Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Maple Album is operated by Liana App Studio, a sole proprietorship registered in Ontario, Canada, owned by Ali Sina Bahadori Kavijani ("we", "us", "our"). Maple Album is the "data controller" responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at legal@maplealbum.app.

2. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to operate Maple Album. We do not use advertising, crash-reporting, or cross-site tracking SDKs, and we do not sell your personal information. Inside the app we do not use third-party analytics, and we never analyze or profile what your Albums contain: your photos and videos stay end-to-end encrypted, and we cannot see them. We do keep records of activity in an Album, such as who saw, liked, or commented on a post. Section 2h explains how we use them, and we never use them for advertising. The app sends a limited set of first-party usage events to our own servers, described in Section 2f. Our public website uses limited, privacy-preserving analytics, described in Section 2g.

a. Account information

You sign in with Sign in with Apple or Google Sign-In. We receive and store your email address, an optional display name, and a stable identifier from the sign-in provider. We do not use passwords, phone numbers, or SMS. This information is readable by us.

b. Content you share

Photos and videos you post to an Album (including their thumbnails), and the avatars you set for members of an Album, are end-to-end encrypted on your device before upload. We store only the encrypted data and cannot decrypt or view it. The following related content is not end-to-end encrypted and is readable by us so the app can function: an Album's cover or header image (shown to people you invite before they join), your account profile picture, captions, photo tags, comments, and likes. We also store, readable by us, some details about each photo or video: its dimensions, a video's length and file size, and, when a photo contains them, its approximate location (rounded to about 1 km), altitude, and the date and time it was taken.

c. Information about the people in your Albums

To organize an Album you can add details about the people, children, and pets in it, such as a name and, optionally, a date of birth and gender. Because these details help operate the app (for example, tagging and organizing), they are stored in a form readable by us. Only you and the members of your Album can see them in the app. Please only add information about children if you are their parent or legal guardian, or otherwise have the right to do so. See "Children's privacy" below.

d. Device and technical information

To deliver encrypted content and notifications we store: your devices' public encryption and signing keys, key fingerprints, and each Album's member list signed by its owner (your private keys are created from an account key kept in your device's Keychain, which reaches your other Apple devices only through iCloud Keychain, end-to-end encrypted by Apple; we never receive it), Apple Push Notification service tokens and related device metadata (such as environment, locale, and time zone), and basic operational logs. Encryption keys for your Album content are stored only in a form wrapped to your devices' public keys, which means we hold them but cannot unwrap or use them.

e. Reports you submit

If you report content or a member, we collect the report category and any description you provide. Because your posted media is end-to-end encrypted, reporting a photo, video, post, or Album also shares with us the decryption keys for the specific photos and videos being reported so we can review them. We use those keys only to review the report and permanently delete them once the review is complete, unless the law requires us to preserve them as evidence (for example, of child sexual abuse material), in which case we keep them only as long as that obligation lasts. Reporting does not give us access to any of your other content. When you block a member, we are notified of the block so we can review the account for abuse; the notification identifies the members involved but does not include any of your Album content.

f. App usage events

When you use the app, it sends us a small set of usage events — for example, that the app was opened, that an Album was created, that a post was published or failed to publish, or whether you allowed notifications. Each event includes the type of event, when it happened, the app version and platform, a random identifier for your installation of the app and for each app session, and a few fixed values such as whether a post was a photo or a video, or an error category. Events never include the contents of your Albums, captions, comments, names, or anything else you type. They go only to our own servers, never to third-party analytics or advertising services. When you are signed in, events are linked to your account. We use them to understand how the app is used and to improve it, such as counting active users and finding where people get stuck.

