1. Who is responsible?
Codechest Ltd, company number 16912070, registered in England and Wales, operates Balbum. Our registered office and contact email appear below. We determine how account, authentication, security, payment and service-support information is used and are the controller for those purposes.
An album owner decides which event to organise, whom to invite and how to use downloaded guest content. A commercial organiser may be a separate controller for that use and must provide appropriate notices and arrangements. Contact us if you are unsure whom to approach about a Balbum privacy issue.
2. Information we receive
We receive information you provide, information necessary to operate the service and information from connected providers.
- Account: name, surname, email, verified-email status, optional password hash, sign-in settings and Google account identifier when linked.
- Albums and files: album name, card names/date/text/design settings, photos and videos, original filenames, file size/type, upload times, guest name and storage usage. Uploaded originals may contain metadata such as location embedded by your camera.
- Security: session identifiers, IP address, browser/user-agent information, failed sign-in attempts, verification records and the time, version and IP recorded for acceptance of our legal documents.
- Payments and contact: selected package, price, currency, order/payment references, payment status and the information you send in a support request. Stripe handles card information; full card numbers are not sent to Balbum’s application server.
3. Google sign-in
If you choose Google sign-in, we request only the OpenID Connect scopes openid, email and profile. Google supplies an account identifier, verified email and basic profile information such as your name. We use this to authenticate you, create or link your Balbum account and prevent unauthorised account linking.
We do not request Google Drive, Google Photos, contacts, Gmail or calendar access. Google authentication data is not used for advertising or AI model training. You can manage linked sign-in methods in account settings when another permitted method is available, and revoke Balbum’s connection through your Google account.
4. Purposes and legal bases
We use account and order information to perform our contract: provide access, maintain albums, accept authorised uploads, activate storage and supply downloads. For guests and others who are not contracting parties, providing the event-upload service and protecting it may rely on legitimate interests where appropriate.
Security, fraud prevention, service reliability and handling complaints rely on legitimate interests, subject to your rights. Required financial records, valid legal requests and statutory duties rely on legal obligations. Where an activity requires consent, we ask separately and allow withdrawal. A privacy acknowledgement is not consent to unrelated advertising.
We do not sell personal information or use uploaded event content to train AI models. The service does not currently include advertising trackers or behavioural advertising. We do not make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated profiling.
5. Who can see event files?
The owner can view, download and delete the files in their albums and see the guest name attached to each upload. A guest can access their own uploads using the key held in the same browser. Other guests do not gain access to your files merely by having the album link.
Anyone with an upload link can open the upload page while it is valid. Keep the link private. Downloaded copies can be kept or shared by the owner outside Balbum; deleting the Balbum file cannot delete those independent copies. Ask the owner about their subsequent use.
Technical providers and authorised personnel may access information only where needed to operate, support and secure the service, handle a verified request or comply with law. Signed file URLs are short-lived; treat them as confidential until they expire.
6. Cookies and browser storage
Balbum uses necessary cookies and browser storage for sign-in, security and the guest-upload feature. Blocking or clearing them can sign you out or remove access to earlier guest uploads.
| Item | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| access_token | Authenticated session; HttpOnly cookie | Up to 15 minutes |
| refresh_token | Keep the session signed in; HttpOnly cookie | Up to 30 days; may be replaced on session refresh |
| csrf_token | Protect requests against cross-site forgery | Aligned with the session; up to 30 days |
| Album-specific browser key (localStorage) | Recognise your guest folder and authorise your own uploads | Until cleared or removed from the browser; no automatic browser expiry |
- The guest key is random and album-specific; the server stores a keyed hash rather than the original key. It is not a device fingerprint.
- An IP-derived hash is temporarily used to rate-limit new guest-folder creation; it is not used to recognise you across browsers. Expired rate-limit entries are cleaned up after approximately one day.
- Stripe and Google may use their own security and authentication storage when you choose their services. Their notices explain it. Browser controls let you clear local data, but clearing it does not delete server files.
