Who we are
Parergon is made by Zalo Design Studio, Beeldemakerdreef 16, 2661 TA Bergschenhoek, the Netherlands (KvK 97854530). For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Zalo Design Studio is the data controller. You can reach us at contact@zalodesignstudio.com for any privacy question or request.
The Parergon app
What we collect
Nothing. We do not collect, store or share personal data or usage data from the app. It has no account, no tracking, no advertising and no third-party analytics.
Your photos and metadata stay on your Mac
Reading and editing metadata, image analysis, AI descriptions and keyword suggestions, meaning search and the metadata index all run on your Mac. Parergon does not upload your photos or their metadata to a service operated by us. Files leave the app only when you choose to export, share or send them somewhere yourself.
Permissions the app asks for
- Files and folders you choose. To read and write metadata in your photos and videos.
- Photos library (optional). To browse your albums and read or edit their metadata.
- Location (optional). Only when you choose to add your current location to files.
You can change these permissions at any time in macOS System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Apple services the app uses
Some features rely on services provided by Apple. Apple handles the data involved under its own privacy policy (apple.com/legal/privacy):
- App Store purchases and subscriptions. Apple processes payment and manages your subscription. We receive sales reports from Apple that do not identify you.
- Maps and place names. When you view a photo's location on a map or look up the place a photo was taken, the photo's coordinates are sent to Apple's maps services to draw the map or return the place name.
- iCloud Photos (optional). If your Photos library uses iCloud, opening an original may download it from iCloud.
- Translation (optional). Translate Metadata uses macOS's on-device translation. macOS may download a language pack after asking you.
- Crash reports and app usage (optional). If you have turned on "Share with app developers" in macOS, Apple may share crash reports and usage statistics with us. Apple does not share your identity, and you can turn this off in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.
The parergon.io website
Visit statistics, only with your consent
If you agree in the cookie banner, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site: pages viewed, approximate location, device type and how you arrived. Analytics cookies and identifiers are only set after you opt in, and you can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page. If you do not opt in, no analytics run.
Cookies
| Cookie | Purpose | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
prg_consent | Remembers your cookie choice | 12 months |
_ga, _ga_* (Google Analytics) | Visit statistics, only after you opt in | Up to 2 years |
The online metadata viewer
The free metadata viewer on this site reads and cleans files entirely in your browser. Your file is never uploaded to us or anyone else. The optional "view on OpenStreetMap" link opens OpenStreetMap, which then receives the coordinates in that link.
Hosting
The site is hosted by Amazon Web Services. To deliver pages securely, AWS processes technical data such as your IP address and browser type. We do not use this data to identify you.
When you email us
If you contact us, we use your email address and message to answer you and to handle your request, and keep the correspondence only as long as needed for that and for our legal and administrative obligations.
Legal basis
- Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR) for website analytics. You can withdraw it at any time.
- Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) for delivering the website securely and answering emails you send us.
Service providers and transfers
We use Google (website analytics) and Amazon Web Services (website hosting). Both may process data outside the European Economic Area, in which case the transfer is covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
Your rights
You have the right to access your personal data, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. To use any of these rights, email contact@zalodesignstudio.com. If you believe we have not handled your data properly, you can complain to the Dutch data protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl).
Children
Parergon and this website are not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the app or the website changes how data is handled. The date at the top shows the latest version, and significant changes are mentioned in the release notes.