Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

LinkDrop ("the app") is made by [COMPANY_NAME], [REGISTERED_ADDRESS] ("we", "us").

This policy explains what information the app handles, where it goes, and what you can do about it. It applies to LinkDrop on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Linux. Where the app behaves differently on a platform, we say so.

For the purposes of data protection law, [COMPANY_NAME] is the controller of the small amount of personal data we receive directly from you, which is the support emails you choose to send us (section 5). On Android and iOS, Google uses the data its advertising software collects for its own purposes, under its own privacy policy (section 4).

2. The short version

• LinkDrop lets you transfer files directly between devices connected to the same Wi-Fi or local network. You can also transfer files by enabling the personal hotspot on one device and connecting the other device to that hotspot through Wi-Fi.
• We have no servers. There is no account, no sign-up, no cloud storage, and no analytics or crash reporting of our own.
• Your files never reach us. They go only to the device you choose, and they are encrypted on the way. We do not access or process the contents of your files.
• The receiver keeps their copy. Once a file has been sent, the other person has it. We cannot take it back.
• Your transfer history, paired devices and settings are stored only on your device.
• On Android and iOS only, the app shows ads from Google. Google's software connects to the internet and collects some device and usage data. The ads are always non-personalised. The desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) contain no ads.
• If you email us for support, we receive what you send.

3. What the app handles on your device and local network

The app handles the following information to do its job. None of it is sent to us.

Your device's identity

• The first time it runs, the app creates a random device ID and an encryption key pair.
• The private key is kept in your device's secure key storage:
  • Android Keystore
  • Apple Keychain
  • Windows Credential Manager
  • the Linux Secret Service
• On Linux, if no Secret Service is available, the key is kept in a file that only your user account can read.

Your device name

• By default this is the name your operating system gives the app:
  • Android: the device name in your phone's settings, for example "Jane's Pixel", or the model name if none is set
  • iOS: since iOS 16, Apple gives apps only the type of device, so the app shows the model name, for example "iPhone 15", not the name you gave your iPhone
  • macOS: the computer's name, for example "Jane's MacBook Pro"
  • Windows and Linux: the computer's hostname
• You can change it in the app.

What nearby devices can see

• So that other devices can find yours, the app announces it on your local network whenever the app is running.
• The announcement contains:
  • your device ID
  • your device name
  • your platform (for example "android")
  • a fingerprint of your public key
• This announcement is not encrypted. Anyone on the same network can see it.
• If you do not want your device name visible on a network, change the name in the app, or close the app on that network.

Connection details

• When two devices connect, they exchange device ID, name, platform and public key before encryption starts.
• If you use Pair & Send, the receiving device is shown the file names (for a large selection, only some of them), the number of files and the total size, so the other person can decide whether to accept. These details are sent before encryption starts.

The files you send and receive

• File contents travel only between your device and the device you chose. They are encrypted with AES-256-GCM.
• The app does not read, scan, edit or strip information from your files. Photos keep whatever information they already contain, such as location tags.
• We do not access or process the contents of your files. This matters if your files contain sensitive information, such as health, identity or bank details: that information goes only to the device you choose.
• Once a file has been sent, the receiver keeps their copy. We cannot recall or delete it from their device.
• Received files are saved to:
  • Android: the shared Pictures, Movies, Music, Documents or Download folder, under LinkDrop/Received
  • iOS: the app's folder, visible in the Files app
  • macOS: ~/LinkDrop/Received
  • Windows: Downloads\LinkDrop\Received
  • Linux: Downloads/LinkDrop

Transfer history

• For each transfer, the app stores on your device:
  • the file names and folders
  • sizes and integrity checksums
  • dates and status
  • which device it was exchanged with
  • where the file was saved

Paired devices

• For each device you have paired with, the app stores:
  • its ID
  • its name and platform
  • its last local network address
  • its public key
  • when it was paired and last seen

Settings

• Your device name, auto-accept choice, history retention choice, and whether you have finished first-run setup.

