1. Overview
This Privacy Policy explains what information Fotography.gg collects, how we use it, what is visible to other people, and the choices you have. Fotography.gg is a fan-made community platform for Forza Horizon photography — we collect only what is needed to run it.
2. What we collect
Account information. When you register we collect your email address and password (stored in hashed form by our authentication provider). If you sign in with Google, we receive your email and basic profile name from Google.
Profile information you choose to provide. Display name, handle, avatar, banner, bio, location, platform, gamertag, social links, and camera-settings notes. All of this is optional except your handle and display name.
Uploaded content. The photos you upload, together with the metadata you attach (title, caption, car tags, location, conditions, style tags, livery credits, share codes).
Usage and engagement data. Views, likes, saves, comments, follows, challenge entries and votes, download counts, and embed-copy counts associated with photos and profiles. We also use basic technical data (such as browser type and approximate region) for analytics and abuse prevention.
Cookies and local storage. We use cookies and browser storage for essential purposes: keeping you signed in, remembering UI preferences, and preventing duplicate view counting within a session. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.
3. How we use your information
- To operate the Site: hosting your photos, displaying your profile, powering search, galleries, and challenges.
- To show engagement statistics to you and other members (see "What is public" below).
- To send notifications you've triggered (new followers, comments, milestones, challenge results).
- To moderate content, investigate reports and takedown requests, and enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines.
- To understand aggregate usage so we can improve the Site.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.
4. What is public vs. private
Public (visible to anyone, including search engines):
- Your profile — handle, display name, avatar, banner, bio, social links, badges, and public stats (follower count, photo count, etc.).
- Your published photos and their metadata, comments you post, likes you cast on photos, challenge entries, and challenge wins.
Private (visible only to you, and to administrators where needed for operation/moderation):
- Your email address — never displayed publicly.
- Your saved/bookmarked collections.
- Your draft and private photos — these are excluded from browsing, search, embeds, and search-engine indexing.
- Your notification history and account settings.
5. Third-party services
The Site is built and hosted on the Base44 platform, which provides our infrastructure, authentication, database, and file storage. If you sign in with Google, Google's privacy policy applies to that sign-in. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts. Photos you embed elsewhere are served through our own embed proxy. We don't run third-party ad networks or social trackers.
Optional AI image tagging (updated September 14, 2026)
AI image tagging is optional and off by default. Uploading photos, viewing them, adding manual tags, and saving or removing tags do not invoke the image-tagging AI. To request analysis, enable AI image tagging on Upload or in your photo's Edit image tags panel, then press Scan for tags for a specific photo. Enabling the toggle alone does not scan anything. The choice resets for each upload session or tag-editor visit; no background rescanning is scheduled by this feature.
What is sent and why. A requested scan sends the selected photo's thumbnail URL (or an available larger image if a thumbnail is unavailable), the image accessible at that URL, and a descriptive prompt to Base44's AI integration and the AI service provider handling the request. The purpose is to suggest descriptive search tags such as lighting, scenery, colors and action. The scan does not alter the image. Analysis can take place before publication, including for a draft, only when you request it. AI suggestions can be inaccurate; review them before saving.
Processing is not a no-training promise. Base44's published documentation states that Enterprise workspace data is excluded from model training and that data on other plans can be used for training. We have not confirmed image-specific retention periods or provider-side deletion guarantees for this integration, and we do not promise that scanned photos are never retained or used for training. Review Base44's privacy and security information ↗ before opting in. If these uncertainties are unacceptable to you, leave AI tagging off. This control governs this optional tagging feature, not the hosting provider's general storage or processing terms or any separate feature you use.
Manual tags and visibility. Manual and generated tag text is checked using basic non-AI text rules when saved. These checks are not a guarantee that every inappropriate term will be detected. Tags are stored with the photo; only tags attached to public, published Forza Horizon 6 photos enter the public Browse tag registry. Owners can edit or remove tags from Edit image tags, including using Remove all tags and then Save image tags.
Earlier processing and withdrawal. Earlier versions automatically requested AI tags during upload and used AI to screen tag text. The new opt-in control does not undo those earlier requests. Turning the toggle off prevents new scans through this feature; it cannot recall an image already sent. Removing saved tags removes them from the current photo-tag display and registry, not from a provider's prior processing records or backups. For questions or deletion requests concerning past processing, use the privacy contact route below.
6. Data retention and deletion
We keep your information for as long as your account is active. You can delete individual photos at any time, which also removes their likes, saves, and comments.
You may request full account deletion — this removes your profile, your uploaded content, and associated personal data, except for minimal records we must retain for legal, security, or moderation purposes (for example, records of validated copyright takedowns). To request deletion, use the contact form on the Takedown Policy page with "Account deletion request" in the description, sent from the email address on the account.
7. Children
The Site is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact us and we will remove it.
8. Security
We rely on our platform provider's industry-standard security measures (encrypted connections, hashed credentials, access controls). No internet service is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced on the Site, and the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the current version.
10. Contact for privacy requests
For privacy questions, data access, or deletion requests, use the contact form on the Takedown Policy page and mark the request "Privacy request" in the description. We aim to respond within 30 days.
