TERMS

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 13, 2026

Cameras Decoded is a learning and community platform for photographers. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what we never do with it.

What We Collect

• Account information: your name, email address, and profile photo when you create an account or sign in with a provider such as Google.
• Your content: photos you upload, posts and comments you publish, Arena entries and votes, galleries you build, and notes clients leave on gallery photos.
• Your activity: lessons completed, XP, streaks, badges, game scores, and purchases of digital products and downloads you claim.
• Payment records: when you buy Pro or a product, our payment processor (Stripe) handles your card. We never see or store your full card number. We keep a record of what you bought and when.
• Newsletter information: if you subscribe on Substack or via a form, we receive your email address for delivery.

How We Use It

• To run the platform: your account, your progress, your galleries, and the community features you use.
• To show your public activity: posts, Arena entries, and milestones you generate appear in The Signal feed and on leaderboards, with your display name and profile photo.
• To process payments, deliver downloads, and provide support.
• To send email you asked for (newsletters, receipts, account notices). You can unsubscribe from marketing email at any time.

What We Never Do

• We do not sell your personal data.
• We do not share your data with advertisers.
• We do not make your private account information public. What appears in the feed is what the platform is designed to show: your display name, profile photo, and your public activity.

Who Processes Data For Us

• Google Firebase: accounts, database, and platform data.
• Stripe: payments and subscriptions.
• Cloudinary: hosting for images you upload.
• Substack: newsletter delivery.

Each provider processes data under its own privacy policy, only to provide its service to us.

Your Content & Visibility

• Feed posts and comments are public to anyone who visits The Signal.
• Client galleries are visible to anyone with the gallery link. Comments clients leave on gallery photos are visible to you and to anyone viewing that gallery.
• Free downloads require an account so we can deliver them to your library and prevent abuse.

Your Rights

• You can view and update your profile information in your account settings.
• You can ask us what data we hold about you, ask for corrections, or ask us to delete your account and data: email signal@camerasdecoded.com.
• Deleting your account removes your profile and private data. Public posts you made may remain visible without your name attached, so the community record stays intact.

Storage & Cookies

The site stores progress, preferences, and sign-in state on your device (local storage and cookies) so the platform works between visits. We do not use third-party advertising trackers.

Children

Cameras Decoded is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we change this policy in a meaningful way, we will update this page and the date above.

Terms of Service

Last updated: October 13, 2026

Your Account

• You are responsible for your account and for keeping your sign-in secure.
• Provide accurate information and do not impersonate another person.
• One person per account. Do not share accounts to bypass Pro access.

Pro Subscriptions

• Pro is available weekly, monthly, or annually, billed through Stripe.
• You can cancel at any time. Access continues until the end of the current billing period.
• Annual plans carry a 30-day money-back guarantee. If Pro is not for you, contact us within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.
• Founding Decoder members keep their locked founding pricing for as long as their subscription stays active.

Digital Products & Downloads

• The Camera Confidence Guide and other digital products are licensed to you for personal use. You receive the access described at purchase, including lifetime access where the Founding Decoder offer states it.
• Free downloads offered in The Signal require an account and carry the same personal-use license.
• Do not resell, redistribute, or share product files or download links. A license covers the buyer, not the internet.
• Except for the annual-plan guarantee above, sales are final unless required by law or agreed in writing.

Your Content

• You own the photos and content you post. Posting does not transfer your copyright to us.
• By posting, you give Cameras Decoded a license to display your content on the platform: in The Signal, in the Arena, on leaderboards, and in spotlights of community activity.
• Only post content you have the right to post. Do not post another photographer's work as your own.
• Arena entries must be your own photographs, taken for the challenge they are entered in.
• We may remove content that breaks these terms or disrupts the community, and may suspend accounts that repeat the behavior.

Fair Play

• Do not manipulate votes, XP, streaks, or leaderboards, and do not use automation or bots against the platform.
• Do not scrape the platform's lessons, protocols, or curriculum for redistribution.

Our Content

Lessons, protocols, artwork, and characters on Cameras Decoded (including Cynetis-7) are our intellectual property. Your subscription or purchase licenses you to use them as described; it does not transfer ownership.

Disclaimers

• The platform is provided "as is." We work hard to keep it running and improving, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted service.
• Education and templates are provided for learning and business support; they are not legal, tax, or financial advice.
• To the extent allowed by law, our liability is limited to what you paid us in the twelve months before a claim.

Termination & Changes

• You may stop using Cameras Decoded at any time and may request account deletion under the Privacy Policy.
• We may update these terms; continued use after an update means you accept the new version. The current version always lives on this page.

Questions: signal@camerasdecoded.com.