Privacy at FacesOf.

1. About this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to FacesOf websites, apps and related digital services (together, the Service). It is intended to work internationally. Privacy rights and legal requirements differ between countries, and mandatory local protections continue to apply where relevant.

FacesOf acts as the operator responsible for the personal data described in this policy. Contact details for privacy questions and requests are provided through the official FacesOf website and project contact channels.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use FacesOf, we may process:

• Account information, such as your email address, authentication identifiers, public username, account creation time and account status.
• Social sign-in information when you choose an external sign-in provider. The provider may send FacesOf basic profile information needed to authenticate your account, such as an identifier, name, email address or profile image, depending on the provider and your settings there.
• Profile and preference information, including your public username, preferred language and appearance settings.
• Discovery activity, such as the Faces you discover, points awarded, submission times and related game progress.
• Photos and contribution data that you choose to submit, together with associated timestamps, provenance, captions, reports or other information you provide.
• Location information when you allow the browser or device to share it for navigation, proximity checks or discovery verification.
• Technical information that may be generated when the Service is accessed, such as IP address, browser or device information, request logs, error information and security-related events.

FacesOf does not receive or store your password in readable form. Authentication is handled through the authentication service used by FacesOf.

3. Location data

Location is used because FacesOf is a location-based discovery experience. When you grant location permission, the Service may use your current coordinates to show your position, calculate a walking route, determine whether you are inside a discovery area, or verify that a submission was made from the relevant area.

Precise device location is not intended to become part of your public profile. FacesOf aims to process precise location only for the functions that need it and does not intentionally publish a participant's live or historical device-location trail.

You can deny or revoke location permission in your browser or device settings. Some discovery and verification features may then be unavailable.

4. Photos and metadata

Submitted photographs may be stored so that discoveries can be verified, preserved and shown in your collection or, where appropriate, the wider FacesOf project. Image files may contain technical metadata. FacesOf may process metadata where needed for verification, security, provenance or moderation.

FacesOf does not intend to expose precise device-location metadata publicly merely because it is embedded in an uploaded image. Public location information may instead refer to the architectural Face or general place documented by the project.

Rights relating to submitted photographs are addressed separately in the Contributor Terms.

5. How we use information

We use personal information where reasonably necessary to:

• create, secure and maintain user accounts;
• authenticate users and provide sign-in and recovery flows;
• operate the map, navigation and location-based hunt;
• record discoveries, points, collections and submissions;
• verify photos, locations and contribution provenance;
• moderate content and investigate abuse, fraud or misuse;
• respond to support, privacy and legal requests;
• maintain, troubleshoot and improve the Service;
• protect the security and integrity of FacesOf and its users;
• comply with legal obligations and enforce project rules.

6. Public information

FacesOf is partly a public cultural project. Information intended to be public may include your chosen public username, approved photographs or contributions, attribution, appreciation counts and contextual information connected to a documented Face.

Your account email address, authentication credentials and precise device location are not intended to be displayed publicly.

7. Service providers and third parties

FacesOf relies on specialist providers to operate the Service. They may process information on behalf of FacesOf or receive technical requests necessary to provide their services.

• Supabase is used for authentication, database functions and storage of account and project data.
• Vercel is used to host and deliver the web application and may process normal hosting and request logs.
• Map and routing providers, including map-tile or geographic services used by the Service, may receive the technical information required to serve maps or routes.
• Social sign-in providers such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn or X are involved only when you choose to authenticate through them. Their own privacy policies govern information they process independently.

FacesOf may also disclose information where required by law, to protect rights or safety, or in connection with a legitimate restructuring or transfer of the project, subject to applicable law.

8. Cookies and local storage

FacesOf may use browser storage and similar technologies that are necessary to keep you signed in, remember language or appearance preferences, maintain security and support core Service functionality.

FacesOf does not currently operate an advertising network and does not use personal information for third-party behavioural advertising.

9. Automated verification

FacesOf may use automated systems to help verify whether a photo corresponds to a documented Face, detect duplicates or suspicious activity, moderate contributions, or assist with project metadata. Automated checks support project operations and may be followed by human review where appropriate.

FacesOf does not knowingly use participant photographs to train a general-purpose generative AI model, or license them to another party for that purpose, without separate permission.

10. International processing

FacesOf is intended for an international community, and service providers may operate infrastructure in more than one country. Information may therefore be processed outside the country where you live. Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, FacesOf and its providers are expected to use legally recognised transfer mechanisms or other appropriate protections.

11. How long we keep information

FacesOf keeps personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including maintaining accounts and project provenance, fulfilling legal or security obligations, resolving disputes and preserving legitimate archival records.

Retention periods can differ by data type. Information connected to a public or archival contribution may need to be retained differently from temporary navigation data or routine technical logs.

12. Your choices and privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or other controls over personal information, and in some circumstances to object to processing or withdraw consent.

You may also change browser permissions, sign out, update account preferences, or request account or contribution-related action through the project's official contact channels.

FacesOf may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests. Some information may need to be retained where required by law or where another lawful retention reason applies.

13. Security

FacesOf uses technical and organisational safeguards intended to protect personal information, including access controls and private storage for account-related contribution files where appropriate. No online system can guarantee absolute security.

14. Children

FacesOf is not intended for children who are below the minimum age at which they may independently consent to use an online service under the law that applies to them. Where parental or guardian permission is legally required, it must be obtained before an account is created or a contribution is submitted.

15. Sale of personal information

FacesOf does not sell personal information for money and does not knowingly share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. If the project's practices materially change, this policy and any legally required choices will be updated before those practices are introduced.

16. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as FacesOf develops. The effective date and version shown above identify the current notice. Material changes may also be communicated through the Service where appropriate.

17. Contact

Privacy questions, data requests and concerns can be sent through the official FacesOf contact channel published on the Service. FacesOf will provide any additional controller or representative information required by applicable law as the project expands into relevant jurisdictions.