Privacy Policy

Chosen photos stay on your device

The photos you choose and the details inside them (date taken, device, lens, location coordinates, place names and so on) are read and shown on this device only. Making a copy without the location also happens entirely on the device. Photos, file names, coordinates and the values of photo details are not sent to a server or used for ads or usage statistics.

Receiving photos

The app reads only the photos you choose in the Android file picker and the photos you send to it from another app with Share. It does not use a permission to read your whole gallery. Android hides the location stored in a photo when it passes the photo to another app, so when you tap “Allow reading location” the app asks for one permission (media location access) to read the location as it is stored. You can still make a copy without the location if you decline. Original photos are opened read-only and are not changed or deleted.

What stays on your device

To read a photo, the app keeps a copy of it in its cache. The copies are deleted when you close the set of photos, and a copy left behind because the app was stopped is deleted once it is an hour old, when the app is opened again. A result copy made for sharing is also kept briefly in the app cache and deleted after an hour. The app keeps no list or history of the photos you opened. Only settings such as theme and language are stored on the device.

Saving and sharing

When you tap Save copy, the result is saved as a new file in the Pictures/ExifViewer folder on your device. It is never written over the original. When you share, you choose the app to send it to. The app does not send anything on its own.

Sending coordinates to a map app

If a photo contains coordinates, a button to send them to a map app is shown. Only when you tap that button and confirm are the coordinates passed to the map app you choose. Otherwise the coordinates do not leave the app. The app does not send coordinates to any outside service to turn them into an address.

Copy

The app puts a value on the clipboard only when you press and hold it in the details list. It does not read the clipboard.

Account

There is no account. The app does not ask for an email or phone number, and there is no sign-in, sign-up or in-app purchase.

Ads

This app is supported by ads. Google AdMob serves the ads, and in doing so the advertising ID (AAID), IP address, device information, app performance diagnostics (such as launch time and hangs) and ad-related app activity (such as ads viewed and tapped) are collected by and shared with Google. An approximate location (country level) may be derived from the IP address. This has nothing to do with the coordinates stored in your photos. Photos, file names, and the coordinates and details inside photos are not used for ads and are not shared. Ads are limited to content rated T (Teen) or below. See Google's policy for details (policies.google.com/technologies/ads).

When ads appear

There are no ads while you view photo details, remove the location from one photo or make a clean copy of it, share or save. An ad may play once when you process several photos in one go, and the app tells you before you tap. If the ad cannot be loaded or you choose not to wait, the app continues without it. A small banner appears at the bottom of the home screen and of the list of several photos, not on the screen that shows one photo's details.

Turning off ad personalization

In Android Settings → Privacy → Ads, you can delete the advertising ID or turn off personalization. Ads will still appear, but they will not be personalized.

Permissions

The ads and statistics SDKs use internet access, network state and advertising ID related permissions, to load ads and send usage statistics. None of them asks you for approval. The only permission you are asked to approve is media location access, and only when you tap “Allow reading location”. The system prompt says “photos and videos”, but the app reads only the photos you choose. The app does not ask for camera, microphone, contacts, device location or notification permission.

Usage statistics

To improve the app and place ads appropriately, the app collects usage statistics with Google Analytics for Firebase. This includes how often the app is opened and for how long, which features are used (for example whether an opened photo was JPEG, PNG or another format, whether a photo had a location or not, whether the location was removed in place or a clean copy was made, the kind of reason if a photo could not be processed, whether the number of photos processed at once was 2 to 5, 6 to 20, or 21 or more, and whether the result was shared or saved), whether an ad notice was shown and the ad was watched, ad impressions, device model, OS version, app version, country and language, and a random identifier assigned to each app install along with the advertising ID. Photos, file names, coordinates, place names and the values of photo details are not sent. The app also uses Firebase Remote Config to change ad settings without an app update, which sends app version, OS version, country and language. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, information that identifies the device is not stored unless you consent.

Third parties

Other than Google AdMob and Google Analytics for Firebase (see Usage statistics above), the app uses no other analytics tools or crash reporters. No outside service receives your photos or their details.

What the app removes

Remove location clears the standard location fields in the photo file and reads the copy again to check. If there is a part the app does not open, such as maker notes, the result screen says so. A clean copy saves only the picture again and leaves out all photo details. Things visible in the picture itself, such as signs, landmarks or watermarks, are not removed either way, and copies you already posted elsewhere are not changed.

Children

EXIF Viewer is not intended for children under 13, because Google AdMob collects the advertising ID, IP address and device information when ads are shown.

Deleting data

Uninstalling the app deletes the cached copies and the settings. Copies you saved must be deleted in your gallery or files app. We keep no copy on a server. You can delete the advertising ID in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads.

There is nothing we can delete

This app has no server that stores user data. Copies on the device disappear when you uninstall the app, and the advertising ID is held by Google, so we cannot look it up or delete it. If you have questions, contact dev@indieway.xyz.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, this page will be updated with a new date. Contact: dev@indieway.xyz. If you email us through Contact us in the app, we use your email address, your message, and the app and device details added at the end of the message (app version, Android version, device model, app language, theme and font size) only to reply to you.