Who owns your photos
Who owns and controls your photos when you use Timemark alone versus in a team, and how to export everything.
Who owns and controls your photos depends on whether you use Timemark on your own or as part of a team. This page explains both, in plain terms. For the legal detail, see the Privacy policy and Data Processing Addendum (DPA).
On your own
Section titled “On your own”When you use Timemark without a team, your photos are yours.
- Photos you capture locally without uploading them to Timemark stay on your device. Timemark does not receive them.
- If you turn on Cloud Backup (Plus), your photos back up to your own Google Drive or OneDrive account. Only you can see them.
- You can delete them at any time. Export anything you want to keep before deleting it.
In a team
Section titled “In a team”When you capture photos for a Teamspace, the team controls those photos within Teamspace and may have rights to use them under its relationship with you. Timemark does not own them. Ownership and usage rights between you and your organization depend on your employment, contract, and local law. The same Teamspace control applies to team project docs, Checklist records, Attendance records, and team exports.
- The Team Owner decides who can view, download, move, and delete photos, through roles and permissions.
- A photo you take for a team stays in the team even if you later leave. Leaving a team only stops your future captures from going to it.
- By default, members can view and download all team photos, but can only delete or move their own. The Team Owner can change this.
This split matters most with location and attendance. If your team uses Attendance Mode or location tracking, your employer controls those records and is responsible for telling you about the tracking.
Timemark does not review team photos to determine what kind of work, site, industry, or project they show. The team is responsible for deciding whether its use of Timemark is appropriate and lawful.
How to export everything
Section titled “How to export everything”You can get your data out of Timemark at any time.
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| ZIP archive | All photo files (up to 1,000 per export) |
| PDF report | A structured report with photos and metadata |
| Excel | A spreadsheet of photo metadata |
| KMZ | Viewing photo locations in Google Earth |
| Share link | Giving someone read-only access by URL |
Team exports are made from Teamspace. Personal photos can be exported or saved from the App.
Anyone with an active share link can view the shared content. Use share links only for recipients who should have access to that copy.
Using exports commercially
Section titled “Using exports commercially”You or your team may use photos, exports, reports, Photo Codes, verification results, and other materials created with Timemark for internal business operations and lawful commercial purposes. That includes sharing them with customers, contractors, insurers, auditors, regulators, courts, or business partners where you have the rights and lawful basis to do so.
You do not need Business only because you use Timemark outputs for work. Business adds shared Teamspace management, centralized billing, higher limits, integrations, and admin controls.
This does not let you resell, host, white-label, or provide the Timemark service itself to others.
If a Business subscription ends
Section titled “If a Business subscription ends”Canceling Business does not delete the team or its existing data immediately. At the end of the paid period, the Teamspace returns to Free limits. Existing projects, photos, project docs, Checklist records, templates, and member records stay in the team, but content above Free limits may become restricted, blurred, or read-only until the team upgrades again, exports or deletes data, or reduces usage below Free limits. Business team photos have no preset expiry while the team exists. Team photos in a Free Teamspace are stored for 12 months by default, and Timemark emails the Team Owner 1 month before automatic deletion.
Common pitfalls
Section titled “Common pitfalls”- Deleting a photo from your device does not delete the copy already in a team or synced to a cloud folder. Those are separate copies.
- Deleting a photo from a team does not delete copies that already synced to Google Drive or SharePoint, or copies on a member’s device.
- Canceling Business is not the same as deleting a team. The team downgrades; existing team data is not deleted immediately only because billing stopped, but Free Teamspace team photos are subject to 12-month default retention.
- If the Team Owner wants to delete their account, they should transfer ownership before deletion. Team data stays with the Teamspace, and a Business subscription belongs to the Teamspace, not the individual account. Deleting the account does not cancel the subscription; cancel Business separately from Settings → Plan & Billing.