Terms and Conditions of Use

1 Service provider

The Service is provided by:

This email address is also the point of contact for users and authorities under applicable law (including Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 — Digital Services Act).

2 Purpose of the Service

Albumates is an application that allows registered users to:

• create personal albums and shared albums, organised as "moments";
• upload photos, videos and other content (for example panoramas);
• invite other people to join or contribute to albums, with different roles (those invited join only if they accept);
• react to other album members' moments;
• save album content to the phone's gallery, within the limits of the consent described in section 7;
• optionally attach a geographic location to moments;
• report content and users, and block users they do not want to be contacted by.

The Service is offered free of charge and includes no in-app purchases or advertising.

3 Age requirements

To use the App you must be at least 16 years old. By registering you declare that you are at least 16. If you do not meet the minimum age, you are not allowed to create an account or use the Service.

4 Account

• To use the App you must create an account, providing truthful and up-to-date information.
• You are responsible for keeping your credentials safe and for all activity carried out through your account.
• You must inform us promptly of any unauthorised use of your account.
• You can close your account at any time through "Delete account" in Settings. Before closing it, you choose what to do with the content you uploaded to shared albums (section 10). The provisions of the Privacy Policy on data deletion also apply.

5 Content uploaded by users

5.1 Ownership

You remain the sole owner of the content (photos, videos, texts, moments) you upload. We claim no ownership of your content.

5.2 Licence

By uploading content you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, free licence to store, reproduce, resize and display the content to the people you share it with in the App and, where permitted, to make it available for download under section 7. This licence serves solely to operate the Service and does not authorise us to use your content for any other purpose (e.g. resale or advertising).

The licence lasts as long as the content remains in the App and ends when the content is deleted. For content you decide to leave in shared albums when you leave an album (section 6.6) or close your account (section 10), and for content you have added to another person's personal album (section 6.3), the licence continues for as long as it remains in the album, solely to keep showing it to the album's members and, if permitted, to make it downloadable.

5.3 User warranties

By uploading content you represent and warrant that:

• you hold all the rights needed for the content;
• you have obtained the consent of any people shown in it, where required by law;
• the content does not infringe third-party rights (image, privacy, intellectual property) or any law.

5.4 Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold the Provider harmless from any claim, damage or cost arising from content you upload or distribute in breach of these Terms or of third-party rights.

5.5 Other users' content

The content you see in albums belongs to the people who uploaded it. You can view it in the App and, when downloading is allowed (section 7), save a copy for strictly personal use. You may not, however, distribute or publish it outside the App (for example through screenshots, downloads or screen recordings) without the consent of its author and, where required by law, of the people shown. You are personally liable for any such distribution.

6 Personal albums and shared albums

6.1 Types of album

A personal album belongs to a single person, the owner, who can invite other people to contribute. A shared album belongs to all its members, each with their own role; it is managed by the owner and any administrators. Those who manage the album can edit it, add and remove members and remove content: administrators can act on members and their content, but not on the owner or on other administrators. If a member is removed from a shared album, the content they uploaded there is deleted. The owner can delete the shared album with all its content, and the members are notified. We recommend that you keep a copy of the content you care about.

6.2 Content approval

With some roles (for example the contributor role), the content you upload appears in the album only after it has been approved by those who manage it. Rejected content is deleted after a short period.

6.3 Contributions to other people's personal albums

When you add content to another person's personal album, you make it available to that album: the album owner decides whether the other participants can download it and can delete it. You can always download the content you uploaded. The content remains in the album even if you close your account, without your name.

6.4 Transfer of ownership

If the owner of a shared album leaves the album or closes their account, ownership automatically passes to another member: normally an administrator, otherwise the longest-standing member. A shared album with no other members cannot be left, only deleted; when its owner closes their account, it is deleted together with its content.

6.5 Invitations

Nobody can bring you into an album without your consent: when someone adds you, you receive an invitation, which you can accept or decline. Until you accept, you cannot see the album; if you decline, the person who invited you is not notified. The owner and administrators can cancel an invitation that is still pending.

6.6 Leaving an album

You can leave an album at any time. If you leave a shared album where you have uploaded content, you choose what to do with it: delete it, or leave it with your name, also deciding whether those who see it can still download it; if you choose not, its original photos are deleted. If you leave another person's personal album, the content already approved remains with the owner (section 6.3). In any case, your content still awaiting approval is deleted. The same applies if the owner removes you from one of their personal albums; from a shared album, on the other hand, a member who is removed loses the content they uploaded there (section 6.1).

