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.
• 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 and optional lens.
• Optional purchase date, current value, currency, value basis and source label. These fields are private member context.
• 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

• 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.

We do not intentionally publish precise GPS coordinates, source filenames, original storage paths, device identifiers or camera serial numbers. 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.

• 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 and notification access are optional and requested only when you invoke the related feature. They are not conditions of membership.

• Secure and recover your account.
• Create your private record of Things, photographs and memories.
• 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.

Session-room conversations and Session Atlas locations are not part of that public read model. They are limited to confirmed attendees and the organiser. Session Atlas is available only 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 current-cohort public Thing projection is limited to category, brand, product, optional lens and the member-declared owned relationship. It does not include purchase date, current value, value source, private notes, local image paths or Thing source images.

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

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.

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.

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.
• 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.