Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 8, 2026

You Were There ("we", "our" or "us") operates the You Were There mobile application (the "App") and the website youwerethere.app (the "Website"). This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have.

1. Who is responsible for your data

We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. For any question or request about your data, write to [email protected].

Service operated by: Alessandro Colombo · Via E. De Amicis 59, Cornate d'Adda (MB) · VAT no. 13439910962 · [email protected]

2. Information we collect

Account information

• Email address — to identify your account and to contact you about it
• Display name — shown within the App
• Password — stored only in hashed form, never in plain text
• Social login data — if you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name, email address and a unique identifier from those services

Photos, descriptions and generated images

• The photos you upload to create an image
• The scene you choose, or the description you write in your own words (the "prompt")
• The images generated for you, which are kept in your private gallery

Credits and purchases

Your credit balance, the history of credits received and used, and the record of your purchases (package, amount, currency, date and the store's transaction reference). Payments are handled by Apple or Google: we never receive your card or bank details.

Invitations (referral program)

Your invitation code, who invited whom, the status and dates of each invitation, and how many rewards you have earned.

Public Showcase and community safety

If you publish a photo, or rate, report or block content, we keep the data described in Public Showcase and community safety.

Consent records

When you accept or withdraw the AI processing consent, we record the date and time, the version of the consent text, your IP address and your device's user agent, so that we can demonstrate that consent was given.

Usage and device data

• Generation history (scenes used, timestamps)
• Device information (device type, operating system, language)
• App interaction data (features used, session duration)
• Crash reports and performance data

How this is collected, and by which providers, is described in Analytics, crash reporting and notifications and Ad campaign measurement below.

3. Why we use your data and on what legal basis

• Providing the App — creating and managing your account, generating your images, keeping your gallery, sending service emails (such as email verification and password reset) and notifications (such as "your photo is ready" or "a photo is about to expire"). Legal basis: performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• Processing your photos with a third-party AI service — only after you give your consent in the App (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time (see AI photo processing).
• Credits, purchases and invitation rewards — performance of our contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) and compliance with tax and accounting obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)).
• Safety and abuse prevention — checking descriptions against our content rules, moderating the Showcase, handling reports and blocks, enforcing our Terms of Service and keeping consent records. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe and lawful (Art. 6(1)(f)) and, where applicable, legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)).
• Keeping the App working and improving it — analytics, crash reporting and performance monitoring. Legal basis: our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)); you can object at any time.
• Measuring our ad campaigns — only if you turn it on. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)).

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use your photos to train AI models.

4. AI photo processing

Your uploaded photos are processed by a third-party generative AI service to create the requested images. Before any photo is processed, the App shows you a consent screen that names the provider receiving your photo, what is sent and how long it is kept; you must tap "I Understand and Agree" to proceed, and you can withdraw your consent at any time from Profile → Privacy.

Third-party AI provider

The generative AI service we use is the Google Gemini API, operated by Google LLC (image model: gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview, also marketed as Nano Banana 2). Google processes requests under its own Gemini API Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Under Google's Gemini API terms, paid-tier inputs are not used to train Google's models.

When you write a description in your own words, we also use a lightweight Gemini text model to translate it into English (if you wrote it in Italian, Spanish, French or German) and to check it against our content rules before the image is generated. These text checks receive only the text of your description, never your photo.

Other AI providers may appear in the App's source code as inactive fallbacks; none is enabled in production at the time of this policy's last update. If we ever enable an additional AI provider, we will update this section and ask for your consent again.

What is sent, and what is not

Sent to Google: the photo you choose to upload (as image data over an encrypted connection), plus the description taken from the scene you chose or written by you.

Not sent: your email address, account identifier, name, payment information, device identifiers, contacts, location or any other personal data.

Face data

The App does not collect, process or store face data in the form of biometric identifiers or templates. Specifically, the App does not:

• Perform face recognition or face identification
• Extract facial landmarks, face geometry or biometric templates from your photos
• Use FaceID, ARKit/Vision face APIs, ML Kit face detection or any other face or biometric SDK
• Create any biometric profile that could uniquely identify a person from their face

The photos you upload may contain your face (or the faces of other people), but they are sent to our AI provider only as a visual reference to render a new AI-generated image. No facial embeddings, biometric templates or face IDs are derived or stored. The original photo is stored together with the images generated from it and deleted as described in Data retention.

