume.com/app-privacy/.
The short version
- We don’t collect any personal information. There is no account, and nothing about you is sent.
- Your scans stay on this phone. Only a barcode number is sent to look the product up, unless you choose to send us a product.
What leaves your phone
- Barcode numbers. If we’ve already reviewed the product, the app finds it in our list on your phone and sends nothing. Otherwise, when you scan or type a barcode, the app sends that number to Open Beauty Facts (world.openbeautyfacts.org); if it finds no ingredient list there, to Open Products Facts (world.openproductsfacts.org); and if it still finds none, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s openFDA service (api.fda.gov), which has the labels of over-the-counter drugs such as sunscreen; and if it still finds none, to ihateperfume.com, which has products we’ve checked ourselves. Only the barcode number is sent. Every copy of the app identifies itself the same way, and the request carries no account, device ID, or location. Like any website, these services see your IP address and may keep logs. Their privacy policies explain what they keep.
- Ingredient data updates. About once a day, the app asks ihateperfume.com whether there is newer ingredient data or a newer list of the products we’ve reviewed, and downloads it if there is. The request carries nothing about you: no account, device ID, or location.
- Fragrance-free finds. When you open the Finds tab, or pull to refresh it, the app downloads the list from ihateperfume.com. Nothing about you is sent.
- Products you send us. Only if you choose to send us a product. You see exactly what will be sent before you tap Send: your photos of the package and its ingredient list (and any optional extra photos you add, such as the back or sides), the barcode, and anything you typed or ticked. Location and all other photo details are removed on your phone before anything is sent, and your original photos aren’t changed. We keep the photos privately, never publish them, and delete them once we’ve reviewed them. If we approve the product, its name, ingredient list, and what the package says are published in the app and on ihateperfume.com. To stop abuse, our server limits how many products can be sent each day. It does this with a scrambled code made from your IP address that changes every day and is deleted after 48 hours. We never store your IP address.
- Missing barcodes. Only if you choose. When a barcode isn’t found, you can tap “Ask us to find it,” or choose “Send missing barcodes automatically.” Then the app sends just that barcode number to ihateperfume.com. We keep the number, how many people asked for it, and the dates, so we can look for the product. You can change this choice in Learn at any time. The barcodes you asked about are also kept in a private list on your phone. About once a day the app checks ihateperfume.com for them, sending only those numbers, so it can tell you when we’ve added one.
- How we look products up. To check a product, we may look its barcode up on a retailer’s website, such as Walmart’s. Our server does this, never your phone, and nothing about you is sent. We don’t keep the retailer’s photos or descriptions.
- Sharing with Open Beauty Facts. We may share the details of approved products (barcode, name, brand, and ingredient list, never photos) with Open Beauty Facts, a free open database, so that other apps and people can use them too.
- Reports. Only if you tap “Just report.” The app sends the barcode, where its ingredient list came from, and the reason you picked. Nothing else: no text you type, no account, and no location. We delete a report once we’ve handled it, and we limit how many can be sent each day the same way we do for products you send us.
- Maker links. After a barcode scan, the app shows a link to the maker’s own ingredient page (for P&G products) or to SmartLabel’s product search (smartlabel.org, run by the Consumer Brands Association). Opening it sends the barcode to that website, and only when you tap the link. The app never contacts them on its own.
- Links. Links to ihateperfume.com, EWG, and official sources open in your browser only when you tap them. From then on, that website’s privacy policy applies.
- Sharing. If you tap Share on a result, Android’s share sheet opens and you choose where the text goes. Nothing is shared unless you choose it.
Nothing else is sent: not the ingredient lists you read or type, not your recent scans, not your list, and no photos unless you choose to send us a product.
- Open Beauty Facts privacy policy
- Open Products Facts privacy policy
- openFDA terms of service
- FDA website policies, including privacy
Camera and photos
The app asks for one permission: the camera, to read barcodes and ingredient lists. You can turn it off in Android settings at any time and still type a barcode or an ingredient list.
Barcodes and text are read on the phone by Google ML Kit, using models built into the app. We removed the part of ML Kit that would send usage statistics to Google, so those reports are dropped on the phone.
Photos the app takes are deleted as soon as the text is read. If you pick a photo from your gallery instead, the original isn’t changed or uploaded; Android gives the app a temporary copy, which is also deleted as soon as the text is read.
What’s stored on your phone
These are stored only on this phone, in the app’s private storage:
- your recent scans (product name, barcode, ingredient list, and date)
- the product type you chose
- your personal ingredient list, if you make one
- a note that you’ve seen the first-run notice
They’re left out of Android backups and device-to-device transfers, so they don’t go to Google’s cloud or to a new phone.
To delete them, tap Clear next to Recent scans on the Scan screen, clear the app’s storage in Android settings, or uninstall the app.
What we don’t do
No analytics, no ads, no crash reporting, no accounts, and no tracking. We don’t sell or share data about you, because we don’t have any.
Android and Google Play
Android and Google Play are run by Google and follow your own settings and Google’s privacy policy. For example, Google Play records app installs, and Android may send crash and usage reports to Google if you turned that on. Google gives app developers summaries of some of this, such as install counts and crash reports, without names or contact details. We don’t control what Google collects.
Children
The app isn’t directed at children under 13, and it collects no personal information from anyone, including children.
Your choices and rights
Because we hold no personal information about you, there’s nothing for us to show you, correct, or delete. What’s on your phone is under your control (see above). For data held by Open Beauty Facts, Open Products Facts, the FDA, or Google, contact them.
Changes
If the app changes what it sends or stores (for example, downloading updated ingredient data from ihateperfume.com, or letting you submit a missing product), we’ll update this policy first. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact
Questions? Email admin@ihateperfume.com or use the contact page on ihateperfume.com.