Terms of Service & Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 2026 · These terms govern your use of PlateVault.
By registering an account or using PlateVault, you confirm that you have read and agreed to both the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy set out below. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.
§1 General Terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User") and PlateVault ("we", "us", "the platform") governing your access to and use of the website and all related services.
By creating an account or submitting any content to PlateVault, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of this agreement.
PlateVault is a non-commercial community platform for archiving and sharing photographs of vehicle license plates. It is not intended for commercial use by third parties.
§2 User Accounts
Registration requires a valid email address and a chosen username. You must be at least 16 years old to register. By registering, you confirm that the information you provide is accurate and that you will keep it up to date.
You are solely responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. You must not share your credentials with others or allow any third party to access your account.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, our Community Rules, or applicable law, with or without prior notice depending on the severity of the violation.
§3 User Content
3.1 Your licence to us
By uploading any photo or submitting any text to PlateVault, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual licence to store, display, resize, compress, and distribute that content on the platform and in connection with it (for example in previews, search results, or promotional material relating to the platform itself).
This licence does not transfer ownership of your content. You retain your copyright.
3.2 Your warranties
By submitting content you confirm that: (a) you own it or hold all necessary rights to publish it; (b) it does not infringe any third party's copyright, privacy, or other rights; (c) it complies with our Community Rules.
3.3 Image retention
Uploaded images are stored indefinitely on our servers unless: (a) you request deletion and we approve it; (b) we independently decide to remove the content for any reason including rule violations, legal requirements, or platform maintenance. We do not guarantee deletion on demand and reserve the right to retain content as described in our Privacy Policy below.
3.4 Our rights over content
We reserve the right to remove, hide, modify the metadata of, or otherwise manage any content submitted to the platform at any time and for any reason, without obligation to notify the uploader.
§4 Acceptable Use
You agree not to use PlateVault in any way that: violates applicable law; infringes the rights of others; introduces malware or attempts to compromise the platform's security; scrapes or harvests data from the platform in an automated fashion without our written consent; or circumvents any access control or moderation measure.
Detailed content and conduct requirements are set out in the Community Rules, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference.
§5 Termination
You may close your account at any time by contacting the administration. Account closure does not automatically result in deletion of your uploaded content — see §3.3 and §12 of the Privacy Policy.
We may suspend or permanently terminate your access at our discretion for any violation of these Terms or the Community Rules. In cases of serious violations (illegal content, repeated abuse, security threats), termination may be immediate and without prior notice.
§6 Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms at any time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify registered users via the platform's notification system.
Continued use of PlateVault after changes are published constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
§7 Limitation of Liability
PlateVault is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee that the platform will be available at all times, error-free, or fit for any particular purpose.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, PlateVault and its operators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the platform, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of profits, or reputational harm.
We are not responsible for user-submitted content. Users are solely liable for content they upload or post.
§8 Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Any disputes arising from or relating to these Terms or your use of PlateVault shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, unless mandatory consumer protection laws in your country of residence require otherwise.
If you are a consumer resident in the EU, you may also make use of the EU's Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are not obligated to participate in any alternative dispute resolution procedure.
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data processed by PlateVault and fulfils our disclosure obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
§9 Data We Collect
10.1 Data you provide directly
Email address — collected at registration and stored in our database. Used for account authentication and, where applicable, notifications.
Username — publicly visible display name chosen by you at registration.
Password — stored as a secure hash. We cannot read your password.
Uploaded images — photos you upload as spots, stored on our file hosting infrastructure.
Upload metadata — plate text, vehicle make/model, location (city + country), and any other fields you fill in when submitting a spot.
Comments and likes — text you write in comments and interactions you make on the platform.
10.2 Data collected automatically
Session token — a secure, random token stored in an httpOnly cookie on your device, used to keep you logged in. It is associated with your account in our database.
Server logs — our hosting provider may automatically log IP addresses, request timestamps, and user-agent strings for security and operational purposes. We do not actively collect or store IP addresses beyond what our hosting infrastructure logs automatically.
§10 Purpose & Legal Basis
We process your personal data only for the following purposes and on the following legal bases (GDPR Art. 6):
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Account creation and authentication | Email, password hash, session token | Art. 6(1)(b) — performance of contract |
| Displaying your spots and profile | Username, uploads, metadata, comments | Art. 6(1)(b) — performance of contract |
| Platform notifications | Email (if email notifications enabled) | Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interest |
| Moderation and safety | All account and content data | Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interest |
| Legal compliance | Any data required by law | Art. 6(1)(c) — legal obligation |
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.
§11 Retention
We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Account data (email, username, password hash): retained for the lifetime of your account. Upon account deletion request, account credentials are deleted within 30 days, subject to any legal retention obligations.
Uploaded images and spot metadata: retained indefinitely as part of the community archive. We preserve the right to keep uploaded content even after account closure. If you wish to request removal of specific images, contact us at legal@platevault.app. We will evaluate each request and respond within 30 days. Removal is not guaranteed for content that forms part of the public archive, but we will always consider requests made under GDPR Art. 17.
Session tokens: expire after 30 days of inactivity and are deleted on logout.
Server logs: retained by our infrastructure providers according to their own retention policies, typically 30–90 days.
§12 Third-Party Processors
We use the following third-party service providers to operate the platform. Each acts as a data processor on our behalf and is bound by a data processing agreement:
We do not sell, rent, or share your data with any third party for their own purposes.
§13 Your Rights (GDPR)
As a data subject under the GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at legal@platevault.app. We will respond within 30 days.
§14 International Transfers
Some of our third-party processors (Vercel, UploadThing) operate infrastructure outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. When we transfer personal data outside the EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards as required by GDPR Chapter V, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) where applicable.
By using PlateVault, you acknowledge that your data — particularly uploaded images — may be stored on servers outside the EEA.
§16 Minors
PlateVault is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, please contact us immediately at legal@platevault.app and we will take steps to delete it.
§17 Contact & Complaints
For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at: legal@platevault.app
If you believe we have not handled your data correctly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority. In Germany, this is the data protection authority of the state where we are established. You may also contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI):
Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI)
Graurheindorfer Str. 153, 53117 Bonn, Germany