Legal

Terms of Service

Last updated: October 20, 2026 (version 2026-10-20)

Contents (26)

1. Scope and acceptance

These Terms of Service govern the use of Photogala — the website photogala.net, the galleries and the associated applications — between you and Peter Wassermair, Rödham 20, 4922 Geiersberg, Austria (“Photogala”, “we”).

They apply to organizers who create a gallery and to guests who join a gallery or upload content. You accept them when you create an account, create or take over a gallery, join a gallery or upload content — in each case via the button that refers to these terms. We store which version was shown to you as proof.

If a partner (e.g. a photographer) offers a gallery under its own brand, the partner’s terms may also apply. This does not affect our obligations towards you.

Mandatory consumer rights, in particular under the Consumer Protection Act (KSchG), remain unaffected.

2. Services

Photogala is a platform for private photo and video galleries for events. Organizers create galleries and invite guests; guests share photos and videos. In addition, there are features such as albums, photo tasks, leaderboards, a photo wall, downloads and optional face recognition.

What is included (e.g. storage, term, features) is determined by the package as described at the time of booking. The free version may be limited. We continuously develop Photogala; we will not materially degrade booked core services during a paid term unless this is necessary for legal or security reasons.

We strive for availability that is as uninterrupted as possible and announce maintenance in advance where possible. We are not responsible for outages beyond our control, such as internet disruptions or force majeure.

3. Accounts and minimum age

  • Only adults, as well as companies and organizations represented by an authorized person, may create galleries and purchase packages.
  • Children under 14 may join a gallery only with the consent of a parent.
  • Keep your details up to date and your login credentials secret, and notify us immediately of any misuse of your account.
  • A guest account is tied to the device you joined with. Anyone who has a gallery’s link or code can join it — so only share it with people who should see the gallery.

4. Obligations of organizers

As an organizer, you are responsible for your gallery. In particular, you:

  • inform your guests in advance that photos will be shared, who can see them and how they can have photos of themselves removed — e.g. on the invitation or with a sign at the venue;
  • obtain the necessary consents before you switch on face recognition or allow photos of children to be shared;
  • handle reports from your guests promptly, as a rule within 7 days;
  • use content outside Photogala (e.g. on a website, on social networks or in advertising) only if you have the rights of the authors and the consent of the identifiable persons depicted.

You are the controller within the meaning of the GDPR for the personal data in your gallery. We process it on your behalf in accordance with the agreement in the Annex.

5. Your content

You retain all rights to the photos, videos and texts you upload. By uploading, you confirm that

  • you created the content yourself or are permitted to share it, and
  • no one is shown against their recognizable will or in a compromising or intimate situation (§ 78 UrhG).

For this purpose, you grant the following rights — non-exclusively, free of charge and for the duration of storage:

  • Photogala may store the content, process it technically (e.g. previews, formats, rotation, compression) and make it available to authorized persons in the gallery, on the photo wall and in downloads — solely in order to provide the service. We do not use your content for advertising or for training AI models unless you expressly agree.
  • The organizer may view, manage, moderate and download the content in the gallery, use it privately in connection with the event and share it with the participants, for example in a photo book or a memory video.
  • The other guests of the gallery may view the content and — if the organizer allows downloads — download it for private, non-commercial purposes.

For commercial or promotional purposes (e.g. a company website, advertising on social networks, press), the organizer requires the separate consent of the authors and of the persons depicted, which the organizer obtains themselves.

The rights granted to Photogala end when a piece of content has been deleted and the restoration period has expired (see Privacy Policy). Copies that have already been downloaded are not affected.

6. Prohibited content and use

The following, in particular, are not permitted:

  • illegal content, such as depictions of sexual abuse, glorification of violence, incitement to hatred or content that infringes copyrights, trademark rights or personality rights;
  • nude or intimate images of other persons without their consent;
  • photos that expose or ridicule persons or show them against their recognizable will;
  • spam, malware, automated mass access, circumventing access restrictions and attacks on the platform.

