Privacy Policy

Introduction

AI Metadata Cleaner ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy policy explains how we handle information when you use our website at aimetadatacleaner.com and our metadata removal service, including our API.

How Your Files Are Handled

Images on our website

Images you clean on our website (JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and similar) are processed entirely in your web browser. They are never uploaded to our servers or stored anywhere outside your device.

Videos, PDFs and RAW photos, and files sent to our API

These files are too large or complex to clean in a browser, so they are sent over an encrypted connection to our own server, hosted by Hetzner in Nuremberg, Germany, cleaned there, and handed back to you. While a file is on our server:

• The original file is deleted as soon as it has been cleaned.
• The cleaned file can be downloaded once. It is deleted right after that download, or after 15 minutes if it is never downloaded.
• An upload that is started but never finished is deleted 6 hours after the last part arrived.
• Files are not included in any backup, and nobody looks at them. Cleaning is fully automatic.

For each file cleaned on our server we record your account, the file type, its size before and after, how long the clean took, whether it succeeded, and the date. We use this to count your monthly allowance and to prevent abuse. We do not record the file's name, its contents, or the metadata that was removed.

Before you sign in, the page can show you what metadata a video, PDF or RAW file contains. That check runs in your browser and does not upload the file.

Account Information

If you choose to create an account on our platform, we collect the following information:

• Email address (used for authentication and account communications)
• Account preferences and subscription status
• If you create API keys: a name you choose for each key and when it was last used. We store only a scrambled (hashed) form of each key, so we cannot read your keys back.

Account data is stored securely through our authentication provider, Supabase. You can delete your account at any time by contacting us.

Analytics

We use Plausible, a privacy-friendly analytics tool that we host ourselves and that does not use cookies, to count page views and actions such as a file being cleaned. We also use Google Analytics (Google LLC) to understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics collects information such as:

• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website or search terms
• Browser type and device information
• General geographic location (country/city level)

Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this data. The information is processed in aggregate to help us improve our website and understand usage patterns. No file contents or metadata are ever included in analytics. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.

Advertising

Free and signed-out visitors see ads served by our advertising partner, RevIQ, and the ad networks it works with, including Google. These partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visits to our website and other websites. Pro and Business subscribers see no ads, and the ad code is not loaded for them.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendor cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices.

Cookies

Our website uses the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — Required for basic website functionality, including authentication and session management
• Analytics cookies — Used by Google Analytics to understand website usage patterns and improve our service
• Advertising cookies — Used by our advertising partner and its ad networks to serve relevant advertisements and measure ad performance

You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate our website:

• Vercel — Website hosting. Vercel may collect standard web server logs including IP addresses and request times. See Vercel's Privacy Policy.
• Cloudflare — Content delivery, DNS, and bot protection. Cloudflare processes requests to our site, including IP addresses. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
• Google Analytics — Website analytics and usage tracking. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Hetzner — Hosts the server in Germany that cleans videos, PDFs, RAW photos and API files, as described above. See Hetzner's Privacy Policy.
• RevIQ — Advertising, for free and signed-out visitors. See RevIQ's Privacy Policy.
• Resend — Sends account emails (sign-up confirmation, password reset) and forwards messages you send us. See Resend's Privacy Policy.
• Supabase — User authentication and account management. See Supabase's Privacy Policy.
• Stripe — Payment processing for subscriptions. Stripe collects payment information directly and we do not store your credit card details. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.

None of these services except Hetzner ever handle your files. Hetzner provides the server hardware; it does not access the files on it.

Data Security

Images cleaned on our website never leave your device. Files cleaned on our server travel over an encrypted connection, are only reachable with your account or API key (or the one-time download link we give you), and are deleted within the times listed above. For account data, we rely on industry-standard security measures provided by our authentication and payment partners.

Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please visit our contact page to get in touch.