PhotoChopper

legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 2 October 2026

This policy explains what the PhotoChopper iPhone app (“PhotoChopper” or “the app”) do with your information. PhotoChopper is made by George Tevosov (“we”, “us”). If you have a question, write to gtevosov@gmail.com.

The short version

  • Your photos stay on your iPhone. The app analyses them with on-device AI. We never upload your photos or videos, and we have no server that receives them.
  • No account, no ads, no selling data. You don’t sign up, and we don’t show ads, sell or rent data, or track you across other companies’ apps and websites. The app does not use the advertising identifier (IDFA) and never shows the App Tracking Transparency prompt.
  • Anonymous usage and crash statistics. We use Google’s Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics to learn which features are used and to fix crashes. These statistics contain counts, durations and app-state names, never your photos, file names, locations or anything you type.

1. Your photo library

PhotoChopper asks for access to your photo library so you can review and clean it. With your permission, the app:

  • reads your photos and videos and the metadata iOS provides (for example date, size, dimensions, media type, burst membership, and the location embedded in a photo, if any);
  • analyses photos on your iPhone using on-device AI and image processing: sharpness and exposure checks, image classification into categories, face-capture quality, aesthetic scores, and “feature prints” used to find look-alike photos;
  • can continue this analysis in the background while your iPhone is charging, using iOS background tasks;
  • deletes photos only when you choose to chop them. iOS shows its own confirmation, and deleted items move to Recently Deleted in the Photos app, where iOS normally keeps them for about 30 days before removing them permanently;
  • marks photos as favourites when you tap the heart, and passes a photo to the iOS share sheet when you choose to share it. What happens next depends on the app you share it to.

You can change or revoke photo access at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos.

iCloud Photos

If you use iCloud Photos with “Optimize iPhone Storage”, some originals are not on your iPhone. To analyse or show those, the app asks iOS to download them from Apple’s iCloud Photos. That transfer is between your iPhone and Apple, under Apple’s privacy policy; nothing passes through us. On cellular and other metered networks, the app asks before downloading.

2. What is stored on your iPhone

To work offline and stay fast, the app keeps a local database (Apple’s SwiftData) and app preferences on your device:

  • the analysis results described above, keyed by iOS’s identifier for each photo, including copied metadata such as dates, sizes and photo location;
  • your review history (which photos you kept or chopped, when, and the space freed) and any batch in progress;
  • your settings, daily-reminder time, streak and other in-app progress.

This data stays on your device. It is not sent to us. It is included in your iPhone’s own backups (iCloud or computer backups) if you use them, as with any app data.

Deleting it: in the app, Settings → Reset lets you Clear analysis data and Clear progress. Deleting the app removes all of its data from your iPhone.

3. Notifications

If you turn on the daily reminder, the app schedules a local notification on your iPhone. No push server is involved, and we don’t receive anything about it. You can turn it off in the app or in iOS Settings.

4. Usage analytics and crash reports (Firebase)

The app uses two Google services, which act as our data processor:

  • Firebase Analytics records app events: screens opened, buttons tapped, and how long jobs such as photo analysis took, with counts, durations and simple names (for example how many photos were processed). It also records a few app-level properties (device model, screen size in pixels, streak range, and the app plan) and the data the Firebase SDK collects automatically, such as app version, iOS version, language, first open and session start. Google derives an approximate country or city from the IP address of the request.
  • Firebase Crashlytics sends a report when the app crashes or records an error (its type and code): the stack trace, device model, iOS version, free memory and storage, and similar technical state.

Firebase uses random identifiers generated for this installation of the app (such as the Firebase installation ID and app instance ID) to count users and group crash reports. These identifiers are not linked to your name, email, Apple ID or photos, and we do not use them to identify you. We never include photo identifiers, file names, file paths, error messages or free text in analytics events.

We use this information only to understand how the app is used and to fix bugs and crashes. Google processes it under the Firebase data processing terms; see Privacy and Security in Firebase and Google’s Privacy Policy. Google may process this data outside your country, including in the United States.

Opting out: the app does not currently have an in-app switch for analytics. If you want us to delete analytics data associated with your installation, email us; deleting the app also resets these random identifiers.

5. Purchases

PhotoChopper offers an optional auto-renewable subscription. Purchases, renewals, cancellations and refunds are handled entirely by Apple through your Apple Account. We never see your name, payment details or billing address. The app only receives from Apple (through StoreKit) whether a subscription is active and which product it is, and records the resulting plan (free or paid) in the anonymous analytics described above.

6. This website

photochopper.xyz is a static website. It sets no cookies and uses no analytics or tracking scripts. If you dismiss the “Get” bar shown in some iPhone browsers, that choice is remembered in your browser’s local storage only. Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs (such as IP address and pages requested) for security and operations.

7. Legal bases (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

We process the limited analytics and crash data described above on the basis of our legitimate interest in keeping the app reliable and improving it. On-device processing of your photos happens only on your device, at your request, to provide the app’s features.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in Europe or the CCPA/CPRA in California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal data, to object to or restrict its processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Because we hold no account data and analytics are anonymous, we may not be able to link data to you, but write to gtevosov@gmail.com and we will help. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in the CCPA, and we will not discriminate against you for using your rights.

9. Retention

Data on your device stays until you clear it in the app or delete the app. Analytics and crash data are kept by Google for a limited period under Firebase’s retention settings and then deleted.

10. Children

PhotoChopper is a general-audience utility and is not directed at children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

11. Changes

If this policy changes, we will update it on this page and change the effective date above. Significant changes will be noted in the app’s release notes.

12. Contact

George Tevosov · gtevosov@gmail.com