AI labels on generated images

Generated images contain metadata identifying them as AI-generated: the standard "created by an AI system" marker, the App's name, a random photo identifier and the AI provider used. They may also carry Content Credentials (C2PA). Images you save or share from the App also show a visible "AI-generated image" label and the youwerethere.app address. This metadata contains no personal data about you.

5. Public Showcase and community safety

You can choose to publish one of your generated images in the public Showcase. Publishing happens only after you confirm it, and we record the date of that confirmation.

• What becomes visible to other users: the image, its title, description and category, and the description (prompt) used to create it.
• Ratings, reports and blocks: other users can rate, report or block published content. We keep the ratings you give, the reports you make (reason and optional note) and the users you block.
• Moderation: we keep moderation decisions, warnings, suspensions and records of descriptions that broke our content rules, so that we can apply the strike system described in our Terms of Service.

You can ask us at any time to remove a photo you published. Deleting your account removes all your published photos immediately.

6. Analytics, crash reporting and notifications (Firebase)

We use Firebase, a Google service (Google Ireland Limited for users in the European Economic Area, Google LLC elsewhere), which processes data on our behalf:

• Google Analytics for Firebase — usage statistics (screens viewed, features used, generation and purchase events). It processes an app instance identifier, your internal account ID (a random identifier, not your email or name), device model, operating system, language, an approximate location derived from your IP address (the IP address itself is not stored), and on Android the advertising ID where your device settings allow it. We do not use Google Analytics data for advertising. Event-level data is kept for no longer than 14 months.
• Crashlytics — crash reports (technical error details, device state, installation identifiers), kept for 90 days.
• Cloud Messaging — delivery of push notifications, using a Firebase installation identifier and a push token. We remove the token from our servers when you sign out or delete your account.
• Remote Config — App configuration settings, using a Firebase installation identifier.
• Performance Monitoring — App speed and network performance (installation identifier, IP address, device and network type). IP-associated data is kept for 30 days, installation-associated data for 60 days.

Firebase never receives your photos, descriptions, email address or name. We rely on our legitimate interest in keeping the App working, fixing errors and improving it (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); you can object at any time by contacting us. See Firebase privacy information.

7. Ad campaign measurement (optional)

Only if you turn on the optional "Ad campaign measurement" setting (offered at the App's first launch, on the sign-in and sign-up screens, on the consent screen and in Profile → Privacy, and off by default), we use AppsFlyer Ltd. (Maskit 14, Herzliya, Israel) to understand which of our ad campaigns led you to install the App. AppsFlyer acts as our data processor under a Data Processing Agreement.

What is collected: a device identifier (on Android the Google advertising ID and app set ID; on iOS the identifier for vendor — never the IDFA, and we never ask for tracking permission), IP address (used to derive an approximate region), device model, operating system, language, and these in-app events: install, sign-up, first generated photo, and credit purchases (amount, currency, package).

What is never sent: your photos, descriptions, name, email address or account identifier.

Sharing with ad platforms: AppsFlyer passes these events to the platforms where we advertise (TikTok, Apple Search Ads and, in the future, Meta) so they can measure and optimize our campaigns. On iOS, attribution relies on Apple's privacy-preserving frameworks (SKAdNetwork/AdAttributionKit and AdServices), and no data is used to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

Legal basis and control: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). It is separate from the AI processing consent, and you can withdraw it at any time in Profile → Privacy. Once withdrawn, no further data is sent; the App works exactly the same either way.

Retention and location: data is hosted by AppsFlyer on servers in the European Union and kept for as long as our agreement with AppsFlyer is in place, after which it is deleted or anonymized. You can ask us to delete it earlier (see Your rights). Any access from outside the EU (for example by AppsFlyer group companies) is covered by an adequacy decision or by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. See AppsFlyer's Privacy Policy and sub-processors.

