Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

DeDuper is developed and published by Siddharth Bobba (siddharthdbobba@gmail.com). "We", "our", and "us" refer to this individual developer. "You" means anyone who installs or uses DeDuper on macOS or iOS.

2. What DeDuper Does

DeDuper is a duplicate photo cleaner. It scans your Photos library (or a folder you select), groups visually similar or time-adjacent photos, scores them automatically, and lets you delete the lower-quality copies. All scanning, grouping, and scoring happens entirely on your device using Apple system frameworks.

3. Data We Do Not Collect

We do not collect, store, transmit, or process any of the following:

• Your photos, videos, or any media files
• Your name, email address, or any contact information
• Your Apple ID or any account credentials
• Your location
• Device identifiers or advertising IDs
• Crash reports or usage analytics
• Any behavioral or diagnostic telemetry

DeDuper contains no analytics SDKs, no crash-reporting services, and no third-party tracking libraries of any kind.

4. Photo Library Access

DeDuper requests access to your Photos library solely to scan for duplicate and similar photos. This access is handled entirely by Apple's Photos framework on your device. The app reads photo metadata (timestamps, dimensions, file size) and generates small perceptual hashes locally to compare images. No photo data is ever uploaded, transmitted, or stored outside your device as part of the scanning process.

On macOS, you may also grant DeDuper access to a specific folder on your file system. Files in that folder are read locally and never transmitted.

You can revoke photo library access at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos (macOS) or Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos (iOS).

5. On-Device Close-Call Resolution

When two photos in a group score very closely, DeDuper uses Apple's on-device Vision framework to break the tie — analyzing face sharpness, whether eyes are open, and overall image aesthetics — and shows a short "Why this one?" explanation. This analysis runs entirely on your device. No photo, hash, or analysis result is ever transmitted anywhere. There is no AI assistant, cloud service, or external API involved.

6. No Network Access

DeDuper makes no network requests of any kind. It has no servers, no accounts, no API integrations, and no telemetry. The app functions identically with networking fully disabled. (On macOS, the app does not even request the network entitlement.)

7. Free App — No In-App Purchases

DeDuper is free. There are no in-app purchases, subscriptions, premium tiers, or paid features. The app collects no payment information because there is nothing to buy.

8. Local Storage

DeDuper stores the following data only on your device:

• App preferences (scan sensitivity, time window, protected albums, etc.) — stored in UserDefaults, on-device only, never synced to iCloud.
• Audit log — a local CSV record of photos you have deleted using DeDuper. Stored in the app's sandboxed container. Never transmitted. You can export or review this log at any time from Settings → Audit Log, and it is removed when you uninstall the app.

No data is stored in iCloud, synced across devices, or accessible to the developer.

9. No Advertising or Third-Party SDKs

DeDuper contains no advertising, no advertising identifiers, and no third-party SDKs of any kind. The app makes no external network contact whatsoever.

10. Children's Privacy

DeDuper is rated 4+ and is suitable for all ages. Because we do not collect any personal data from any user, no special provisions for users under 13 (COPPA) or under 16 (GDPR) are required beyond the general protections described in this policy.

11. Data Retention and Deletion

We do not retain any data about you because we do not collect any. All app data (preferences, audit log) is stored locally on your device and is deleted automatically when you uninstall DeDuper.

12. Your Rights

Because we collect no personal data, there is nothing for us to provide, correct, or delete on our end. If you have questions about data processed by Apple (the Photos framework), please consult Apple's privacy policy. If you have any concerns about DeDuper specifically, please contact us at the address below.

13. Security

DeDuper operates within Apple's strict app-sandbox model, which limits its access to only the resources you explicitly grant. Because the app performs all work on-device and makes no network requests, your photos are never exposed to any network or third party.

14. Changes to This Policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and, where possible, notify users through an app update. Continued use of DeDuper after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

15. Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this privacy policy or DeDuper's data practices, please contact:

Siddharth Bobba
siddharthdbobba@gmail.com