Flickr
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- Staff may review your content; the policy does not describe an opt-out.
Flickr keeps your photos, can show ads via third parties, auto-renews Pro with no refunds.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account details, photos, EXIF, device IDs, logs, cookies, and location if you allow it.
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Privacy policy
“The types of information we may collect include your name, email address, postal address, phone number, fax number, credit card information, bank transfer information, title, gender, and other information you choose to provide.”
Training
They run the site, scan photos, personalize, and let others target ads with cookies.
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Privacy policy
“This information may be used by Flickr and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests”
Sharing
Vendors, legal requests, buyers in a sale of the company, and ad/analytics partners.
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Privacy policy
“With vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf;”
Kept
Kept as long as needed; deleted photos leave backups about 30 days later.
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Privacy policy
“photos and videos that are marked for deletion, or that are in an account that gets closed, are de-published almost immediately and are permanently removed from backup copies 30 days later.”
Controls
You can change privacy settings, hide EXIF, delete photos or your account in the app.
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Privacy policy
“To delete your Flickr account, click “Delete your Flickr Account” and confirm on the following page.”
Fine print
Pro auto-renews with no refunds, and they can close you anytime.
No exact line could be verified.
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Turn off or limit interest-based ads
www.aboutads.info/choices, Google ads preferences, or device Limit Ad Tracking / Opt Out of Interest-Based Ads
Delete photos or your Flickr account
Select photos and delete, or https://www.flickr.com/account then “Delete your Flickr Account”
Cancel Pro before renewal
Account Settings in the Subscription section
Tighten who can see photos and EXIF
Privacy & Permissions in Account Settings
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
If you cancel Pro, they keep the money you already paid for that period.
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Terms of service
“All Subscription Fees are nonrefundable. Upon termination, cancellation or discontinuation of your Subscription for any reason, you will not be entitled to receive a refund”
For example, if you cancel a yearly plan after one month, you do not get the rest of the year back.
They can shut your account for any reason, even without warning.
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Terms of service
“SmugMug reserves the right to terminate your account and/or refuse access to the Services to anyone at any time, with or without cause at its sole discretion.”
For example, they could close your account and take down your galleries without explaining why.
If someone sues them because of what you posted or how you used the site, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You agree to and SmugMug and its affiliates and subsidiaries”
For example, if a photo you uploaded sparks a lawsuit, you could be on the hook for Flickr’s lawyers.
Other companies can track you on Flickr and elsewhere to show targeted ads.
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Privacy policy
“These entities may use cookies, web beacons, mobile device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and other websites”
For example, a photo you viewed could help an advertiser follow you on other sites.
You still own your photos, but they get a lasting right to use them to run the service and follow the law.
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Terms of service
“by uploading and/or posting any User Content to the Services, you request, and grant SmugMug a , nonexclusive and right to use the User Content”
For example, they can keep showing your photo on the site even though you own the copyright.
Staff can look at what you upload. They do not promise they will, and there is no opt-out.
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Terms of service
“SmugMug reserves the right (but is not obligated) to (i) review or screen any User Content submitted to the Site or otherwise submitted through the Services”
For example, a moderator could open a private album if they decide to screen it.
Software looks at your pictures to tag scenes and objects and find similar shots.
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Privacy policy
“We use image recognition algorithms to find visually similar images as well as to help you organize your photos and make it easier to search images.”
For example, a beach photo might be auto-tagged as a beach so it shows up in search.
When you delete a photo or close the account, it disappears from the site fast and from backups in a month.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“photos and videos that are marked for deletion, or that are in an account that gets closed, are de-published almost immediately and are permanently removed from backup copies 30 days later.”
For example, a photo you delete today should be gone from backups about 30 days later.
Your photos stay yours. Flickr does not take ownership of them.
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Terms of service
“You retain all intellectual property rights in and to any User Content you post, upload or otherwise make available through the Services, including the copyright in and to your photos and videos.”
For example, you can still sell prints of a photo you uploaded to Flickr.
You must say you are 18 or older. They do not describe extra ID checks except for some UK SafeSearch rules.
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Terms of service
“The Services are not targeted towards, nor intended for use by, anyone under the age of 18. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age.”
For example, a 16-year-old could still type that they are 18 and make an account.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
- tracking pixels
- Tiny invisible images or bits of code in a page, app or email that report back when and where you opened it. For example, a pixel in a marketing email tells the sender the moment you read it.
- device identifiers
- Codes that single out your phone or computer, used to recognise you across apps and sites. For example, the advertising ID on your phone lets two unrelated apps know they are seeing the same person.
- perpetual
- Lasting forever, with no end date. For example, a perpetual licence means the company can keep using your video years after you leave.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
How we got here · grade C · score 42/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 3 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect account and payment data, photos, EXIF, device IDs, logs, cookies, social-login friends lists, and location with consent, plus auto-upload from a phone camera roll.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
They may review or screen any user content and scan uploads for illegal material. No opt-out is described.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Other companies may serve ads and use cookies and device IDs to track you on Flickr and other sites. There are industry opt-outs.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share with vendors and may treat some ad cookies as a CCPA “sale,” with cookie and aboutads opt-outs. They say they do not sell lists like a broker.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep copyright in your photos. They get a perpetual license only as needed to run the service, follow your instructions, and meet legal or safety needs.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can delete photos or your account in the app. Deleted or closed-account photos are taken down almost immediately and removed from backups 30 days later.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use physical, technical, and administrative safeguards, but they do not promise data will stay secure.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
The service is for people 18 and older and you must say you are 18. UK Pro users need a credit card to turn SafeSearch off.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Both documents are dated. Privacy says they will extra-notify for significant changes. Terms say using the site after a post can mean you accept, or you have 30 days to stop.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can close an account anytime, with or without cause. If they do, all user content on that account is removed; they may try to email you first.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is “as is,” their payout is capped at what you paid, and you must indemnify them for claims tied to your content or use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Pro auto-renews unless you cancel in account settings. They say they will notify of fee changes. All subscription fees are nonrefundable. Print products have a 30-day return.
The privacy policy is 5,504 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 42.2); the terms are 9,186 words at a college graduate level.