8. Our website

• No cookies and no trackers: the Website sets no cookies and uses no analytics or advertising trackers. Fonts and images are served from our own servers, so visiting the Website sends no data to third parties.
• Campaign links: when you arrive from one of our campaign links, we count the visit with the campaign name, the referring page, the page you landed on and the type of device (iOS, Android or computer). We do not store your IP address or your full browser identifier. The store buttons carry the campaign name, so that Apple and Google can report to us, only as totals, how many store visits and downloads each campaign produced.
• Invitation links: if you open a friend's invitation link, the invitation code is passed to Google Play so that both of you receive the reward.
• Server logs: our servers record the address requested (including its parameters, such as campaign or invitation codes) and the result, to operate and protect the service. Our application logs do not record your IP address or browser identifiers; our hosting provider may process IP addresses technically to deliver the Website and protect it from abuse.

9. Data retention

• Photos: the original photo you upload and the images generated from it are kept together in your private gallery and deleted automatically after 30 days. Once you have created at least 5 photos this period becomes 90 days, and once you have created at least 15 photos your photos are no longer deleted automatically. Photos you mark as favourites are kept until you delete them; removing the favourite restores the normal period. We send you a reminder 7 days before a photo expires, and expired photos are removed from our storage by a daily job. You can delete any photo at any time.
• Account data is kept as long as your account is active.
• Consent records are kept to demonstrate the consent you gave.
• Moderation records (reports, blocks, warnings, suspensions) are kept as long as needed to keep the community safe and prevent abuse.
• Analytics and campaign measurement data are kept as described in sections 6 and 7.

If you delete your account, all associated data is deleted as described in the next section.

10. How to delete your account

You can delete your account at any time directly from the App, without contacting support:

1. Open the App and sign in.
2. Go to Profile.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Delete account.
4. Confirm the action in the two confirmation dialogs.

When you confirm account deletion:

• All your photos, including the original photos you uploaded and the AI-generated images, are permanently deleted immediately from our servers and storage.
• Any photos you had published in the public Showcase are removed from the Showcase immediately.
• Your ratings, push notification tokens, invitation records, notification preferences and sign-in sessions are removed immediately.
• Your account record is anonymized (email, name, social-login identifiers and avatar are erased) and you will not be able to sign back in.
• Residual data (such as transaction records retained for legal or accounting purposes) is permanently purged within 30 days.

If you cannot use the in-app option for any reason, email us at [email protected] and we will process your deletion request within 30 days.

11. Service providers and international transfers

We share personal data only with the providers we need to run the service, each for the purpose stated:

• Google Gemini API (Google LLC) — AI image generation, and translation and content checks on the text of your descriptions (see AI photo processing).
• Firebase (Google) — analytics, crash reporting, push notifications, remote configuration and performance monitoring (see section 6).
• AppsFlyer Ltd. — optional ad campaign measurement, only with your consent (see section 7).
• Cloudflare (R2) — storage of your photos and generated images.
• Railway — hosting of our servers and database.
• Resend — delivery of service emails (such as email verification and password reset); it receives your email address and the content of the email.
• Google Sign-In and Sign in with Apple — sign-in only; no images are shared with these services.
• Apple App Store and Google Play — processing of in-app purchases; on Google Play, also the invitation code of an invitation link.

Some of these providers are based in the United States or may access data from outside the European Economic Area. Such transfers are covered by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified, or by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Equivalent protection. We have reviewed the privacy commitments of the third parties listed above (in particular Google LLC for Gemini API processing) and confirmed that they provide a level of protection for your personal data that is the same as, or equivalent to, the protection we provide ourselves — including encryption in transit, restricted purpose of use, no training on paid-tier inputs, and contractual confidentiality and security obligations.

12. Children's privacy

The App is not intended for children under 13 years of age (or under 16 in the European Union). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we discover that we have collected data from a child under these age limits, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [email protected].

13. Your rights

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you have the following rights:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure — request deletion of your personal data
• Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Objection — object to processing based on our legitimate interest
• Restriction — ask us to limit the use of your data
• Withdrawal of consent — withdraw the AI processing consent or the ad campaign measurement consent at any time from Profile → Privacy, without affecting processing carried out before withdrawal

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority: in Italy, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, or the authority of the country where you live or work.

14. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS)
• Secure storage of passwords (hashed, never stored in plain text)
• Regular security assessments
• Access controls and authentication for internal systems

While we strive to protect your data, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting a notice in the App or sending you an email, and where a change requires your consent we will ask for it. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when the policy was last revised.

16. Contact us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, write to [email protected].