privacy

Privacy notice

What happens to a photo you contribute, and the personal data we do and do not handle. Framework: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (regulator: the ICO).

Who we are

The data controller is Rodrigo Pardo Lojo, the individual operator of chronolapse.art. For any privacy request, contact privacy@chronolapse.art.

What we collect

When you contribute at a location, we process your photo and its capture time (after which all embedded metadata — including any GPS location and device identifiers — is permanently stripped). We also collect minimal technical logs (including your IP address) for security and abuse-prevention purposes; these are kept for a short period (target: 30 days) and then deleted. We never collect your email or any contact detail. Contributions are anonymous.

One scoped exception, with your consent: starting a new memory. When you scan a code that is not on the map yet and choose to start it, we keep the location you provide — read from the photo you pick in your browser (the reading happens locally; what you see is what is kept, and it is kept only if you agree, as its own form field separate from the image — like every upload, the photo file itself may still carry its own embedded copy of the location, which is never read into anything and is permanently stripped with all other metadata in quarantine), or shared from your device, or pinned by hand on a map — together with the name you propose for the spot. That location becomes the memory’s public position on the map once an editor approves it, and we then derive a coarse public region label for it by reverse-geocoding the coordinates server-sideagainst OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim service (the coordinates are the only thing sent, and never from your browser). It describes the place, not you, and is not linked to any identity. The photo itself is still stripped of all embedded metadata exactly as above, and if the start is not approved — the first photo is rejected, or its upload never completes — the proposed name and location are deleted promptly rather than kept.

Your photo is held in a private quarantine area and screened on our own servers: detected faces are discarded or irreversibly blurred (per the location’s setting), vehicle number plates are always irreversibly blurred, explicit content is rejected, and only a cleared image is kept for a human to review. Images are never sent to any third party or external/cloud service.

How contributed photos are used

A cleared, approved photo becomes part of the time-aligned stack for its location. By contributing you agree that your photo may be displayed on this website and may be reproduced in other formats — for example a physical or online exhibition, or a print — as part of the artistic project. It is always shown anonymously. To present it within that stack, we also process and adapt the image, and by contributing you agree to this processing. The full terms are on the terms page.

Legal basis & your rights

The legal basis for your photo is your explicit consent, given at the point of capture (you can decline by simply not uploading). The transient face / number-plate / NSFW scanning — done only to delete or redact — and the security logs rest on our legitimate interest in protecting people who may appear in shot and keeping the service safe. We do face and plate detection(“is something there?”), never recognition — we never try to identify anyone.

You have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction and objection. Because contributions are anonymous, we may be unable to locate a specific photo unless you can identify it (e.g. by location and approximate time). To exercise a right, or to request removal — for instance if a face or number plate slipped past our detectors — use the removal page or email removals@chronolapse.art. You may also complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk).

Suspected criminal activity & lawful requests

If a moderator reasonably suspects a photo relates to criminal activity, we may place it on an evidence hold: it is removed from (or never reaches) public display and preserved with its upload time, capture time, location and uploading IP address so it can be provided to the competent authorities. Held material is kept for up to 12 months (deleted automatically unless the hold is renewed with a recorded justification); a cryptographic fingerprint — never the image itself — is anchored with an independent timestamping service so integrity can be demonstrated later. We will comply with lawful requests from competent authorities (for example the police or a court) and may report material we reasonably suspect relates to criminal activity. Legal bases: legitimate interest (preventing and detecting crime) and legal obligation where disclosure is required.

Cookies & tracking

We use no third-party analytics, no advertising, and no tracking cookies. The only cookie we set is a strictly-necessary session cookie for site administrators; ordinary contributors are not tracked.

International transfers

Contributor personal data (your photo and the security logs) is processed on infrastructure located in the United Kingdom. If that ever changes, this notice will describe the safeguards used.

last revised · 2026·06·12