This Privacy Policy explains how mypiceffects.com ("we", "our", "us") collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our website, photo effects service, and API. By using mypiceffects.com you agree to the practices described below.

1. Introduction

mypiceffects.com is an online platform that lets you apply creative photo effects and video animations to your photos, either through our website or via our REST API. We value your privacy and aim to be transparent about what data we collect and why.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account information

When you register an account, we collect:

• Email address — used for login, account recovery, and important service notices.
• Password — stored as a one-way hash; we never see your raw password.
• API key — auto-generated for you, used to authenticate API requests.

2.2 Usage information

To operate the service we automatically log:

• The effect IDs you use and the time of each request.
• Whether each request succeeded or failed (used for credit accounting).
• The URL of the resulting image or video (so you can download it).
• Your IP address and basic browser information.

2.3 Payment information

If you purchase a paid credit plan, payment is handled by our payment processor. We do not store your credit card or banking details on our servers. We only receive a transaction reference confirming successful payment.

3. Your Uploaded Photos

Specifically:

• Photos are never written to disk on our web servers.
• Photos are not used to train any AI models.
• We do not retain copies, thumbnails, or backups of your uploaded photos.
• The processed result (the output image or video) is hosted by the effect provider for a limited time so you can download it. We recommend downloading and saving the result immediately.
• We log a reference to the upload (a generated filename, never the photo itself) for the purpose of debugging and credit accounting.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and operate the photo effects service.
• Process your requests and deliver results.
• Manage your credit balance, including the daily free credit redemption.
• Authenticate your account and API requests.
• Detect and prevent abuse, fraud, and security threats.
• Send important service notices (account changes, security alerts).
• Improve the service based on aggregate usage patterns.

We do not sell or rent your personal information to advertisers or any third parties.

5. Cookies & Sessions

We use a small number of cookies and session-based identifiers to make the site work:

• Session cookie — keeps you logged in while you use the site.
• Guest counter — a session variable that tracks how many free generations a non-logged-in visitor has used (limit: 2). No personal data is stored.
• CSRF token — protects against cross-site request forgery attacks.

We do not use third-party tracking cookies or advertising pixels. You can clear cookies at any time from your browser settings; doing so will log you out of mypiceffects.com.

6. Third-Party Services

mypiceffects.com relies on a small number of third-party services to operate:

• Effect processing engine — a third-party photo effect provider receives your uploaded photo bytes and returns the processed result. Your photo is transmitted over an encrypted connection and is governed by the third party's own privacy policy. We do not share your account email or other personal information with this provider.
• Payment processor — handles paid credit purchases. They store your payment method directly; we never see or store your card number.
• Hosting infrastructure — our servers run on industry-standard cloud infrastructure with appropriate security controls.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect your information:

• All traffic to and from mypiceffects.com is encrypted using HTTPS.
• Passwords are stored using a one-way cryptographic hash with salt.
• API keys are scoped per account and can be reset by contacting support.
• Uploaded files are validated against multiple security layers (magic-byte checks, integrity checks, dimension limits) to prevent malicious uploads.
• Access to production systems is restricted to authorised personnel.

8. Data Retention

We retain different types of data for different lengths of time:

• Account data (email, password hash, credits, API key) — kept as long as your account is active.
• Usage logs (effect requests, timestamps, success/failure) — kept for up to 12 months for accounting, debugging, and abuse prevention.
• Uploaded photos — never stored; discarded from memory immediately after processing.
• After account deletion — your personal data is removed; usage logs are anonymised within 90 days.

9. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to fix incorrect information.
• Deletion — request that your account and personal data be deleted.
• Portability — request your account data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent — stop using the service at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at mypiceffects@gmail.com or via our contact page. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Children's Privacy

mypiceffects.com is intended for users aged 13 years and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

If you are between 13 and 18, please review this policy with a parent or guardian before using the service.

11. International Users

mypiceffects.com is available worldwide. If you access the service from outside the country where our servers are located, please understand that your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in other countries. By using the service, you consent to this transfer.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will also notify registered users by email or by a notice on the website.

Continued use of mypiceffects.com after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

This Privacy Policy works together with our Terms & Conditions.