Terms of Service

1. Agreement to These Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the website ExifReader.com and all related tools and services (collectively, the "Service"), operated by Andreas De Rosi ("Operator", "we", "us", or "our").

By accessing or using the Service in any way, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to all of these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

2. Description of the Service

ExifReader provides free, browser-based tools for reading, viewing, editing, and removing image metadata (including EXIF, IPTC, and GPS data), AI-metadata detection, and related image utilities. We also offer AI Metadata Cleaner ("AMC"), a native macOS app that cleans metadata locally on your device; AMC has a free tier and a paid Pro licence, which are governed by Sections 16 to 18 below. The free web tools are provided for general informational and convenience purposes only.

3. Provided "As Is" — No Warranties

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE OPERATOR EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or that any metadata, analysis, or output will be accurate, complete, or reliable.

4. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE OPERATOR — NOR ITS OWNERS, DEVELOPERS, CONTRACTORS, OR CONTRIBUTORS — BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, including but not limited to:

• Direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages;
• Loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, or files;
• Loss, corruption, alteration, or unintended disclosure of any image, metadata, or other content you upload or process;
• Business interruption, or any errors or inaccuracies in any output of the Service;
• Any decision made or action taken in reliance on the Service.

This limitation applies regardless of the legal theory on which a claim is based — whether contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, or otherwise — and even if the Operator has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Where liability cannot lawfully be excluded but may be limited, the Operator's total aggregate liability to you for all claims is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid to use the Service (which, for a free service, is zero / EUR 0), or (b) the minimum amount required by applicable law.

5. Mandatory Statutory Liability (Carve-Out)

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable mandatory law. In particular, nothing here limits liability for damages arising from intent (willful misconduct) or gross negligence, from injury to life, body, or health, or under any applicable mandatory product-liability or consumer-protection statutes. Outside of such cases, the limitations and exclusions in these Terms apply in full.

6. Assumption of Risk

You acknowledge and agree that your use of the Service is entirely at your own risk. You are solely responsible for maintaining your own backups of any files before using the Service, and for independently verifying any information the Service provides before relying on it for any purpose.

7. Your Content and Responsibilities

You retain all rights to the files and content you upload. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that:

• You own, or have all necessary rights and permissions to upload and process, any file you submit;
• Your use of the Service complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and third-party rights (including copyright, privacy, and data-protection laws);
• You will not upload content that is unlawful, infringing, malicious, or that you are not authorized to process;
• You will not upload files containing highly sensitive, confidential, or special-category personal data;
• You will not misuse, overload, attack, reverse-engineer, scrape, or attempt to disrupt or gain unauthorized access to the Service.

You are solely responsible for the content you upload and for the consequences of your use of the Service.

8. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Operator and its owners, developers, and contributors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use or misuse of the Service; (b) any content you upload or process; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.

9. Data Processing and Privacy

Uploaded files are processed to provide the requested functionality and are intended to be deleted after processing. However, we do not guarantee absolute security or privacy. You upload files at your own risk and should not submit information you cannot afford to have lost or exposed. Your use of the Service is also subject to any Privacy Policy or Disclaimer published on this website.

10. No Professional Advice

The Service does not provide legal, forensic, technical, or other professional advice, and its output must not be treated as authoritative, certified, or suitable for legal proceedings. For professional matters, consult a qualified expert.

11. Third-Party Software and Links

The Service relies on third-party software (including ExifTool) and may link to third-party websites. The Operator makes no warranties regarding, and accepts no liability for, any third-party software, content, or websites.

12. Availability, Modification, and Termination

The free web tools are provided free of charge, and we may modify, suspend, limit, or discontinue any part of the free Service at any time, without notice or liability. Paid AMC Pro licences are governed by Sections 16 to 18 and by your statutory rights. We may also restrict or terminate your access to the free Service at any time if you violate these Terms or for any other reason, without liability to you.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. Changes take effect when posted on this page, and your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. Please review this page periodically.

14. Severability and Waiver

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary, or severed, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). To the extent permitted by law, the courts having jurisdiction at the Operator's place of residence shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes. Mandatory consumer-protection rights of your country of residence remain unaffected.

16. AI Metadata Cleaner (AMC) Pro Licence

16.1 What Pro is. AMC is a native Mac app that strips image metadata locally on your device. The free tier cleans single files. Pro unlocks bulk and whole-folder cleaning and is a paid, one-time licence (not a subscription).

16.2 What you get (Founding Licence). When you buy an AMC Pro licence, you receive a perpetual right to use AMC Pro version 1.x on up to two (2) Macs you personally own or control, for personal use. "Perpetual right to use 1.x" means you may keep using any 1.x release for as long as you like, with no recurring fee. It does not include version 2.0 or any later major version, and it is not described as a "lifetime" licence.

16.3 Offline activation, honour-based limit. AMC verifies your licence fully offline, with no account, no login, and no phone-home. The two-Mac limit is therefore honour-based. Please respect it.

16.4 Your licence key. After purchase you receive an AMC licence key by email from [email protected]. You unlock Pro by entering that key in the app. Keep your key private; it is what proves your licence, and we are not responsible for use of a key you have shared or published.

16.5 What you may not do. You may not resell, sublicense, rent, or redistribute the app or your key; remove or alter notices; or attempt to defeat the licence check to unlock Pro without a valid key. Normal personal use, including your own backups, is fine.

16.6 Non-destructive by default; backups. By default, Pro cleaning is non-destructive: your originals are kept and each cleaned copy is written alongside it with a "_no_ai_metadata" (or "_no_metadata") suffix. An optional Overwrite-originals mode changes files in place. Please keep your own backups before using Overwrite-originals mode.

16.7 Updates. We may issue 1.x updates. Installing them is recommended but not required. The app only checks for updates when you choose "Check for Updates…"; it makes no automatic network calls.

16.8 Honest limits. Removing metadata changes only metadata, not the image pixels. It cannot remove Google SynthID or other pixel-level or statistical watermarks and fingerprints, and it does not make an AI-generated image "undetectable."

16.9 As is; statutory rights preserved. Beyond the rights you have by law, AMC Pro is provided "as is" as set out in Sections 3 to 5, and your mandatory statutory rights as a consumer are not affected or reduced.

17. Purchases, Paddle, and Refunds

AMC Pro purchases are sold and processed by Paddle.com Market Limited acting as Merchant of Record. This means your contract of sale is with Paddle, and payment, invoicing, and applicable tax/VAT are handled by Paddle under its own terms and privacy notice. Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy. Nothing here limits your mandatory statutory consumer rights.

18. Third-Party Software in AMC

AMC bundles ExifTool by Phil Harvey, which is free software distributed under the same terms as Perl itself (your choice of the Artistic License or the GNU General Public License), and it relies on a Perl runtime. Those components remain under their own licences, whose full texts are included with the app. Nothing in these Terms limits your rights under those licences.

19. Contact

For questions about these Terms, email [email protected] or use our contact page. Full legal and contact details are in our Impressum.