Privacy policy
How local tool processing differs from Google Analytics, what page activity may be measured and the privacy choices available to you.
The short version
Every tool on this site runs in your browser. The files you give them are read from your own device by code running in your tab, processed there and handed back to you. They’re never sent to us. We have no server that receives files, so there is nothing for us to store, sell, share or lose.
You can check this rather than take our word for it. Open your browser’s developer tools and watch the network tab while you use a tool: no file is uploaded. Or open a tool, switch off your internet connection and use it anyway. Once its code has loaded, it keeps working, because there was never anything on the other end.
Local tool processing doesn’t mean the website makes no network requests. Page visits are measured with Google Analytics and the hosting service handles requests for pages and assets. The sections below explain that distinction.
What the tools do with your files
The tool inputs described below are processed on your device:
- Images, conversions and compression. Decoded, changed and re-encoded in your browser’s memory, then offered back as a download.
- PDF tools. Merging, splitting, compressing, signing, numbering, watermarking and extracting all happen in the tab. Your signature, whether drawn, typed or uploaded, exists only while the page is open and isn’t saved anywhere.
- Data tools. CSV, Excel and JSON files are parsed and rewritten locally. Nothing you paste into a text box is transmitted.
- Image to text and remove background. The recognition engine and the background model are downloaded to your browser and run there. Your image is never sent anywhere to be analysed, which is how most sites offering these features work.
- QR code scanner. If you choose Use camera, your browser asks for permission first. Video frames are read in the tab to look for a code and are never recorded or transmitted. The camera switches off as soon as a code is found or you press Stop. A scanned link is never opened automatically; you decide.
- QR code generator. The code is drawn in your browser. A WiFi password or contact card you enter isn’t sent to us.
- Redaction and metadata removal. Done locally. The output is a new file; the original is untouched on your device.
When you close or leave the page, the files and results held in its memory are discarded.
What is downloaded to your browser
Some tools need larger pieces of code and fetch them from this site the first time you use them: the HEIC decoder, the PDF engine, the spreadsheet reader, the text recognition engine with its language data and the background removal model. This is code and data arriving, not your files leaving. To save you downloading them again, your browser keeps the text recognition language data and the background model in its own storage (IndexedDB and Cache Storage). You can remove them at any time by clearing this site’s data in your browser settings.
What we collect
Server logs. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, records standard request information when your browser loads a page: IP address, browser user agent, the page requested, the referring page and a timestamp. This is used to keep the site running and secure and to investigate abuse. We don’t use it to build profiles of individuals.
One preference on your device. If you choose dark mode, that choice is stored in your browser’s local storage so the site remembers it. It is never transmitted.
Clipboard. Copy buttons write to your clipboard when you press them. Tools that accept a pasted image read the clipboard only when you paste.
Email. If you email us, we receive whatever you send and use it to reply.
We don’t offer accounts, newsletters or forms that collect personal information.
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages people visit and how they find and use the site. This is separate from processing files or running device tests.
Google receives measurement requests from your browser. They can include page URLs and titles plus referral information, browser details, device information and cookie identifiers. Google says GA4 uses IP addresses during collection but doesn’t log or store them. We use Analytics reports to understand site usage and improve pages. See Google’s data safeguards.
Depending on the Analytics property settings, enhanced measurement may also record scrolling, outbound links, download-link interactions and site searches. Search terms appear in the search page’s URL and may be included in measurement. Don’t put passwords or sensitive personal details into site search. See Google’s enhanced measurement documentation.
Our tool code doesn’t deliberately attach file contents or diagnostic input to Analytics events. That doesn’t mean a page visit is unmeasured: page activity and tool processing are different things.
Analytics cookies and your choices
Google Analytics can set first-party cookies such as _ga and _ga_<identifier> to distinguish visitors and sessions. These aren’t required by the tools. Cookie expiry depends on Analytics settings and may be renewed by later visits.
The current site loads the Analytics tag when a page opens. It doesn’t currently provide a site-level consent banner or an Analytics opt-out toggle. This policy describes that behaviour; reading it isn’t a request for consent.
You can use browser tracking protection or a content blocker to block Analytics requests. Google also offers an Analytics opt-out browser add-on for supported browsers. Clearing cookies removes stored identifiers but doesn’t by itself prevent future measurement requests or new cookies. Blocking Analytics doesn’t disable the tools.
Google explains its processing in its privacy policy and its information for visitors to partner sites.
Advertising and hosting cookies
This site loads the Google AdSense script. Your browser connects to Google when the script loads. Whether ads appear depends on approval and the settings in our AdSense account. The site’s reserved manual ad slots remain disabled; that setting doesn’t prevent the AdSense script from loading or control Auto ads.
Google and its partners may use cookies to serve ads based on visits to this site or other sites. You can manage personalised advertising through Google Ads Settings. See Google’s advertising policy for details. Advertising preferences are separate from the Analytics choices described above. The site doesn’t currently include an advertising consent banner.
Our hosting provider may use cookies or similar mechanisms for security. Those are separate from Analytics cookies. The tools don’t require Analytics or advertising cookies to function.
Your rights
European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland. You have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to its processing and to data portability. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
California and other US states with privacy laws. You have the right to know what personal information is collected and how it is used, to request deletion or correction and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We don’t sell personal information for money. Advertising partners may process page-visit data as described above. Contact us using the address below to make a privacy request. The Analytics controls available to visitors are described above.
We won’t treat you differently for exercising any of these rights. To make a request, email the address below and say what you’re asking for. We may need to ask for information that lets us find the relevant records.
Children
This site isn’t directed at children under 13 and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we’ll delete it.
Retention
Server logs are kept only as long as needed for security and operations. Emails are kept as long as needed to deal with what they’re about. Analytics user-level and event-level retention depends on the settings in our Google Analytics property. Cookie expiry is a separate setting and standard aggregated reports aren’t governed by the same retention control. See Google’s retention documentation. Contact us for the current property retention setting.
International transfers
Our hosting, analytics and advertising providers operate globally, so data such as server logs may be processed outside your country, including in the United States. Where the law requires it, those transfers rely on safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
Changes
September 23, 2026: Added the Google AdSense script disclosure.
September 23, 2026: Added Google Analytics disclosures and clarified the current absence of site-level consent controls.
We’ll update this page when our practices change and move the effective date at the top. Material changes will be stated on the page, not made quietly.
Contact
Questions about this page or requests under it, go to [email protected]. Idea Incubator, LLC operates Utility Mule and these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, United States.