7. Reports and moderation

Every photo and video has a “Report” button. The report goes to the organizer, who can remove the content. You can also report illegal content directly to us without access to the gallery: to [email protected], with the link and a brief explanation.

We review reports carefully and promptly, remove or block illegal content and inform the reporting person and — where possible — the uploading person of our decision, including the reasons (Art. 16 and 17 DSA). If you disagree with a decision, write to us; we will review it again. Recourse to the courts remains open to you.

In the event of serious or repeated violations, we may remove content, restrict features or suspend accounts. In doing so, we act proportionately and take into account the interests of all parties involved.

8. Automated processing and face recognition

  • Uploads are processed automatically (previews, rotation, video formats) and checked by an AI model on our servers for clearly prohibited content. Matches are flagged and reviewed by the organizer or by us.
  • Face recognition is optional and off by default. The organizer decides whether to switch it on; your selfie is analysed only after your explicit consent. Details can be found in the Privacy Policy.
  • We do not send your photos to external AI services.

9. Prices and payment

  • The prices displayed at the time of booking apply. Paid packages are sold by our reseller Paddle.com (Merchant of Record). The purchase contract is concluded with Paddle, and Paddle’s buyer terms also apply. Paddle issues the invoice and handles payment, taxes and refunds.
  • Whether a package is a one-time purchase or renews is stated at the time of booking. You can cancel a subscription at any time with effect from the end of the current billing period.
  • Price changes do not apply to periods already paid for. For subscriptions, we announce them at least 30 days in advance; you can cancel before they take effect.
  • Your right of withdrawal as a consumer and refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.

10. Term, termination and deletion

  • You can delete your account and your galleries at any time. Guests can delete their own uploads at any time.
  • We may terminate a free account with 30 days’ notice. We provide paid services for the entire paid term.
  • For good cause — in particular in the event of serious violations of section 6, a threat to the security of the platform or by order of an authority — we may suspend or terminate accounts or galleries with immediate effect. We will inform you of the reason to the extent permitted.
  • If a gallery expires or the contract ends, we will inform the organizer in good time so that they can download the content. After that, it will be deleted in accordance with the periods set out in the Privacy Policy.

11. Warranty and liability

  • The statutory warranty applies to consumers.
  • We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence and for personal injury. In the case of slight negligence, we are liable only for the breach of essential contractual obligations, limited to the foreseeable, typical damage. Liability for slight negligence is excluded towards businesses.
  • As a hosting service provider, we are responsible for content from organizers and guests only if we have knowledge of illegal content and do not act without undue delay (§ 16 ECG, Art. 6 DSA).
  • Photogala is not an archive. Please keep additional backups of important photos and videos, for example by downloading them.
  • Liability under the Product Liability Act remains unaffected.

12. Indemnification

If third parties assert claims against us because content that you uploaded or used outside Photogala infringes their rights (e.g. copyright, right to one’s own image or data protection), you shall indemnify us against such claims and reimburse the reasonable costs of legal defence — to the extent that you are responsible for the infringement. We will inform you of such claims without undue delay and will not acknowledge them without your consent.

Towards consumers, this applies only within the scope of the statutory liability for damages.

13. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms with effect for the future, for example if laws or our services change. We will inform registered users in good time in advance by e-mail or in the app, and guests on their next visit to the gallery.

Changes that materially affect your rights or obligations take effect only if you agree. If you do not agree, the previous terms continue to apply to services already paid for until the end of the term.

14. Governing law and place of jurisdiction

  • Austrian law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the conflict-of-law rules. Consumers in the EU retain the protection of the mandatory provisions of their country of residence.
  • The place of jurisdiction towards businesses is Ried im Innkreis, Austria. Actions against consumers can only be brought at their place of residence; consumers may also bring actions there.
  • For users resident in the USA, the law of the State of Delaware applies, supplemented by section 15.

15. Dispute resolution for users in the USA

This section applies only to users resident in the United States.