7. Providers and disclosures
We use Cloudflare R2 for files, PostgreSQL-backed infrastructure for application records, Resend for transactional email, Stripe for payment processing and Google for optional sign-in. Only the information needed for the relevant task is provided. Some providers act as processors under contract; payment and authentication providers may also be controllers for their own purposes.
We may disclose information when necessary to meet a legal duty, protect people and the service, handle legal claims or transfer the business with appropriate protections. We do not publicly list private albums or sell guest files. The linked provider notices explain their independent processing.
8. International processing
Our company is based in the United Kingdom. Hosting and service providers can process information in other countries, including countries where their infrastructure or support teams operate. Data is not necessarily stored in the UK solely because we are a UK company.
Where UK data-protection law restricts a transfer, we must use an applicable lawful mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards with any required assessment. Contact us for information about the safeguards applicable to your data.
9. Retention and deletion
Retention depends on the kind of record and your use of the service.
| Record | Retention / removal |
|---|---|
| Uploaded files | While the album remains active and capacity permits, until you or the owner delete them, or expiry/over-quota cleanup removes them. Oldest completed files are removed first when capacity is insufficient. No post-expiry grace period is promised. |
| Deleted objects | Access and quota are removed first; queued physical deletion is retried until completed. Previously issued signed links can work until expiry. |
| Account, album and guest records | Kept while the account/albums operate. Email-code-confirmed account deletion removes profile data, album and guest names, revokes sessions and queues files for deletion. An inactive anonymous internal ID and technical cleanup references remain for payment and deletion integrity. File expiry alone does not delete account or album records. |
| Sessions and verification records | Sessions expire within 30 days. Sign-in codes expire after 10 minutes; expired challenge records are normally eligible for cleanup after one day. Account deletion codes expire after 5 minutes; resend/block state persists independently of expiry until account deletion. Failed-attempt/security state may remain to protect an account. |
| Payment, acceptance and dispute records | May remain after account closure where needed for legal accounting, fraud prevention or claims. There is no automatic fixed-period purge for these records in the application; requests are reviewed against the applicable duty and retention need. |
- Download important files before storage expiry. Clearing browser data does not erase server content. Contact us if you need removal of a guest name, file metadata, account or other record that is not covered by an available deletion control.
10. Your rights and requests
Depending on applicable law, you can ask for access and a copy, correction, deletion, restricted processing, portability of eligible data, or object to processing based on legitimate interests. If processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting earlier lawful processing. These rights can have legal exceptions.
Use the contact details below. Owners can use the available profile, album and file controls; guests can remove their own uploads in the same browser. If you have lost that browser key, contact the owner or us. Provide enough detail to identify the account, album or file without exposing someone else’s private information. We may verify identity and authority proportionately.
We normally respond to valid data-rights requests within one month, subject to extensions or adjustments permitted by law. You do not need a Balbum account to contact us. You may complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or another competent authority in your country.
11. Children and sensitive content
Owner accounts and purchases are intended for adults. Guests under 18 should use Balbum with appropriate parent or guardian assistance. Owners and uploaders must have any permissions needed to share images of children and must avoid uploading unnecessary sensitive information.
Photos or videos may reveal health, religion or other sensitive details. Do not upload them without an appropriate legal basis and permission where required. We do not use facial recognition to identify people. Contact us about an image of a child, an unauthorised upload or another safeguarding concern.
12. Security
We use access controls, limited-duration authentication and signed file links, protected credentials and logical separation of album access. Share tokens are encrypted for storage and guest access keys are stored as hashes on the server. These measures reduce risk but do not make an online service completely secure.
Protect your email, codes, password and album links. Inform us promptly about suspected unauthorised access. Where a personal-data breach creates notification duties, we will notify the appropriate authority and affected people as required by law.
13. Changes to this Notice
We will update the version and date when this Notice changes and provide appropriate notice of material changes. New processing that legally requires consent will not be authorised merely by changing this Notice. The Azerbaijani and English versions are intended to explain the same practices.
14. Contact us
Use the email or registered-office address below for privacy questions, account closure, rights requests and complaints. If you are a guest, mention the relevant album or file and whether you still have browser access. Do not send sign-in codes, passwords or full card details.