Privacy policy

otherthing is an independent, photography-first service operated from Sydney, Australia. References to “otherthing”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this policy refer to the operator of the otherthing product and website.

This policy describes the product and release boundaries known on the effective date. We will update it before collection or use materially changes.

Account and profile

• Name, username, email address or Sign in with Apple identifier for account and authentication purposes. Account email and authentication credentials are not part of a public profile or Thing record.
• A display-safe profile image, optional city label and the account identifiers required to keep your record separate from others.

Photographs and capture context

• Photographs you choose to publish, uploaded as app-rendered JPEG derivatives rather than source originals.
• Capture fields you authorise the app to inspect or store, such as camera, lens, date, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and focal length.
• Evidence labels describing whether context was supported by a Content Credential, metadata or a member declaration.

Things and collection context

• Things you record as owned, including category, brand, product, model, optional lens and optional edition.
• Optional purchase date, price paid, current value, currency, value basis and current-value source label. On a new public Thing record, the date, current value, currency and basis may be public. Price paid and the raw current-value source label remain private. Older records remain private unless you separately agree to publish them.
• Where and from whom you got a Thing (a place label such as a shop or a city, never an address or coordinates) and the name you give it. These remain private on older records; they may be public on a new public Thing record.
• A rendered image derivative for a new public Thing record. The source image and its device-local filenames and paths stay private. Receipt images are not uploaded.
• Editable links between a photograph and a Thing, including whether the link was member-selected, metadata-supported or accepted from a suggestion.

Club and safety

• Personal use entries: the Thing, the day, an optional note, whether you entered it or confirmed an on-device suggestion, and a private link to a post if you later share it. These entries are private by default. We store them to sync and restore your record and, only when you turn on Show my uses, show eligible days to signed-in members as described in section 06.
• Session records, Conversations, replies, comments, RSVPs and, when you opt in during a live In-person Session, temporary approximate Session Atlas locations.
• Reports, blocks and the minimum operational records needed to review safety concerns.

Device, notifications and support

• Notification installation identifiers, APNs device tokens and notification preferences when you enable push notifications.
• Messages and diagnostic details you choose to include when contacting support. Do not send passwords or source photographs.
• Basic website request information processed by our host for delivery, reliability and security, such as IP address, browser and request time.

Source photographs remain on your device. otherthing is designed to inspect source files locally and upload only display-safe JPEG derivatives when you choose a public destination.

When public Thing records are available in a supported app version, a new record may include the name, rendered image, Met details and current value you enter. Existing private records are not made public or copied into a public projection by an app update. We will ask separately before changing the audience of an older record. Price paid and receipt images remain private.

We do not intentionally publish precise GPS coordinates, source filenames, original storage paths, device identifiers, camera serial numbers, account email or authentication credentials. Unpublished drafts remain private until you submit them. On-device suggestions do not receive precise GPS, filenames, credential payloads or source originals as text-model prompts.

Some authorised capture fields may be stored separately from the metadata-safe image so the photograph can retain useful context after embedded metadata is removed.

In a version with the on-phone index, you can choose to turn on Find photos made with my Things on this phone. otherthing then asks for Photo Library read access, limited or full, and reads the camera make, model and lens recorded in your photos on the device. The local index keeps counts, capture dates, photo identifiers, matching keys and its settings and progress. It stays on your device: nothing from it is uploaded, published or shown to anyone else. Forget the index in Settings deletes it, and declining or limiting access leaves everything else working. Turning the index off hides its counts until you enable it again; forgetting it, logging out or deleting your account clears it.

• Directly from you when you create an account, edit a profile, record a Thing, share a photograph or participate in the Club.
• From your device when you grant a relevant system permission, choose a file or enable notifications.
• Automatically as required to authenticate, secure, store, deliver and recover the service.
• From another member when they interact with your public content or make a safety report.

Location, notification and Photo Library access are optional and requested only when you invoke the related feature. Photo Library read access for the on-phone index, where available, is requested only when you turn the index on. None of these is a condition of membership.

• Secure and recover your account.
• Create and maintain your Things record and personal history.
• Publish the photographs and narrow context you specifically choose to share.
• Provide Sessions, Conversations, comments and a temporary attendee-only Session Atlas.
• Send the notification categories you enable and route you to the relevant content.
• Prevent abuse, respond to reports, enforce the Terms and protect other members.
• Operate, debug and improve reliability without using third-party advertising trackers.
• Comply with law and protect legal rights.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use member activity for third-party advertising, and the current website does not use non-essential cookies.

Club is designed as a public read model. Depending on what you publish, guests may be able to view your display-safe profile, approved photographs, Sessions, Conversations, replies, comments, RSVP counts and narrow public Thing identity.

In a supported version with public Thing records, a new record may also show the name you give the Thing, its rendered image, Met date and place/source labels, and current value, currency and basis. Public Thing images use rendered derivatives, never source images. A Thing attached to a public post is visible with that post; a Thing attached to a new Session post is public. Earlier participant-only Session posts keep their original audience. Previously private Thing records remain private through an app update. Price paid and receipt images stay private.