  • Settlement first: Before you assert a claim, write to us at [email protected]. Both parties will endeavour to reach a settlement for at least 60 days.
  • Arbitration: If this is unsuccessful, disputes will be finally resolved in individual arbitration by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in the English language. For claims below USD 10,000, we bear the fees of the AAA and of the arbitrator.
  • No class actions and no jury: Claims may only be asserted individually, not in class or collective proceedings. Both parties waive a jury trial.
  • Exceptions: claims that fall within the jurisdiction of a small claims court, and applications for urgent relief to protect intellectual property.
  • Opt-out: You can opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these terms by e-mail to [email protected], stating your name, your e-mail address and that you do not wish to participate in arbitration.

16. Final provisions

  • If a provision is invalid, the remainder remains valid. Towards businesses, it is replaced by a valid provision that comes closest to its purpose; towards consumers, the law applies.
  • These terms are available in several languages. In the event of discrepancies, the German version prevails, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.

17. Contact

Peter Wassermair, Rödham 20, 4922 Geiersberg, Austria
E-mail: [email protected]

Annex A1. Data processing: subject matter

This annex is the agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR between the organizer (controller) and Photogala (processor). It applies from the creation or takeover of a gallery for the duration of use. For partners who offer Photogala under their own brand, the separate partner agreement takes precedence.

  • Subject matter and purpose: provision of the gallery — storing, processing, displaying and delivering the content, managing the guests and, optionally, face recognition.
  • Type of data: photos and videos including metadata, display names, guest accounts, likes, comments, task submissions, reports and technical access data; if face recognition is active, biometric feature vectors (Art. 9 GDPR).
  • Data subjects: organizers, guests and persons who appear in the content.
  • Duration: until the gallery is deleted and the restoration period has expired.

A2. Instructions

Photogala processes the data only on documented instructions from the organizer. Instructions are these terms and the settings the organizer chooses in their gallery; the organizer may issue further instructions by e-mail. If Photogala considers an instruction to be unlawful, it will inform the organizer. Photogala processes the data for its own purposes only to the extent permitted by these terms or by law, for example for security, to prevent abuse or to fulfil obligations under the DSA.

A3. Confidentiality

Persons with access to the data are bound to confidentiality (§ 6 DSG) and access the data only to the extent necessary for operation, support or security.

A4. Technical and organizational measures

Photogala takes measures pursuant to Art. 32 GDPR, in particular:

  • encryption of all connections (TLS) and access to media files only via time-limited, signed URLs;
  • role-based access restrictions, including for administrators;
  • hosting in data centres in the EU and backup copies with a second provider in the EU;
  • encrypted storage of biometric feature vectors;
  • logging, monitoring and regular updating of the systems;
  • restorability of deleted content for 90 days.

A5. Sub-processors

The organizer authorizes the sub-processors named in the Privacy Policy, in particular Hetzner Online GmbH (hosting, Helsinki, Finland), Backblaze, Inc. (backup copies, Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Cloudflare, Inc. (network and protection against attacks). Photogala contractually binds them to equivalent data protection obligations.

Photogala gives notice of planned changes at least 30 days in advance on this page and informs registered organizers by e-mail. The organizer may object for good cause relating to data protection law and, in that case, terminate the contract.

A6. Assistance

Photogala assists the organizer with requests from data subjects (e.g. access or erasure), with data protection impact assessments and with the obligations under Art. 32 to 36 GDPR. The organizer can handle many requests directly in the gallery, for example by deleting content. Photogala forwards requests concerning a gallery that it receives to the organizer.

A7. Data breaches

Photogala notifies the organizer of a personal data breach in their gallery without undue delay, where possible within 48 hours of becoming aware of it, with the information required under Art. 33(3) GDPR, to the extent known.

A8. Deletion and return

The organizer can download the content at any time. After the end of use or the deletion of the gallery, Photogala permanently deletes the data once the 90-day restoration period has expired, including in the backup copies, unless a statutory retention obligation applies.

A9. Evidence and audits

On request, Photogala provides the organizer with the information necessary to demonstrate compliance with these obligations and allows for audits — primarily through written information and evidence from the service providers, such as certificates. On-site audits are possible after reasonable advance notice, provided that they do not impair operations or the confidentiality of other customers. The organizer bears the costs, unless the audit reveals a significant violation.