Privacy Policy

Last updated 28 August 2026 · applies to ottercraft.dev and all of its subdomains

The short version: the tools on ottercraft.dev process your files inside your own browser. I don't collect, store or sell personal data. The only third party involved is Google, if and when ads are shown, and that is described in full below.

Who runs this

ottercraft.dev is an independent project run by one person. It publishes small, free, browser-based tools such as OtterDrop (file sharing between devices) and OtterPDF (merging, splitting and rotating PDFs). You can reach me at [email protected].

What happens to the files and data you use

Every tool is a static web page. The files you open and the things you type are processed by code running in your browser, on your device. They are not uploaded to me, and there is no server on my side that receives them. When you close the tab, whatever the tool was holding in memory is gone.

Some tools keep a small amount of data in your browser's localStorage, so they can remember a preference (such as a theme) or your work in progress between visits. That data never leaves your device, and you can delete it at any time by clearing the site's data in your browser.

OtterDrop and the room server

OtterDrop moves files directly between two devices using WebRTC. To set up that direct connection, each device exchanges a small amount of connection metadata through a signalling server I run on Cloudflare. That server:

• groups devices into a room using a hash of the network address they connect from, so devices on the same Wi-Fi find each other;
• relays only connection-setup messages (session descriptions and network candidates) between devices in the same room;
• does not receive, inspect or store the files themselves; file data travels device to device over an encrypted WebRTC channel;
• keeps no logs of rooms, devices or messages, and discards a room after ten minutes of inactivity.

If a direct connection can't be made, a relay (TURN) server may forward the encrypted traffic between the two devices. A relay cannot read what it forwards.

Server logs

The pages are served by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes technical information such as your IP address and browser type to deliver the page and protect against abuse. I don't use this information to identify or track you. Cloudflare's own privacy policy is at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.

Analytics

There are no analytics scripts on these pages. If I ever add usage measurement, it will be cookieless and aggregate only (no cookies, no cross-site identifiers, no personal data), and this page will be updated first.

Advertising

To cover hosting costs, pages on ottercraft.dev may show ads served by Google AdSense. When ads are shown:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies and similar identifiers to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You can opt out of personalised advertising at Google Ads Settings, or opt out of a range of third-party vendors' cookies at www.aboutads.info.
• How Google uses information from sites that use its services is described at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Advertising code is only loaded after you've had the chance to make a choice about it. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland see a consent dialog from a Google-certified consent management platform before any advertising script runs, and can change their choice at any time. Ads never have access to the files you open in a tool; those stay inside the page's own code and are never passed to an ad script.

Cookies

The tools themselves set no cookies. The only cookies you may encounter on ottercraft.dev are the advertising cookies described above, and only after consent where consent is required.

Your rights

Because I hold no personal data about you, there is nothing for me to export, correct or delete on request. The data lives on your device, under your control. For data processed by Google in connection with advertising, use the Google links above. If you believe I hold information about you, or have a question about this policy, write to [email protected] and I will answer.

Children

ottercraft.dev is a general-audience site and does not knowingly collect any information from children.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top of the page changes with it. Anything material, such as adding analytics or a new third party, will be announced on this page before it takes effect.