Temporary files

• Unfinished transfers are kept so they can resume.
• Text you share into the app is turned into a small text file so it can be sent.

The history database on your device is not encrypted by the app. It is protected by your device's own security, such as the device passcode and disk encryption.

Backups

• Android: the app's own data (history, paired devices, settings and device identity) is excluded from cloud backup and device-to-device transfer. Received files are saved in shared folders, so a backup or photo-sync service you use may include them.
• iOS: the history database (history, paired devices and settings) is excluded from iCloud and computer backups, and your encryption key is stored so that it is never backed up. Received files, and files still being received, are kept in the app's folder and are included in your iCloud or computer backup, like your other files.
• macOS, Windows and Linux: the app does not change what your backup software includes. If you use Time Machine or another backup tool, it may back up the history database and your received files.

4. Advertising on Android and iOS

On Android and iOS, the app uses the Google Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob) and Google's User Messaging Platform to show ads and to ask for your consent where the law requires it.

How we limit it

• Every ad request is non-personalised. Ads are not chosen based on a profile of you. We do not build a profile of you, and we do not receive the data Google's software collects.
• On Android, the app removes the permission that lets software read your advertising ID. It also removes the permissions for Android's ad attribution and interest ("Topics") features.
• On iOS, the app never asks to track you (App Tracking Transparency). Your advertising identifier (IDFA) is therefore not available to it.
• Where the law requires consent, for example in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the app shows Google's consent form before any ad is requested. If you do not consent, the app may still show limited ads. Limited ads do not use cookies, device identifiers or other personal data for personalisation or tracking, and may not appear at all. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → "Ad privacy choices".

What Google may collect

Even for non-personalised ads, Google's software may collect:

• your IP address, and an approximate location derived from it
• a device identifier other than the advertising ID
• information about ads shown and your interactions with them
• diagnostic and crash information about the ad software
• your consent choices

Google uses this to serve ads, measure them, limit how often you see the same ad, and prevent fraud. Google may use cookies or similar technologies for this.

Google uses this data for its own purposes, under its own privacy policy:

• Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• How Google uses information from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

The desktop apps (macOS, Windows, Linux) contain no advertising software and make no internet connections.

5. Support emails

If you choose Contact support, the app opens your own email app with a draft addressed to [CONTACT_EMAIL]. Nothing is sent until you press Send in your email app.

The draft includes the app version, your operating-system version and your device model, unless you switch off "Include device details". On Windows and Linux, where no model is available, it may include your device name instead. It never includes file names or transfer history.

When you send it, we receive:

• your email address
• your message
• anything else you choose to include

6. Summary table

7. How long data is kept

On your device

• History: 90 days by default, or the period you choose: 30, 90 or 365 days, or forever. The clean-up runs when you open the app: entries older than your chosen period are removed from your history. If you do not open the app, nothing is deleted until you do.
• Unfinished transfers: deleted after 7 days.
• Paired devices: kept until you choose "Delete all history and devices". Revoking trust in a device removes its key but keeps its name and last address in the list.
• Your settings: kept until you uninstall the app.
• Your device identity (device ID and encryption key): kept until you uninstall the app. On iOS and macOS, they are stored in the Apple Keychain, which the system does not clear when you delete the app. If you reinstall LinkDrop on the same device, it uses them again, so devices you paired with before may still recognise it.
• Received files: stay until you delete them. On Android, received files are saved in shared folders and remain after you uninstall the app.
• Files you have sent: the receiver keeps their copy on their device. Deleting your history, or the file on your own device, does not remove it from theirs.

With us

• Support emails are kept for as long as we need them to deal with your request, and then for no longer than [SUPPORT_EMAIL_RETENTION].

8. Sharing and third parties

We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not use it for personalised or targeted advertising. On Android and iOS, Google's ad software receives your IP address and a device identifier directly from your device so that it can show non-personalised ads, and we earn money from those ads (section 4). Some privacy laws define "selling" or "sharing" broadly; see section 15.

