Privacy policy
Last updated October 16, 2026
The short version
We don’t store your photos. To identify a spider, your photo is sent once to an AI model, the answer comes back, and the photo is discarded. We don’t ask for an account, a name or an email address.
What happens to a photo you upload
- In your browser: the photo is shrunk to at most 1024 pixels and re-encoded as a JPEG. This removes all EXIF metadata, including GPS location, camera model and date, before anything leaves your device.
- On our server (Cloudflare Pages Functions): the photo is held in memory only for the length of the request. It is never written to disk or a database.
- At the AI provider: for the analysis, the photo is passed through OpenRouter to a vision AI model. We send every request with OpenRouter’s “deny data collection” setting, which routes it only to providers that don’t store prompts or train on them, and we have disabled training on our account. The provider processes the image to produce an answer.
- Cached result: we keep a one-way SHA-256 fingerprint of the resized image together with the text result for 7 days, so the same photo uploaded again gets an instant answer. The fingerprint can’t be turned back into the photo.
What we log
For each identification we record which AI model answered, how long it took, what it cost, whether a spider was detected and the top species. We use this to keep the service fast and affordable and to see which species people find most. These logs contain no photos and no personal information.
To prevent abuse we count requests per IP address for up to 24 hours. Counters are keyed by a hashed IP address and expire automatically.
Bot protection
We use Cloudflare Turnstile to tell people from bots before an identification runs. Turnstile may process technical signals from your browser for this check only.
Cookies and ads
The site itself sets no cookies. It is free because it shows ads. Once ads are enabled, our advertising partner and its vendors may use cookies or similar technologies to show and measure ads, including personalized ads where the law allows. Where required (for example in the EU, UK and some US states), you’ll be asked for consent first and can change your choice at any time. You can also opt out of personalized advertising at aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.eu.
Children
The site is not directed at children under 13 and doesn’t knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your rights
Because we don’t keep photos or personal profiles, there is usually nothing tied to you that we could hand over or delete. If you have a question or a request, email us and we’ll answer.