7 Downloads and original photos

7.1 Download consent

Each user decides, from their profile settings, whether other members can save the content they uploaded to their phone's gallery, and can make exceptions for individual albums. Until they give their consent, downloading their content is not allowed. In personal albums the album owner decides, for all the content the album contains (section 6.3). You can always download the content you uploaded yourself.

7.2 Original photos

For photos, in addition to the version optimised for viewing, the App keeps an original copy, as it was taken but without location data (GPS). The original is uploaded automatically, normally when the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Those authorised to download can choose between optimal quality and the original. The original is used only for downloads and follows the same consent rules.

7.3 Limits

Download consent concerns saving through the App. Content that can be viewed in the App is, by its nature, displayed on the device of whoever is viewing it: the rules in section 5.5 on distribution outside the App still apply.

8 Prohibited content and conduct

It is forbidden to upload, post or share content, or to engage in conduct, that:

• is illegal or promotes unlawful activities;
• depicts child abuse or sexual material involving minors;
• contains gratuitous violence, incitement to hatred, discrimination, harassment or threats;
• violates the privacy, image or dignity of other people;
• infringes other people's intellectual property rights;
• contains spam or malware, or attempts to compromise the security of the Service;
• impersonates other people or misleads others about one's identity.

Breaking these rules may lead to the removal of the content and the suspension or closure of the account.

9 Reports, blocks and moderation

In accordance with the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), we provide a reporting mechanism that allows any user to report content or other users they consider illegal or contrary to these Terms.

• You can report through the dedicated feature in the App: content from the screen of the individual moment, a user from an album's list of participants or from their invitation; or by writing to info@albumates.com.
• We will review the reports received and, if they are well-founded, take appropriate measures (e.g. removal of the content, a warning to the user, suspension of the account).
• Moderation decisions are not left solely to automated tools: human intervention is always possible.
• Where we restrict content, we will give the user concerned a statement of reasons, except where the law prohibits it.
• Reported people are not told who reported them.

Blocking users

You can block another user from an album's list of participants or from one of their invitations. The person you block can no longer invite you to albums, you do not find each other in search and you do not receive notifications for their actions; they receive no notice.

• In shared albums you have in common, content remains visible: if you prefer, you can leave the album (section 6.6).
• If you block someone who contributes to one of your personal albums, they stop contributing to it: their content awaiting approval is deleted, and the content already approved stays in your album.
• You can unblock a user at any time from Settings; unblocking does not bring them back into albums.

10 Suspension and closure of the account

• We may suspend or close an account in case of breach of these Terms, unlawful use of the Service or at the request of the competent authorities.
• You can close your account at any time through the App or by writing to us.
• In case of serious breaches, the account may be closed without notice.

What happens when you close your account

• Your personal albums and their content are deleted.
• The shared albums you created pass to another member, if there are any; otherwise they are deleted (section 6.4).
• Content awaiting approval is deleted.
• For the content you uploaded to shared albums, you choose: delete it, or leave it in the albums without your name. If you leave it, you also choose whether those who see it can still download it; if you choose not, its original photos are deleted.
• The content you added to other people's personal albums remains with the album owner, without your name (section 6.3).
• Your reactions, your pending invitations and your blocks are deleted.
• The files of deleted content are removed from our servers within a few minutes; retention periods in backup copies are set out in the Privacy Policy.

11 Intellectual property of the Service

The App's name, logo, software, graphics and every other element of the App (excluding content uploaded by users) belong to the Provider or to their respective owners and are protected by applicable law. They may not be copied, modified or reused without permission.

12 Availability and limitation of liability

• The Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not guarantee that it will always be free of errors or interruptions.
• The Service may be suspended, modified or discontinued, in whole or in part, including for maintenance or updates.
• To the extent permitted by law, the Provider is not liable for the loss of content due to malfunctions, user error or external causes; we recommend that you keep copies of the content you care about.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits the Provider's liability where this is not permitted by law (e.g. wilful misconduct or gross negligence, or mandatory consumer rights).

13 Changes to the Terms and to the Service

We may update these Terms, for example for new features or regulatory changes. In case of significant changes we will notify you within the App. Continued use of the Service after the changes have been communicated constitutes acceptance of them. The date at the top always shows the version in force.

14 Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by Italian law.

For any dispute relating to the Service:

• if you are a consumer, the mandatory jurisdiction of the court of the place where you reside or have chosen your domicile remains unaffected, under the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005);
• in all other cases, the court of the place where the Provider resides will have jurisdiction.

Nothing in this clause affects the rights you have as a consumer under mandatory rules.

15 Contact