New Session posts and their photographs are public. Earlier participant-only Session posts remain limited to their confirmed attendees and organiser. Session Atlas locations are separate: they are available only to confirmed attendees and the organiser while an In-person Session is live, requires your separate choice to share an approximate location before you can see other sharers, and does not retain a location history.

A public Thing record does not include your account email, authentication details, price paid, receipt bytes, source image, original storage path, serial number, unpublished draft or private purchase notes. It does not publish precise GPS or on-phone index data. Those boundaries apply across public profile, post and Session contexts, regardless of a post's audience.

Reference prices are not active yet. If introduced, they will use members’ recorded purchase prices to calculate a shared reference for a catalogue product and currency. Before activation, the app will explain how the reference is calculated and provide the Settings control Share my recorded prices as an anonymous reference. Turning that control off will exclude your recorded prices from shared reference calculations. A reference price is not an appraisal.

Show my uses is off unless you turn it on, on the You page. When it is on, members who are signed in and have completed membership can see, on your profile, the days in the last 13 weeks on which you recorded using each published Thing you own now, and your last active day. They never see a note, the time, a place, how you recorded it, a link to a shared post, an unpublished or past Thing, or anything older than 13 weeks. Guests and the Members list never see uses, and blocks apply both ways. Turning it off hides those days at once. In versions supporting Hide from profile, hidden Things are excluded from the shelf and shared use days; their public records and existing posts remain public.

Every post destination currently offered in the app is public. The app must disclose that audience before publication. Private posts are future work.

When pixel art generation is available, we send a metadata-safe copy of a Thing photo to OpenAI to generate pixel art. This happens in two ways. You can choose it for a Thing in Field mode. In a supported version, if you turn on Pixel art when I capture, each Thing you capture with the camera in Field mode is also sent once, automatically, after you save it. Things you already have are never sent automatically.

The app asks before any automatic request: when you join, before your first capture in Field mode, or in the Pixel art sheet. It is off until you allow it, and you can change it in Settings at any time. Your answer is kept on the device, so another device asks again.

The copy includes whatever is visible in the photo, which can include people, text or surroundings in the frame. We do not send the source original, photo metadata, receipt, precise location or private purchase details. The result is stored privately for your account. It changes the Field display; it does not publish a post or replace the public Thing photo. Daily limits apply, so a capture may not receive pixel art. Generation records and stored results are removed with the Thing or your account. The preview shown while pixel art is drawn is made on your device and sends nothing.

We disclose personal information only where needed to operate the service, where you direct us, where required by law or where needed to protect safety and legal rights. Current infrastructure may include:

• Apple for Sign in with Apple, App Store distribution and push-notification delivery.
• Supabase for authentication, database, storage and server-side service functions.
• Vercel for hosting and delivering this website.
• OpenAI for generating pixel art from the metadata-safe photo copy described above, only when you choose or allow it.

These providers may process information in Australia and overseas locations where they or their subprocessors operate. Their locations can change, and the exact service region must be confirmed before a broader release. We require providers handling user data to protect it consistently with this policy and applicable law.

We retain account information while your account is active and for as long as reasonably needed to provide the service, resolve disputes, protect members, maintain security and meet legal obligations.

You can delete your account from Settings inside the app. Account deletion removes the hosted account, associated records, private photo storage and public profile avatar, subject to short-lived operational backups and information we are legally required to retain. Shared user-generated content is included in the account deletion operation.

Deleting hosted images does not remove copies already saved by other people or immediately clear every browser and delivery cache.

A private safety record may be retained only where reasonably necessary to handle a report, prevent abuse or comply with law.

• Edit your profile and correct member-entered information.
• Choose whether to publish photographs and withdraw your own shared photographs where the feature is offered.
• Stop sharing your approximate location in a Session Atlas, or disable notifications or app-authored haptics, without losing core account access.
• Block or unblock another member.
• Where the on-phone photo index is available, choose whether to enable it, limit Photo Library access in iOS Settings, or use Forget the index in the app to remove it.
• Where pixel art at capture is available, turn Pixel art when I capture on or off in Settings. Turning it off stops automatic requests; you can still choose pixel art for a single Thing.
• Reference prices are not active yet. When available, turn off Share my recorded prices as an anonymous reference in Settings to exclude your recorded prices from shared references.
• Log out or delete your account in the app.
• Ask to access or correct personal information, or make a privacy complaint, through the operator contact route.

We will review privacy requests and complaints, confirm identity where necessary and respond within a reasonable period. If you are not satisfied, you may have a right to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or another relevant regulator.

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information, including account-scoped access controls, private data boundaries, metadata-safe derivatives, protected local storage and constrained public projections.

No method of storage or transmission is completely secure. Please use a strong, unique password if you choose email registration and contact us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

We may update this policy when the product, provider set or legal obligations change. The effective date above will change when a new version is published. We will provide additional notice when a change materially affects existing members.

For privacy enquiries, access or correction requests and complaints, use the operator contact page and identify the request as relating to otherthing. Do not include passwords or source photographs.