Privacy Policy for Duplicate Photos
100% on-device processing. Your personal photos, metadata, and filenames never leave your PC.
Effective Date: March 2026
Zero Cloud Uploads
All image decoding, SHA-256 hashing, perceptual hashing, and Pearson correlation happen locally in Rust on your CPU.
No Accounts or Profiles
We do not collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, or account logins. The app works straight out of the box.
Windows Recycle Bin Safe
Files are moved to your native Windows Recycle Bin with full local undo logging. Nothing is destroyed without recovery.
1. Local Scanning and Analysis
When you select folders for analysis, Duplicate Photos reads only the files inside those folders to extract image dimensions, compute cryptographic and perceptual hashes, and evaluate pixel agreement. All temporary buffers, thumbnails, and SQLite cache databases are saved strictly in your local user directory (%APPDATA%\duplicate-photos).
2. Network Communication & Version Updates
On startup, the application performs a minimal HTTPS check to staksoft.com/version.json to verify if mandatory security updates or new versions are available. This request transmits only an anonymous installation identifier, the current app version number, and the OS platform (Windows 64-bit). It NEVER transmits your photos, filenames, directory structures, or personal data.
3. Third-Party Services and Analytics
Duplicate Photos contains no third-party telemetry libraries, no Google Analytics SDK, no advertising networks, and no trackers. In-app outbound documentation links use privacy-preserving static UTM tags to identify referral sources without tracking individual user behavior.
4. File Deletion and Safety Invariants
All file removals utilize the native Windows SHFileOperationW Shell API to send files to the Recycle Bin. The core Rust engine enforces a strict invariant that ensures at least one verified original copy remains untouched. Excluded folders are never read, and protected folders are strictly read-only.
5. Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding privacy or security in Duplicate Photos, please reach out to us at contact@staksoft.com.