The short version
We don't have accounts, we don't store the images you upload, and the only thing we retain directly about you is a temporary rate-limit counter tied to your IP address that expires automatically within 24 hours. We use Google Analytics to understand how people use the site, and we may show ads through Google AdSense to help keep the core tool free — both use cookies set by Google, not by us directly, and both are explained in full below.
What we collect
Uploaded images and video titles: when you upload a thumbnail, the image file and any video title you provide are sent to our AI provider to generate your roast, and returned to your browser. We do not save these to a database or persistent storage on our own servers — once your request completes, we don't retain a copy.
IP address, for rate limiting only: to keep the free tier free for everyone, we track how many roasts each IP address has requested in a rolling 24-hour window. This is stored in our rate-limiting database and automatically expires — we don't use it for anything beyond enforcing that limit, and we don't build any kind of profile from it.
Standard hosting logs: our hosting provider (Vercel) automatically logs basic technical request data (like IP address, timestamp, and requested path) as part of operating the infrastructure, the same way most web hosts do. We don't separately access or analyze these for tracking purposes.
Cookies
ThumbRoasty itself doesn't set cookies to identify or track you across visits. If Google Analytics or Google AdSense are active on the site (see below), Google sets its own cookies in your browser to enable those services — we don't control what those cookies contain or how long they last beyond what Google documents in its own cookie policy.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand overall traffic patterns — which pages get visited, roughly how people find the site, and whether changes we make actually help. This is aggregate usage data, not a profile built around you individually. Google's privacy policy covers how it handles this data, and you can opt out of Google Analytics across all sites using Google's browser opt-out add-on.
Advertising
To help keep ThumbRoasty free, we may display ads through Google AdSense. When ads are shown, Google and its advertising partners may use cookies to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites, and to measure how those ads perform — this is standard behavior on any AdSense-supported site, not something specific to ThumbRoasty. You can view and control the ad personalization Google shows you at Google's Ads Settings, and opt out of personalized ads from participating networks generally at aboutads.info.
We don't share your uploaded thumbnail, video title, or roast results with our advertising partners — ad personalization runs on standard Google cookie data, not on anything you submit to the actual tool.
If you're visiting from the EU, UK, or a similar region: a compliant cookie-consent banner for these regions is a planned next step alongside turning ads on, and isn't live yet — this policy will be updated again once it is.
What we don't do
We don't require an account or collect your name, email, or any personal profile information to use the core roast feature. We don't sell your data, and we don't share your uploaded images or roast results with advertisers or analytics providers.
Third-party services we use
Your uploaded image and title are processed by Google's Gemini AI to generate the roast — this is the core of how the service works, and that processing is subject to Google's own API terms and privacy practices.
Our rate-limiting counters are stored with Upstash, a database provider, solely to enforce the daily usage limit.
When active, Google Analytics and Google AdSense (covered above) may set cookies and collect standard usage or advertising data under Google's own policies.
The site itself is hosted on Vercel.
None of these providers receive any information from us beyond what's necessary to perform their specific function for your request.
Children's privacy
ThumbRoasty is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under that age.
Your rights
Because we don't maintain accounts or persistent profiles tied to your identity, there's generally nothing stored about you to request access to or deletion of beyond the temporary rate-limit counter, which clears itself automatically, and whatever cookies Google's own services set in your browser — controllable through the opt-out links above. If you have any privacy questions or concerns, contact us and we'll help however we can.
Changes to this policy
As ThumbRoasty adds features, this policy will be updated to reflect what's actually collected at that time — most recently updated to disclose Google Analytics and Google AdSense ahead of those features going live.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Reach out at privacy@thumbroasty.com.