6HA Terms of Use

By accessing or using 6HA at 6ha.net, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use in their entirety. If you do not agree with any provision of these terms, please discontinue use of 6HA immediately. These terms govern your relationship with the entity operating 6HA, identified in the 6HA Impressum, and they apply on every visit to every page, including the home page, every translated page, and every static page.

6HA is a free, voluntary, browser-based image metadata remover offered as a convenience tool. 6HA is a metadata cleaner, working at the file-header level. 6HA is not a forensic redaction system, a digital watermark remover, a steganography detector, or a content-aware image editor.

1. Nature of Service

6HA is a browser-based image metadata remover that strips standard metadata fields from JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, and other supported image formats. All processing within 6HA executes locally inside your web browser through JavaScript, the Web Crypto API where applicable, and the JSZip library for multi-file ZIP packaging. The 6HA server delivers the application interface and the static page assets. The role of the server ends at delivery. The image bytes, the parsing buffers, the cleaned output, and every other element of the cleaning workflow remain on your device throughout your visit.

2. Scope of Metadata Removal

6HA targets the standard metadata containers documented in the public specifications for each supported image format. The scope of removal includes, where present in the input file:

EXIF metadata in JPEG and WebP files, covering camera make, camera model, lens model, serial numbers, ISO, exposure settings, capture date, capture time, GPS coordinates, GPS altitude, and the full set of EXIF tags written by camera firmware and editing software.
IPTC and XMP records carrying author name, copyright statement, captions, keywords, software history, edit trails, and rights metadata.
ICC color profiles embedded in the file headers.
Embedded thumbnails generated by camera firmware or editing software.
JFIF comments in JPEG files.
Application-specific markers in JPEG files, namely the APP0 through APP15 marker segments.
Ancillary chunks in PNG files, where the structural chunks IHDR, PLTE, IDAT, tRNS, and IEND are preserved and every other chunk is removed.
EXIF, XMP, and ICCP RIFF chunks in WebP files, with the VP8X feature flags updated to reflect the cleaned state.

For image formats that fall outside the byte-level cleaning paths, 6HA decodes the image to a canvas, redraws the pixels onto a fresh canvas, and re-encodes the result. The canvas pipeline carries only pixel data forward, where any metadata absent from the encoded pixels is absent from the output by construction.

3. Information That Remains in the Pixels

6HA cleans metadata containers. Information encoded into the pixels of the image remains part of the visual content of the image and travels with the file regardless of metadata cleaning. Examples of pixel-level information that survives a metadata removal pass include:

Visible scene content, where buildings, signage, license plates, faces, distinctive landmarks, shadow angles, weather patterns, and horizon lines may allow identification of a location, a person, or a moment from the image content alone.
Digital watermarks designed to survive editing, re-encoding, cropping, and color adjustment. Robust watermarks are engineered to remain detectable through common image transformations.
Steganographic payloads embedded into the pixel values through least-significant-bit techniques, frequency-domain hiding, or other steganographic methods. Steganographic content lives inside the pixel data and is preserved in the cleaned output.
Printer-tracking dot patterns, machine-identification codes, and similar pixel-level fingerprints introduced during scanning or printing workflows.

For visual scenes that themselves carry sensitive context, additional editing through an image editor of your choice, including cropping, blurring, or pixel-level redaction, is the appropriate next step. 6HA does not perform pixel-level redaction or watermark stripping, and these terms make that scope explicit.

4. As-Is Provision

6HA is provided strictly on an "AS IS", "WHERE IS", and "AS AVAILABLE" basis, with all faults and defects, whether known or unknown, visible or hidden. The entity operating 6HA expressly disclaims all representations and warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, reliability, completeness, currentness, and freedom from errors, defects, interruptions, or other harmful components. To put it simply, 6HA is offered as a convenience, not as a guarantee.

5. No Warranties

No advice, information, or material obtained from 6HA shall create any warranty. The entity operating 6HA does not warrant that 6HA will meet your specific requirements, that 6HA will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis, that the byte-level parsers within 6HA conform to every variant or extension of the underlying file format specifications under every browser, device, and operating system configuration, that the cleaned output will be free from edge-case rendering differences in downstream image viewers, that translations into languages other than English will be free from linguistic, terminological, or cultural inaccuracy, or that any defects in 6HA will be identified or corrected.

6. Assumption of Risk

You expressly acknowledge and agree that your use of 6HA is entirely at your own risk. You assume full responsibility for all consequences arising from your use of 6HA, including any reliance on the cleaned output for publication, sharing, evidentiary submission, regulatory disclosure, journalistic protection, source protection, or any other purpose. You agree to independently verify every cleaned file before relying on the file in any consequential context, where verification may include opening the cleaned file in an independent metadata inspection tool of your choice.

7. Scope of Intended Use

6HA serves as a general-purpose utility for informational and convenience purposes. 6HA is unsuitable as the sole tool for:

Forensic evidence preparation, chain-of-custody documentation, and litigation exhibits, where certified, audited, and methodology-disclosed redaction systems are required.
Source protection in high-risk journalism, dissident communications, and intelligence operations, where dedicated, audited, threat-modeled tools and operational practices apply.
Regulatory disclosure under medical, financial, or legal frameworks requiring certified redaction with documented removal scope.
Watermark removal, steganography detection, or pixel-level redaction, none of which fall within the metadata-cleaning scope of 6HA.
Any application where an unredacted artifact in the cleaned output could result in personal injury, loss of life, source exposure, monetary loss, regulatory penalty, or legal liability.

