Fotr - Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for Fotr

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Overview

Fotr is a local-first photo viewing application. Your photos and data stay on your machine.

What Data Fotr Accesses

Local Photo Archives

  • Fotr reads photo and video files from a directory you select on your local machine
  • It creates a local SQLite database (.fotr.db) in your archive directory to index metadata
  • It generates thumbnail images (.fotr-thumbs/) in your archive directory for faster display
  • All of this data stays on your local machine

Google Photos (Optional)

  • If you choose to connect your Google Photos account, Fotr accesses your Google Photos library in read-only mode using the photoslibrary.readonly scope
  • Fotr downloads photos from Google Photos to your local archive directory
  • Fotr does not modify, delete, or upload anything to your Google Photos account

OAuth Tokens

  • When you connect to Google Photos, OAuth access and refresh tokens are stored in a local configuration file on your machine
  • On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/com.andrewdavidmackenzie.fotr/config.toml
  • On Linux: ~/.config/fotr/config.toml
  • On Windows: %APPDATA%\andrewdavidmackenzie\fotr\config\config.toml
  • Tokens are stored in plain text in the config file. They are not transmitted to any third party.

What Data Fotr Does NOT Collect

  • Fotr does not send any data to any server (other than Google’s API when syncing)
  • Fotr does not have any analytics, telemetry, or tracking
  • Fotr does not store any data in the cloud
  • Fotr does not share your data with any third party

Network Access

Fotr makes network requests only for:

  • OpenStreetMap tiles — map background images, fetched from tile.openstreetmap.org
  • Nominatim geocoding — converting GPS coordinates to place names and vice versa, via nominatim.openstreetmap.org
  • Google Photos API — only when you explicitly connect and sync (optional)
  • Google OAuth — only during the authorization flow (optional)

All network requests use HTTPS.

Data Deletion

  • Disconnect from Google Photos in the Services panel to remove stored tokens
  • Delete the config file to remove all stored settings
  • Delete the .fotr.db file and .fotr-thumbs/ directory to remove all indexed data
  • Fotr never modifies your original photo files (except when you explicitly request operations like deletion)

Open Source

Fotr is open source software licensed under the MIT License.

Contact

For privacy questions, contact: [email protected]