We do not monitor, store or host the files you send, so we cannot see, remove or recall them.

Information leaves your device only in these cases:

1. To other devices on your local network. Your device's announcement (section 3) goes to devices on the same network. Your files and connection details go to the device you choose.
2. To Google, on Android and iOS, through the advertising and consent software (section 4).
3. To us, if you email us (section 5).
4. If the law requires it. We hold almost nothing about you, but if we receive a valid legal request for information we do hold (support emails), we will respond as the law requires.

Software included in the app

9. International transfers

We do not operate servers, so your files and history are not transferred anywhere by us.

Data collected by Google's advertising software may be processed in the United States and other countries where Google operates. Google relies on its own transfer safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, as described in its privacy policy.

Support emails are stored by our email provider in [SUPPORT_EMAIL_REGION]. Where they are transferred out of your country, we rely on appropriate safeguards required by law, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

10. Security

How transfers are protected

• Every transfer is encrypted end to end between the two devices:
  • Key exchange: X25519
  • Key derivation: HKDF-SHA256
  • Encryption: AES-256-GCM
• New encryption keys are created for every connection that carries files. (A pairing connection, which carries no file contents, uses the two devices' long-term keys plus fresh random values for each attempt.)
• Each file is checked with a SHA-256 checksum when it arrives.

How devices verify each other

• The first time two devices pair, both show the same 6-digit code, and the person on the receiving device confirms that the codes match.
• After that, each device remembers the other's key and refuses a device whose key has changed.
• By default, you must accept every incoming transfer. Automatic acceptance from trusted devices is off unless you turn it on.

What you should know

• The app listens for connections on your local network (TCP port 47861) whenever it is running.
• Device names and the details listed in section 3 are visible to others on the same network before encryption starts.
• Use LinkDrop on networks you trust, and only accept transfers you expect.
• The history database on your device is not separately encrypted by the app.
• No system is perfectly secure.

11. Your rights and choices

What you can do in the app

What you can ask us to do

Because we do not hold your history, files or device data, we cannot access, export or delete them for you. They are on your device and under your control.

For support emails we hold, you can ask us to give you a copy, correct them or delete them. Email [CONTACT_EMAIL]. We will reply within 30 days, or sooner if the law where you live requires it. We may need to confirm it is you. We will not treat you differently for using your rights.

Google's data

For data Google's ad software collects, you can also use Google's own controls, described at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Complaints

You can complain to the data protection authority where you live (see section 15).

12. Permissions

The app asks only for what it needs, and each request happens when the feature is first used.

The app does not request:

• your location
• contacts
• camera
• microphone
• your advertising ID
• tracking permission

When you pick photos on Android or iOS, the system picker gives the app only the items you select.

On Windows, the system may ask you to allow LinkDrop through the firewall. On Linux, you may need to allow ports 47861 (TCP) and 5353 (UDP) yourself.

13. Children

LinkDrop is not directed at children. You must be at least 18 years old to use it. This is the same minimum age as in our Terms & Conditions, and it applies in every country.

Because there are no accounts, the app cannot check anyone's age.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact [CONTACT_EMAIL] and we will delete it.

14. Tracking, cookies and "Do Not Sell or Share"

• The app does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• It contains no analytics of our own. Google's ad software measures ads and their performance (section 4).
• It never asks iOS for tracking permission.
• On Android and iOS, Google's ad software may use cookies or similar identifiers to serve non-personalised ads, limit how often ads repeat, and prevent fraud (section 4).
• We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not use it for personalised or targeted advertising (section 8).

15. Region-specific information

For users in the EU/UK

• Controller: [COMPANY_NAME], [REGISTERED_ADDRESS], [CONTACT_EMAIL].
• Legal bases are set out in the table in section 6:
  • contract, to provide the app you asked for
  • consent, for ads, collected through Google's consent form. If you do not consent, only limited ads are shown
  • legitimate interests, for support emails and resuming transfers
• Withdrawing consent. You can withdraw ad consent at any time in Settings → "Ad privacy choices". This does not affect anything done before you withdrew it.
• Your rights: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and the right not to be subject to solely automated decisions. The app makes no such decisions.
• Complaints. You can lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).
• International transfers are described in section 9.

