SmugMug
- 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.
You keep your photos, but they take a license, auto-renew with no refunds, and share tracking data.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account and payment info, your photos, device IDs, cookies, EXIF, photo location, and sometimes friends lists.
Read the exact line
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, Social Security number”
Training
They run the site, ads, and analytics, and they may scan your uploads for illegal content.
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Privacy policy
“This information may be used by SmugMug 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, account owners if you are a collaborator, ad/analytics companies, and others if they sell the company.
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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
Deleted photos leave active systems in 30 days; closed accounts in 60 days; some tax data for six years.
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Privacy policy
“photos and videos that are marked for deletion are de-published almost immediately and are permanently removed from our active systems 30 days later.”
Controls
You can delete photos in the app, edit your profile, hide EXIF, and opt out of some ads.
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Privacy policy
“You can delete individual photos that you have on SmugMug by selecting the photos that you wish to delete, then clicking the delete button.”
Fine print
Subscriptions auto-renew with no refunds; they can close you anytime.
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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”
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.
Cancel auto-renewing subscription
Account Settings, Subscription section, or email help@smugmug.com
Opt out of interest-based ads
www.aboutads.info/choices and device Limit Ad Tracking / Opt Out of Ads Personalization
Delete photos or your account
Select photos and click delete; or log in / email help@SmugMug.com; Terms of Use for account deletion
Hide EXIF and location on galleries
Gallery Settings Appearance; Permissions and Sharing on smugmug.com
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 someone sues them over what you uploaded 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 (collectively, the " Parties"), and the Parties' independent contractors”
For example, if a photo you posted leads to a lawsuit, you could be on the hook for their attorneys' fees.
They can shut your account instantly for any reason, without warning.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“SmugMug may terminate a Subscription, or any user's access to and use of the Subscription Services, at any time for any reason at its sole discretion, which such termination will be effective immediately.”
For example, they could close your paid gallery overnight and you would lose remaining paid time.
If you cancel or they cut you off, you do not get money back for unused months.
Read the exact line
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, canceling two months early still means you paid for those two months.
You still own your photos, but they get a lasting right to use them as needed to run the service.
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Terms of service
“by uploading and/or posting any User Content to the Site or otherwise by using the Services, you request, and grant SmugMug a , nonexclusive and right to use the User Content”
For example, they can keep displaying a photo you uploaded even after you change your mind, as long as it is needed to run the site.
Outside ad and analytics companies can track you on SmugMug and elsewhere.
Read the exact line
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, including your IP address”
For example, a visit to a gallery page can help target ads to you on other sites.
Signing in with social media can hand over your friends list, not just your name.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“if you create or log into your account through a social media site, we will have access to certain information from that site, such as your name, account information and friends lists”
For example, logging in with Facebook could let them see who is on your friends list.
Staff can look at anything you upload; they do not promise they only do this for abuse reports.
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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 photo you thought was private could still be reviewed if they choose to screen content.
Some payment and tax records stay for years even after you leave.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Certain information relating to payments to photographers must be retained for at least six years for U.S. tax compliance reasons.”
For example, if they paid you for print sales, they may keep related tax data for six years.
You keep copyright in your photos and videos.
Read the exact line
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 Media.”
For example, someone else cannot claim they own a photo you uploaded just because it is on SmugMug.
When you delete a photo in the app, it is unpublished right away and wiped from live systems in 30 days.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“photos and videos that are marked for deletion are de-published almost immediately and are permanently removed from our active systems 30 days later.”
For example, a deleted wedding gallery should be gone from the live site within a month.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
How we got here · grade C · score 46/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 1 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and photos: device IDs, cookies, EXIF, photo GPS, gender, SSN for tax, and sometimes social friends lists.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
They store your photos and videos, including faces and bodies in those files, linked to your account until you delete them.
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 reserve the right to review or screen any user content and use automated scanning; no opt-out is described.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Third parties serve ads and analytics using cookies, beacons, and device IDs across the internet, with an industry opt-out.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share with vendors and ad/analytics partners. They deny a classic data-broker sale but treat some cookie sharing as a possible CCPA sale with an opt-out.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep copyright. They take a perpetual, royalty-free license limited to running the service, legal compliance, and related tasks.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can delete photos in the app; they leave active systems in 30 days. Closed accounts take 60 days. Some tax records last six years.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They keep a public profile you can add, edit, or remove in Edit Profile, and you can limit search visibility.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use physical, technical, and administrative measures, but they do not promise data will stay secure.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must be 18 and you warrant that by using the service; there is no extra age-check described.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The policy is dated. They revise the date and say they will give extra notice for significant privacy changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may terminate a subscription or access at any time for any reason, effective immediately.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is as-is, liability 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?
Subscriptions auto-renew. You can cancel in Account Settings, but all subscription fees are nonrefundable.
The privacy policy is 5,479 words at a professional or legal expert level (Flesch reading ease 18.1); the terms are 12,403 words at a professional or legal expert level.
