Privacy & community guidelines

Effective September 22, 2026

Free Film Exchange is provided by Too Many Toys LLC under the Made Useful Studios name. Contact madeusefulstudio@gmail.com.

Browsing and accounts

You can browse without an account. Registration uses your email and password or Google sign-in. Firebase Authentication manages your credentials and sign-in session. Your email is not shown with photos. Your chosen display name and points are public beside your contributions. There is no public member directory or registration count.

Photos and location

The app requests location when you choose nearby boxes or take a photo. To submit a photo, the app checks that a fresh, accurate GPS reading is within 100 metres of the selected box before and after capture. Coordinates are sent securely for this check and are not stored in the public photo record. We do not track location in the background. The photo record includes the box, your account identifier, and the capture and submission times. Uploaded images are resized and re-encoded to remove embedded metadata before publication. Photos are public; anyone may view or copy them.

Private photo demo

Signed-in users can practice taking and uploading a photo from Account without visiting a real box. One demo photo and its upload time are stored privately under your account, accessible to you and studio administrators. Replacing or deleting the demo removes the saved image; deleting your account also removes it. Demo photos are not published to boxes and do not earn points or trigger notifications.

Favorites and notifications

Your favorites, notification choices, and device notification token are private. Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers new-photo alerts for boxes you choose. Turn alerts off per box or in Android settings. Signing out stops this app from displaying account notifications on the device.

The app uses Google AdMob banner ads. Google may process device identifiers, IP addresses, ad interactions, and diagnostic information to deliver ads and prevent fraud. Where required, the app presents advertising consent choices and an Ad privacy choices control. We do not send your photo-capture coordinates or account email to AdMob. See Google’s privacy policy and how Google uses information.

Retention and deletion

Delete your own photos in the app, with confirmation. Deleting a photo normally keeps the point you earned. Delete your account in Account to remove your photos, profile, points, favorites, device tokens, and associated reports and suggestions. You may need to sign in again before deleting. You can also request deletion by email. Incomplete photo uploads expire after ten minutes and are removed by daily cleanup. Firebase and Google may retain service logs under their own policies. Copies others made of public photos are outside our control.

Keep the exchange welcoming

Upload photos you took of the box’s contents. Do not upload nudity, sexual content, harassment, hate, violence, private information, or material you have no right to share. Avoid identifiable faces and license plates. Do not trespass to reach a box. Before submitting a photo, you must accept the community rules in the app. Report inappropriate photos using Report, or use Report contributor for abusive content or behavior. Block contributor hides that contributor’s photos on your device; Account lets you unblock contributors. Blocking preferences and community-rule acceptance are stored locally on the device and can be removed by clearing the app’s storage. Suggest corrections when a box moves or closes. Administrators can remove photos and delete accounts for abuse. Points have no monetary or redeemable value.

Services and security

We use Firebase Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, App Check, and Cloud Messaging, plus Google Maps and AdMob. These providers receive information needed to operate their services, such as network and device information. Data is encrypted in transit. Administrators can access accounts, reports and suggestions to support and moderate the service. External community-page links open services with their own policies.

Audience and changes

The initial app is intended for adults and is not directed to children. Contact us about privacy questions or deletion requests. We will update this policy when the app’s practices change.