For California residents (and other US states with privacy laws)

Categories of personal information collected in the last 12 months

• Identifiers: a device identifier and IP address, collected by Google's ad software on Android and iOS; your email address, if you contact us.
• Internet or network activity: ad interactions, collected by Google's ad software.
• Approximate geolocation: derived from IP address by Google's ad software.
• Contents of your communications with us, in support emails.

Sources, purposes and disclosure

• Sources, purposes and recipients are described in sections 4, 5, 6 and 8.
• We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not use it for personalised or targeted advertising. All ad requests are non-personalised. On Android and iOS, Google's ad software receives your IP address and a device identifier directly from your device (section 8); depending on how a state law defines "selling" or "sharing", this could fall within it. The desktop apps contain no ad software.
• We have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing personal information of consumers under 16.
• We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes that require a "Limit the Use" right.
• Retention is described in section 7.

Your rights

• to know or access
• to delete
• to correct
• to opt out of sale or sharing
• to limit use of sensitive personal information
• to non-discrimination

To exercise them, email [CONTACT_EMAIL]. An authorised agent may make a request for you with your signed permission. We will verify requests by matching the email address you used.

Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon and other states with similar laws have comparable rights, including the right to appeal a decision on a request. To appeal, reply to our decision at [CONTACT_EMAIL] with "Appeal" in the subject.

For users in India

• Data Fiduciary: [COMPANY_NAME].
• This notice is available in English. You may ask for it in any language listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India by writing to [CONTACT_EMAIL].
• Your rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023:
  • access information about your personal data
  • correction and erasure
  • grievance redressal
  • nominate another person to exercise your rights
• Grievance Officer: [GRIEVANCE_OFFICER_NAME], [GRIEVANCE_OFFICER_EMAIL], [REGISTERED_ADDRESS]. We will acknowledge your grievance and respond within 30 days.
• If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
• Children. The minimum age to use the app is 18 (section 13). We do not use behavioural tracking or targeted advertising; every ad request is non-personalised.
• Not an intermediary. Files travel directly between users' devices. We do not receive, store, host or transmit them on anyone's behalf, so we do not act as an intermediary for the content users exchange.

For users in Brazil

• Controller: [COMPANY_NAME].
• Legal bases under the LGPD:
  • performance of a contract, to provide the app
  • consent, for ads where collected
  • legitimate interest, for support
• Your rights under LGPD Article 18:
  • confirmation and access
  • correction
  • anonymisation, blocking or deletion
  • portability
  • information about sharing
  • withdrawal of consent
  • review of automated decisions
• For data protection matters, contact [CONTACT_EMAIL]. You may also complain to the ANPD.

For users in other regions

Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore

• You have rights to access and correct personal information we hold, and to complain to your privacy regulator:
  • Canada: the OPC
  • Australia: the OAIC
  • Japan: the PPC
  • South Korea: the PIPC
  • Singapore: the PDPC
• For privacy questions, contact [CONTACT_EMAIL].
• Disclosures overseas are limited to Google (section 4) and our email provider (section 9).
• When support emails are no longer needed, we delete them permanently from our mailbox.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the app or the law changes. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above.

We have no servers and no accounts, so we cannot email you. Instead, if we change this policy in a way that matters, the app will show you the new version the first time you open it after the update, and ask you to agree before you continue.

This policy is available in the app (Settings → About → Privacy policy) and at [WEBSITE_URL], where we also keep previous versions.

17. Contact Us

[COMPANY_NAME]
[REGISTERED_ADDRESS]
Email: [CONTACT_EMAIL]
Website: [WEBSITE_URL]

India Grievance Officer: [GRIEVANCE_OFFICER_NAME], [GRIEVANCE_OFFICER_EMAIL]