Image Sanitizer privacy policy

For the Image Sanitizer macOS app · Last updated 21 May 2026

1. Introduction

This policy explains how Image Sanitizer handles your data. Image Sanitizer is a macOS application published by Whiteforge Technologies Ltd (“Whiteforge”, “we”), a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17224707). It inspects JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF and HEIC/HEIF images for hidden metadata, removes it, and verifies the result before saving.

This policy is for the Image Sanitizer app. The whiteforgetech.co.uk website has its own privacy policy.

2. Data the app processes locally

Image Sanitizer processes the image files you open with it. While a file is open, the app holds in memory:

• The bytes of the image file you opened.
• A summary of the metadata blocks detected in the file (EXIF, XMP, IPTC, PNG text chunks, ICC profile, GPS, camera, lens, capture date, software, and so on) and their sizes. If the photo carries GPS coordinates, those coordinates are held in memory so the world map can plot them.
• The output path you select for the sanitised copy.

All of the above stays on your device. None of it is transmitted off the device — including GPS coordinates: the world map is rendered from a bundled offline SVG, with no tile-server, geocoding, or analytics requests.

3. Data Whiteforge receives

None. Image Sanitizer does not send your images, metadata summaries, file paths, or telemetry to Whiteforge. There are no Whiteforge servers in the data path. The app does not contain analytics SDKs, advertising SDKs, or third-party tracking libraries. The optional auto-update check (described below) goes directly to GitHub — Whiteforge does not see those requests.

4. Network activity

By default, Image Sanitizer makes no outbound network connections. The auto-updater is off out of the box. The app shows a first-run modal explaining this; if you do not opt in, the app never touches the network.

In Settings → Updates (or via the first-run modal), you can enable two things:

• “Check for updates automatically on launch” — off by default. If you turn it on, Image Sanitizer makes a single HTTPS request per app launch to https://github.com/whiten1968/ImageSanitizer-downloads/releases/latest/download/latest.json. This is a static text file describing the current latest release. If a newer version is available, the app offers to download and install it; the download itself is also an HTTPS request to GitHub.
• “Check for updates now” — a manual button. Makes the same request, once, only when you click it.

The requests contain no image content, no file paths, no metadata, no usage statistics, no user identifier, and no telemetry of any kind. They are ordinary HTTPS GETs identical to any user requesting that URL in a browser. The only data GitHub receives is your IP address (visible to any server you connect to) and the fact that something is requesting the Image Sanitizer update manifest.

You can revoke consent at any time by turning “Check for updates automatically” off. Settings preferences are stored locally on your device only.

5. Where data is stored

• The image file you open — remains where you opened it from. Image Sanitizer does not copy your input files into its own storage, and never overwrites the original.
• The detected metadata summary and your output path choice — held in memory while the file is open. When you open a different image or quit the app, this state is discarded.
• The sanitised output — only created when you choose to save and pick a destination. Image Sanitizer writes to the location you specify (typically alongside the original with a -sanitized suffix, matching the input’s format) and nowhere else.
• Optional Finder Quick Action. If you turn on Settings → Finder integration, Image Sanitizer writes a small Automator workflow into ~/Library/Services/ so that right-clicking an image in Finder offers Sanitize with Image Sanitizer. Turning the toggle off again removes the workflow. The workflow itself contains no personal data — it’s a fixed script that runs open -a “Image Sanitizer” <file>.

6. Crash reports and diagnostics

Image Sanitizer does not collect or transmit crash reports, performance metrics, or diagnostic data. macOS itself may collect crash logs at the operating-system level and offer to share them with developers; that behaviour is controlled by your macOS privacy settings (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), not by Image Sanitizer.

7. Deletion

• Opening a different file — drops the in-memory state for the previous one.
• Quitting the app — drops all in-memory state.
• Uninstalling Image Sanitizer — remove the Image Sanitizer.app bundle from Applications. The app does not install components elsewhere on the system. Move the app to the Trash and empty it, and everything Image Sanitizer touched is gone.

The images you opened, and the sanitised outputs you saved, are unaffected by uninstalling the app — they live where you put them. If you previously turned on the Finder Quick Action, remove ~/Library/Services/Sanitize with Image Sanitizer.workflow by hand, or turn the toggle off in Settings first.

8. Children

Image Sanitizer is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Your rights

If you are in the UK or the EU, you have rights under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR — including the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, and the right to lodge a complaint. Because Image Sanitizer does not transmit your data to us, these rights are effectively under your direct control through the app and the file system on your device. If you have a question about your data in Image Sanitizer, email us at the address below.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top. Material changes will be summarised at the top of the policy for a reasonable period.

11. Contact

For privacy questions about Image Sanitizer:

Whiteforge Technologies Ltd
support@whiteforgetech.co.uk