You bear sole responsibility for determining whether 6HA is appropriate for your intended use, and for selecting validated, certified, professionally maintained tools whenever the consequences of an incomplete cleaning are significant.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the entity operating 6HA, together with its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, contributors, licensors, successors, and assigns, shall bear no liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind, including damages for loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, data, business opportunity, source identity, professional reputation, or any other tangible or intangible loss, arising out of or in connection with your access to, use of, or inability to use 6HA, regardless of the cause of action or theory of liability, whether in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, warranty, or otherwise, and regardless of whether the entity operating 6HA has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In jurisdictions where complete exclusion of liability is not permitted, the total aggregate liability of the entity operating 6HA for all claims shall not exceed one euro (€1.00).

9. Indemnification

You agree to fully indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the entity operating 6HA, together with its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, contributors, licensors, successors, and assigns, from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, damages, losses, liabilities, judgments, settlements, costs, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in connection with your use of 6HA, your reliance on any cleaned file produced by 6HA, your violation of these Terms of Use, your violation of any applicable law or regulation, your infringement of any rights of any third party, and any consequence of an incomplete or unintended cleaning result for any purpose whatsoever. This indemnification obligation survives the termination of these Terms of Use and your cessation of use of 6HA.

10. User Responsibilities

You are solely responsible for verifying that any cleaned file produced by 6HA meets your specific requirements before relying on the file for any purpose. You are solely responsible for maintaining independent backups of original images before processing through 6HA. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you hold all necessary rights and permissions for any image you process through 6HA. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of 6HA complies with all laws and regulations applicable in your jurisdiction. You agree to use 6HA only for lawful purposes and only in accordance with these Terms of Use.

11. Intellectual Property

6HA, including the 6HA name, the 6HA brand marks, the 6HA logos, the visual design, the source code, the byte-level parser implementations, the structural choices of the user interface, the textual content of every page, the SEO metadata, the translation databases, and all associated intellectual property, remain the exclusive property of the entity identified in the 6HA Impressum or its respective licensors. These Terms of Use grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use 6HA for personal, professional, and non-commercial metadata removal in accordance with these Terms of Use. Reproducing, redistributing, reverse-engineering, framing, mirroring, scraping, or creating derivative works from 6HA requires express written permission from the entity operating 6HA. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

12. Third-Party Resources

6HA loads stylesheets, fonts, scripts, and the JSZip library from third-party content delivery networks, including the Bootstrap framework distributed by jsDelivr, the Inter typeface served by Google Fonts, and the JSZip library served by cdnjs. The 6HA daily features section displays imagery served from infrastructure operated by the A' Design Award and Competition. These third-party services operate under their own respective terms and privacy policies. The entity operating 6HA assumes no responsibility for the practices, availability, accuracy, or content of any third-party resource.

13. Service Continuity and Modifications

The entity operating 6HA reserves the right, at sole discretion, to modify, update, suspend, limit, or permanently discontinue 6HA, in whole or in part, at any time, for any reason or for no reason, with or without prior notice. The entity operating 6HA bears no obligation to maintain, support, update, archive, or continue providing 6HA or any specific version of 6HA.

14. Modification of Terms

The entity operating 6HA reserves the right to modify, update, or replace these Terms of Use at any time. The current version is always published at the canonical URL for the 6HA Terms of Use page. Continued use of 6HA following any modification constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms of Use. You are responsible for reviewing these Terms of Use periodically.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the entity operating 6HA is registered, as identified in the 6HA Impressum, without regard to conflict of law provisions. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use or your use of 6HA shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in that jurisdiction. Where mandatory consumer protection law applies in your country of residence, those protections remain unaffected by these Terms of Use.

16. Severability and Waiver

If any provision of these Terms of Use is found invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalid provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make the provision valid and enforceable while preserving the original intent. Failure by the entity operating 6HA to enforce any provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of the right to enforce that provision or any other provision at any future time.

17. Translations

6HA is published in many languages as a courtesy to visitors around the world. The Terms of Use of 6HA may be made available in languages other than English through translated versions of this page. The English-language version published at the canonical 6HA Terms of Use URL is the authoritative version. In the event of any conflict, discrepancy, ambiguity, or inconsistency between the English-language version and any translated version of these Terms of Use, the English-language version shall prevail and govern in all respects.

18. Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use, together with the 6HA Privacy Policy and the 6HA Impressum, constitute the entire agreement between you and the entity operating 6HA regarding your use of 6HA, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications, proposals, and agreements, whether oral or written.

19. Contact

For legal inquiries regarding these Terms of Use, please refer to the 6HA Impressum for complete operator identification and contact details. For information about how 6HA handles privacy, please refer to the 6HA Privacy Policy. For a full overview of 6HA and how the metadata remover works, please visit the About 6HA page. To return to the application, open the 6HA home page.