1. Introduction

Welcome to RemoveTheWatermark.com (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “the Site”). We are committed to protecting your personal privacy and providing you with a transparent understanding of how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and use our free AI watermark removal tool.

This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors, users, and other persons who access or use our website at https://removethewatermark.com. By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, please do not use our Service.

This Policy is designed to comply with the:

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — European Union
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) — California, USA
• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) — USA
• Google AdSense Program Policies
• IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF)

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

We currently do not require you to create an account or provide personal information to use our core watermark removal service. However, we may collect:

• Contact information — if you contact us via email or a contact form (name, email address, message content)
• Feedback and communications — any information you voluntarily submit to us

2.2 Images You Upload

When you use our watermark removal tool, you upload images to our service. Please note:

• Uploaded images are processed by our AI service (Google Gemini 2.5 Flash) and are not permanently stored on our servers after processing is complete
• Images are transmitted securely over HTTPS to our processing endpoint
• We do not use your uploaded images for AI training or any purpose other than providing the requested watermark removal service
• Processed images are temporarily cached only as long as needed to deliver the result to you

2.3 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain technical information:

• Log data — IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, referring URL
• Device information — device type, operating system, screen resolution, language settings
• Usage data — features used, tool interactions, errors encountered
• Cookie data — see Section 5 (Cookies) for full details

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

Purpose	Legal Basis (GDPR)
Providing and operating the watermark removal service	Performance of contract / Legitimate interest
Improving our website and AI tool performance	Legitimate interest
Displaying personalized and contextual advertising via Google AdSense	Consent / Legitimate interest
Analyzing website traffic and user behavior (Google Analytics)	Legitimate interest / Consent
Responding to your inquiries and providing support	Performance of contract / Legitimate interest
Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, or security threats	Legitimate interest / Legal obligation
Complying with legal obligations	Legal obligation
Enforcing our Terms of Service	Legitimate interest

4. Google AdSense and Advertising

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our website. Google AdSense is an advertising service provided by Google LLC. This is a critical part of how we fund our free service.

4.1 How Google AdSense Works

Google AdSense uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other websites on the internet. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to our site and/or other sites on the internet.

4.2 DoubleClick Cookie and Interest-Based Advertising

Google uses the DoubleClick cookie to improve advertising. With this cookie, Google and its partners can serve ads based on users’ visits to this and other websites. Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.

4.3 Third-Party Advertising Vendors

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to our website or other websites. Third-party vendor cookies may be used to:

• Serve personalized advertisements based on your interests
• Measure advertising effectiveness
• Limit how often you see an advertisement
• Understand the interests of our users

You can opt out of Google’s use of cookies for interest-based advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page or Google’s Ads Preferences Manager.

4.4 Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to analyze the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

5.1 What Are Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and to provide information to website owners. Cookies cannot execute programs or deliver viruses to your device.

5.2 Types of Cookies We Use

Cookie Type	Purpose	Duration
Strictly Necessary	Essential for the website to function. Cannot be disabled.	Session
Performance / Analytics	Google Analytics — helps us understand how visitors use our site	Up to 2 years
Advertising	Google AdSense — used to serve relevant advertisements	Up to 13 months
Functional	Remember your preferences and settings	Session / Persistent

5.3 Managing Cookies

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through browser settings. You can:

• Delete all cookies already stored on your device
• Block all cookies from being set
• Allow all cookies
• Block third-party cookies only
• Block cookies from particular sites
• Clear all cookies when you close the browser
• Open a “private browsing” / “incognito” session

Please note that restricting cookies may impact the functionality of our website. For more information about cookies and how to manage them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

6. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise transfer your personally identifiable information to outside parties except in the following circumstances:

6.1 Service Providers

We may share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. These include:

• Google LLC — hosting infrastructure (Google Cloud), analytics (Google Analytics), advertising (Google AdSense), and AI processing (Google Gemini API). Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• Hosting Provider — our web hosting company processes server access logs
• WordPress.org — our content management system

6.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, in response to valid legal process, or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with applicable laws or regulations
• Respond to a valid legal process (subpoena, court order, governmental request)
• Protect the rights, property, or personal safety of RemoveTheWatermark.com, our users, or the public
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues

6.3 Business Transfers

If RemoveTheWatermark.com is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your personal data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your personal data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

7. Data Retention

We retain different types of data for different periods:

• Uploaded images — deleted immediately after processing is complete (not stored)
• Server logs — retained for up to 30 days for security and performance monitoring
• Analytics data — retained per Google Analytics default settings (up to 26 months)
• Contact form submissions — retained for up to 2 years, then deleted
• Cookie data — per the cookie durations described in Section 5

8. Data Security

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information:

• HTTPS/TLS encryption — all data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted
• Secure infrastructure — we use Google Cloud Platform’s secure infrastructure
• No permanent image storage — uploaded images are not stored after processing
• Access controls — administrative access to our systems is restricted and protected
• Regular security audits — we periodically review our security practices

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your Privacy Rights

9.1 GDPR Rights (EU/EEA/UK Users)

If you are located in the European Union, European Economic Area, or United Kingdom, you have the following rights under GDPR:

• Right of Access — You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to Rectification — You have the right to request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”) — You can request deletion of your personal data
• Right to Restriction of Processing — You can request that we limit the processing of your data
• Right to Data Portability — You can request your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to Object — You can object to processing of your personal data for direct marketing or legitimate interest purposes
• Rights related to automated decision-making — You have the right not to be subject to automated decision-making that produces legal effects

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: [email protected]

9.2 CCPA Rights (California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to Know — You have the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you
• Right to Delete — You have the right to request deletion of your personal information
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale — We do not sell personal information. If this changes, you will have the right to opt out
• Right to Non-Discrimination — We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights
• Right to Correct — You have the right to correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you

Do Not Sell My Personal Information: We do not currently sell personal information. To submit a CCPA request, contact us at: [email protected]

10. Children’s Privacy (COPPA)

Our Service is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at [email protected].

If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers immediately.

For users between 13 and 18, we recommend parental supervision when using our service.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, plugins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

Key third-party services we link to or use:

• Google AdSense: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• Google Analytics: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• Google Cloud / Gemini AI: https://policies.google.com/privacy

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including personal data, to the United States and process it there.

For transfers from the EU/EEA, we rely on the following safeguards:

• EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (where applicable)
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) adopted by the European Commission
• Adequacy decisions by the European Commission

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy.

We will notify you via a prominent notice on our website and/or by email (if we have your email address) prior to the change becoming effective.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your rights, or our data practices, please contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://removethewatermark.com
• Data Controller: RemoveTheWatermark.com

For EU/EEA users: You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. A list of EU data protection authorities is available at: https://edpb.europa.eu