App Store ad attribution. We sometimes advertise Maple Album on the App Store. To learn which of our ads work, the app checks once, shortly after it is installed and opened, whether one of our ads led to the install. It gets a one-time attribution token from Apple's AdServices framework and sends it to Apple. Apple replies whether one of our App Store ads led to the install and, if so, the identifiers of our own campaign, ad group, and search keyword, whether the ad was tapped or only seen, and whether this was a first download or a re-download. The app records that reply as a usage event. This does not use your device's advertising identifier, the app does not ask for tracking permission, and we do not use this information to track you across other companies' apps or websites. Like other usage events, it is linked to your account once you sign in.

g. Website analytics

On our public website (for example, maplealbum.app) we use Google Analytics in a cookieless configuration to understand aggregate traffic, such as how many people visit a page and which pages are popular. We have set it to store no cookies and use no on-device storage, to disable advertising and cross-device signals, and to truncate visitor IP addresses. This gives us rough, aggregate numbers rather than a profile of you. It runs on our website only — it is not part of the app and has no access to your Albums, their content, or your account.

h. Post views, reminders, and referrals

Post views. When a post is at least half on screen in your feed for about a second, or when you open it, the app tells us that you have seen it. For each post you see, we store one record: the post, its Album, your account, whether you saw it in the feed or opened it, and when you first saw it. We do not record how often or how long you look at a post, and we do not record views of your own posts. The owners of an Album can see who has seen each of its posts and when, in the post's "Seen by" list. A person who has blocked an owner, or whom an owner has blocked, is left out of that owner's lists. Other subscribers of the Album cannot see who has seen a post.

Views digest and posting reminders. Once a day, in the evening in your time zone, we may send you a notification with the number of people who saw your posts in the past 24 hours. If you have not posted to an Album you own for a week, we may send you a reminder, at most once a week and at the hour you usually post, worked out from the times of your recent posts. A reminder can mention one of the Album's subscribers by their display name, never by their email address, and how many others have been active. If several reminders in a row go unanswered, we stop sending them until you post again. To choose whom to mention, we measure how active each subscriber of that Album has been over the last 30 days, from the comments and likes they left on its posts, the posts they saw, and the days they opened the app. This measure is worked out when a reminder is due and is not stored. We keep a record of each of these notifications (when it was sent, which Album it was about, and whom it mentioned) so we do not send one twice and can mention someone different next time. We also look at aggregate counts, such as how many digests are sent and how many reminders are followed by a post, to see whether these features help. We do not use this activity for advertising, and we do not sell it or share it with third parties for their own purposes. You can turn off Daily Views and Posting Reminders in the app's notification settings.

Referrals. When an owner approves someone who joined an Album through an invite link, we record who created the link, who joined, which Album, and when, and we check whether the join counts toward the referral reward. It counts only if the new subscriber's account is no more than 7 days old and has never been a subscriber of another Album. An owner whose invite links bring in 3 such new subscribers earns 3 months of Pro, once. The reward is an App Store one-time offer code that we assign to the owner's account and show only to that owner. You redeem it with Apple in the App Store. When it is redeemed, Apple's subscription notice to us shows that the offer was used, and we mark the reward as claimed.

3. How we use information

We use the information above to:

• Create and secure your account and sign you in.
• Operate Albums: store and deliver your encrypted content, manage members, invites, and access.
• Send push notifications and transactional emails (for example, invites, account deletion, and data export confirmations).
• Occasionally email you about Maple Album offers and product news. Every such email has an unsubscribe link, and turning off Marketing in the app's notification settings also stops them. We do not track whether you open these emails or click their links. Unsubscribing does not affect emails about your account.
• Understand how the app is used and improve it, using the usage events described in Section 2f.
• Measure which of our App Store ads lead to installs, as described in Section 2f.
• Show Album owners who has seen their posts, and send the daily views digest and posting reminders, as described in Section 2h.
• Run the referral reward, as described in Section 2h.
• Keep the service safe: review reports, enforce our Terms, and prevent abuse.
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.

Our legal bases (where the GDPR or similar laws apply) are performing our contract with you, our legitimate interest in operating and securing the service, your consent (for example, device permissions), and compliance with legal obligations.

