Privacy Policy

CineLab does not ask for permission to read your photo library and does not use the camera. You choose photos in the Android system photo picker, or send them to the app from Google Photos or another gallery app ("Edit with", or Share). Android then lets the app open only those photos.

Every filter, adjustment, effect, spot heal and noise reduction is applied on your phone, by its graphics chip. No photo, and no part of a photo, is ever sent to us or to anyone else.

When you save, the app writes a new JPEG or PNG to your phone's gallery, in the Pictures/CineLab folder (a side by side before and after image too, if you choose that). The original photo is only read and is never changed. You, and any app you allow to read your gallery, can see saved photos. Share sends a saved photo through the Android share sheet to the app you choose; CineLab does not share anything on its own.

If you export a look as a .cube LUT file, you choose where it is saved with the Android file picker. If you share a recipe (your edit settings as a short text code, never the photo), it goes through the share sheet to the app you pick, and the app reads your clipboard only when you tap Paste recipe.

On Android 9 and older, the app also asks for storage access so it can add the saved photo to your Pictures folder.

Photos often carry details written by the camera (EXIF). When you save, CineLab copies the capture details of the original into the new photo: date and time, camera and lens model, and exposure settings.

Location is removed by default. The GPS position of the original is copied into the saved photo only if you turn on "Keep photo location" in Settings. CineLab itself never asks for your location.

• Recent edits: so you can reopen a photo and keep editing, the app keeps a list of your recent edits, each with the edit settings, a reference to the original photo (not a copy of it) and a small preview thumbnail.
• My looks, favourites and imported LUTs: looks you save, presets you mark as favourites, and any .cube LUT files you import.
• App settings: such as your save size and quality and the "Keep photo location" switch.

All of this is stored in the app's private storage on your phone, which other apps cannot read. Android backup and device-to-device transfer are switched off for CineLab, so none of it is copied to Google Drive or another phone. If you uninstall the app, it is all deleted. Photos you saved stay in your gallery until you delete them there.

The free version shows ads from Google AdMob:

• a banner on the home screen;
• now and then, a full-screen ad when you come back to the home screen after saving a photo. Never during your first minutes in the app, never in the editor, and only after several saves with a few minutes in between;
• an optional video ad: if your edit uses Plus looks or tools, you can choose to watch one to save that photo once with them. It only plays if you tap it.

CineLab Plus subscribers see no ads, and no ads are loaded for them.

To show and measure ads, the Google Mobile Ads SDK may collect and process your device's advertising ID and app set ID, your approximate location (worked out from your IP address; CineLab never asks for your location), information about ad views and taps, and diagnostic information about the SDK's own performance and crashes. Your photos are never included in an ad request.

In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, CineLab asks for your consent using Google's consent form before any ad is requested, and ads are personalised only if you agree. Where this applies, you can change your choice at any time in Settings > Ad privacy choices. Outside those regions, ads may be personalised; you can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of personalised ads, in your phone's Android settings (Settings > Privacy > Ads). See Google's privacy policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

CineLab Plus is a subscription handled by Google Play Billing. Google processes your payment; the app only learns whether your subscription is active, and remembers that on your phone. You can manage or cancel the subscription in the Google Play app.

The app may ask once whether you would like to rate it, using Google Play's in-app review. Any rating or review goes to Google Play under your Google account; we do not receive it from the app.

• We do not run servers that receive your data, and we do not have user accounts.
• We do not upload, analyse or store your photos anywhere off your phone.
• We do not use analytics or crash-reporting tools of our own.
• We do not sell your information.
• We do not access your camera, contacts, precise location, photo library (other than the photos you choose) or files.

CineLab is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

All network traffic from the app (ads and Google Play) uses encrypted connections (HTTPS). Your edits, looks and settings are stored in the app's private storage, which other apps cannot read.

• Remove recent edits, looks and imported LUTs in the app, or uninstall the app.
• Delete saved photos from your gallery.
• Leave "Keep photo location" off to strip GPS from saved photos.
• For ads, change your consent in Settings > Ad privacy choices (where it applies), reset your advertising ID in Android settings, or get CineLab Plus to remove ads.
• Because we do not hold your photos or edits, there is nothing on our side to access, correct or delete. For data held by Google for ads or purchases, see Google's privacy tools.

Questions about privacy? [email protected]

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date above.