Terms of Service

This Site is under active development. Features, data, and functionality may change, break, or be adjusted at any time without notice. If you have any concerns about the Site, its content, or your data, please use the Contact page rather than assuming a particular behavior is final.

Welcome to Plate Gems ("the Site"), a hobby project for logging and sharing sightings of license plates in the Czech Republic and elsewhere. By using the Site, you agree to these terms.

1. What this is

Plate Gems is a personal, non-commercial hobby project. It is not a professional or official vehicle registry service, and is not affiliated with any government body, the Czech Ministry of Transport, or any vehicle registration authority.

All sightings are intended to be of vehicles in public spaces, where photographing a visible license plate is legal. Sightings, photos, and locations are submitted by users themselves. We do not verify the accuracy, legality, or authenticity of any submitted sighting, photo, or location — all submitted content is taken at face value, and users are individually responsible for ensuring their own submissions are lawful and accurate.

2. Accounts

• You may sign in using Google authentication.
• You choose a public username at sign-up. Usernames are permanent and cannot be reused once claimed, even if the account is later deleted.
• Your Google name and email are never displayed publicly.
• If you delete your account, your login and public username page are removed, but sightings you previously logged remain in the shared database and are re-attributed to "Deleted account" rather than being erased. This is because sighting data is treated as shared community data, not solely your own. If you want specific sightings fully removed rather than reattributed, contact us via the Contact page.

2a. Age

The Site is not directed at children. By creating an account, you confirm you meet the minimum age required for using Google sign-in services in your jurisdiction.

3. Public, shared data

• All sightings, plates, tags, and (where applicable) photos logged on the Site are shared and publicly visible to all users and visitors — there is no private data model on this Site.
• Your own personal statistics are also public and visible to anyone visiting your profile.

4. User conduct

• Do not submit false, defamatory, or intentionally misleading information.
• Do not use the Site to harass, stalk, or cause harm to any individual.
• Do not upload photos or content that violate the privacy or rights of others, or that you do not have the right to share.
• The admin reserves the right to remove any content, tag, or account at their discretion.

4a. Photo rules

Photos may only be uploaded by the admin or users the admin has specifically granted permission to. All uploaded photos must follow these rules:

• The license plate must be clearly visible and must be the main subject of the photo — photos without a visible plate are not permitted.
• Do not photograph or include identifiable people in the photo. Photos should focus on the vehicle and plate, not individuals.
• Only upload photos taken in public spaces, or photos taken with the explicit permission of the vehicle's owner.
• A vehicle owner may request removal of their plate and any associated photos at any time via the Request Removal form.
• The admin may remove any photo that does not comply with these rules, at their discretion.

4b. Tags and classification

Most tags and plate classifications (region, standard/custom, country) are managed by the admin. Certain tags (e.g. "G-Wagon") may be added by any user but can only be removed by the admin. Colour selections and similar attributes, once set, are locked and can only be changed by the admin.

5. Content ownership

• You retain ownership of any notes or content you personally submit, but grant the Site a license to display it publicly as part of the Site's normal operation.
• Plate records themselves (tallies, tags, classification) are shared/global data, not owned by any individual user.

6. Data about third parties (non-users)

• Because this Site logs publicly visible license plates, it may contain data relating to individuals who are not registered users of the Site.
• Any individual (including non-users, such as vehicle owners) may request removal of a specific plate, sighting, or photo concerning them via the Request Removal form linked in the footer.
• See our Privacy Policy for details on how such requests are handled.

7. No warranty

The Site is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind. Data accuracy (tallies, regions, classifications, submitted locations, and photos) is not guaranteed or verified. This is a hobby project, not a commercial or professional service, and remains under ongoing development.

8. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Site operator is not liable for any damages arising from use of the Site, including reliance on its data, service interruptions, data loss, or content submitted by other users.

9. Changes to these terms

These terms may be updated from time to time, especially while the Site is under active development. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

10. Contact

Questions, concerns, or removal requests should be sent via the Contact page or Request Removal form.