4. End-to-end encryption: what we can and cannot see

The photos and videos you post to an Album are encrypted on your device using keys that only your devices and the devices of your Album members hold. We cannot read, decrypt, or hand over the contents of those photos and videos. The only exception is content you choose to report: to let us review a report, your app shares the decryption key for just the reported item, which we use solely for that review and then discard (see Section 2e). We can see the other information described in Section 2, including your account email, the names and details you add for people in your Albums, Album cover images, captions, comments, and technical metadata. We are transparent about this so you are not misled: Maple Album is not a fully zero-knowledge service — encryption protects your posted photos and videos specifically.

5. Children's privacy

Maple Album is designed primarily for adults, such as parents and relatives, to share family moments. It is not intended for children under 13, who may not create accounts. However, the app is used to share photos and information about children.

When you add a child's photo, name, or date of birth to an Album, you confirm that you are the child's parent or legal guardian, or that you have the consent of a parent or legal guardian. A child's posted photos and videos are end-to-end encrypted and visible only to members of the private Album you choose; a child's name and date of birth are stored in readable form solely to operate the album and are never used for advertising, profiling, or shared with third parties for their own purposes. If you are a parent or guardian and want us to review or delete information about your child, contact legal@maplealbum.app. We handle children's information consistent with applicable laws, including COPPA and similar regulations.

6. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for advertising. We share information only with service providers who process it on our behalf, under contracts requiring them to protect it and use it only for the services they provide to us:

• A cloud storage provider — stores your encrypted media, which it cannot decrypt.
• Apple Push Notification service — delivers notifications to your device.
• Apple and Google — verify your identity when you sign in.
• Apple (App Store ad attribution) — receives a one-time attribution token from the app and tells us whether one of our App Store ads led to the install, as described in Section 2f.
• Our email delivery provider — sends transactional emails such as invites and account confirmations, and the occasional offer or product news email described in Section 3.
• Google Analytics — provides cookieless, aggregate visitor statistics for our public website only, as described in Section 2g.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to respond to valid legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the service. Remember that we cannot disclose the contents of your end-to-end encrypted photos and videos because we cannot decrypt them.

7. Data retention and deletion

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. You can delete your account at any time from within the app (Settings). Account deletion is scheduled with a short grace period during which you can cancel; after that, your account and associated data are permanently removed, except for limited records we must keep to meet legal, security, or accounting obligations. You can also request a copy of your data ("download my data") from within the app. When you delete your account, the usage events linked to it are no longer associated with your account. Your post view records, the records of the reminders and digests sent to you, your referral records, and any referral reward are deleted with your account, and your account is removed from other people's records, such as a reminder that mentioned you. A referral is deleted if either the owner's or the new subscriber's account is deleted. A view record is also deleted when its post or Album is deleted. A reward code assigned to a deleted account is unlinked from it and never given to anyone else. Backups and logs are purged on a rolling basis.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent. These rights apply, for example, under Canada's PIPEDA, the EU/UK GDPR, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). You can exercise many of these directly in the app (account deletion and data export), or by contacting us at legal@maplealbum.app. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9. Sharing within Albums and revoked access

Content you post is visible to the members of the Album you post it in. The owners of an Album can also see which subscribers have seen each post (see Section 2h). If you remove a member or they leave, they lose access to content shared afterward. However, we cannot retrieve content a member has already viewed, saved, screenshotted, or cached on their device before losing access. Only invite people you trust, and share accordingly.

10. Security

We protect your information with end-to-end encryption for posted media, encryption in transit, encryption keys kept in your devices' Keychain, access controls, and other safeguards. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect your information and to notify you and regulators of incidents where required by law.

11. International transfers

We are based in Canada and use service providers that may process data in Canada, the United States, and other countries. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers of personal information.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by email. Your continued use of Maple Album after an update means you accept the revised policy.

13. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your personal information? Email us at legal@maplealbum.app or reach our support team at support@maplealbum.app. Postal address available on request.