Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 5, 2026

This policy covers two different things: the FloDee Windows application, and the flodeeapp.com website. They handle data differently, so they're described separately below.

1. The FloDee Application

FloDee is designed to keep your data on your own machine.

• AI-free, and no usage tracking. FloDee contains no AI models, no AI features or functions, and connects to no AI service. It does not collect usage analytics, crash reports, or any record of what you do in it. (AI tools are used only to review FloDee’s source code during development; none of that is in the program you install.) The one thing FloDee does report is that it was installed — described next.
• Install count. The first time a given FloDee version runs on a computer, FloDee sends one short message to flodeeapp.com so we can count how many machines actually run it. That message contains exactly four things: a one-way code that stands for that computer (derived from hardware identifiers by a calculation that cannot be reversed, and deliberately different from the fingerprint the licence server uses, so the two cannot be matched up), the FloDee version, the Windows version, and whether this machine is new to us or upgrading from an earlier build. It contains no name, no email address, no licence key, no file names, no machine name and nothing about how you use FloDee. It is sent once per version, not on every launch. Like any web request it reaches our server with the network address it came from, which we log and delete after two years (see “Site Analytics” below). This report is not optional: FloDee is free, and knowing how many computers actually run it is the one thing we ask in return. We count installs because a download figure cannot tell one person from a copy passed round a group, and how many people genuinely run FloDee is what publishers, stores and sponsors ask us for.
• Settings and content stay local. Your panel layouts, notes, shortcuts, and preferences are stored in a settings file on your own computer and are never uploaded anywhere.
• Local-network discovery. So that other FloDee installations on your own network can find you for the Chat Channel, FloDee broadcasts a small notice on your local network while it runs, carrying the display name you chose and the port it listens on. It is addressed to your local network only and never reaches us or the internet. It is on by default and can be switched off under Settings › Network › Discovery.
• License verification. The connections the application makes on its own — without you triggering them — are the install count and the local-network discovery described above and, only if you have activated a license key, a check with our license server once at startup and when you activate or deactivate a machine. That check sends your license key and a hardware fingerprint derived from your CPU and motherboard identifiers — not your name, email, or file contents. Free installs with no license key never contact the license server. Everything else that touches the network happens only when you use it: the peer-to-peer Messenger below, the "Check for Updates" button in the Help window and Settings (which fetches our public build list from flodeeapp.com to compare version numbers — it sends no personal information; if you choose "Update Now" the signed installer is downloaded from flodeeapp.com and run, and the "Check for updates automatically" setting — which FloDee asks you about on its first-run setup panel, with the box unticked, and which you can change at any time under Settings › Help › Updates — repeats only that version comparison once a day at startup, never installing anything without your say-so. Like any web request, that one reaches our server with the network address it came from, and our server keeps an access log of it (see "Site Analytics" below). Counting those requests is how we estimate how many people are running FloDee — it tells us that a copy checked in, never who you are or what you do in it. With the setting off, FloDee makes no scheduled request at all), the "Check Public IP" button (which queries the ipify.org service, only when pressed), and the Who Is lookup (which queries public whois servers for an address you choose, only when pressed).
• Email and FTP sending (optional). If you configure the Messenger's optional Email or large-attachment FTP channels, your messages and attachments are relayed through your own configured outgoing mail (SMTP) or FTP server — never through any server we operate.
• Messenger (peer-to-peer chat). If you use FloDee's Chat Channel panel (its peer-to-peer messenger), it connects directly to other FloDee installations you've added to your address book — never through our servers. Connections are encrypted, and FloDee verifies a peer's identity the first time you connect to them rather than relying on a central authority.
• Screen capture and recording. Screenshots and recordings are saved to folders you choose, on your own machine, and are only sent anywhere if you choose to share them yourself (for example, attaching one to a Chat Channel message).
• OBS Control (optional). If you add the optional OBS Control panel, FloDee connects to the address you configure for it (your own computer by default) to remote-control your own OBS Studio installation through OBS's built-in WebSocket server. Only control commands and status pass between FloDee and OBS — nothing goes to us or anyone else. FloDee is not affiliated with the OBS Project and does not include or distribute OBS Studio.
• Site icons for web links (optional, off by default). Settings › Panels has an option called “Fetch Site Icons for Web Links”. It is off unless you turn it on. With it on, when you drop a web link onto a User Apps panel, FloDee contacts that link’s own website once to download the site’s icon, so the shortcut shows it instead of a generic one. This is the same kind of request a browser makes when it opens the page: it sends nothing about you or your computer beyond the ordinary web request itself, and it goes to that website, never to us. With the option off, FloDee makes no such connection.
• Voice input (optional). Two panels offer optional voice input. The Notepad panel's microphone button triggers Windows Voice Typing (the same feature as pressing Win+H); the Chat Channel panel's microphone button uses the Windows desktop speech recognizer. In both cases the transcription is performed by Windows, not by FloDee, and audio is handled by Windows under Microsoft's own privacy terms — FloDee never receives, stores, or transmits your audio. These buttons do nothing until you click them.

2. The flodeeapp.com Website

The website is a normal web service and involves more data than the application does, since it handles accounts, purchases, and support.

Account Information

If you create an account (to post in the community, report bugs, or message support), we store your email address, a username, and a securely hashed password — we never store your password itself. We also log basic technical details at signup and login (IP address, browser, operating system, device type, an approximate country derived from your IP, and the page that referred you) for account-security purposes.

Purchases

When you buy a license through PayPal, we receive your email address, the PayPal transaction ID, and the amount paid, which we store alongside the license key generated for you. We use SendGrid to email that license key to you.

Site Analytics

We log page-view and download statistics — which page, which installer, your IP address, browser, operating system, device type, an approximate country derived from your IP, the page that referred you, and roughly how long the page stayed open — to understand how the site is used and to help us identify abuse or security issues. The last of those works by the page quietly checking in every few seconds while the tab is open, so we can tell a page that was actually read from one that was closed immediately; it records only that your browser was still on the page, never what you did on it. We also keep an access log of requests to our public build list — the address the application asks for the current version, whether you press “Check for Updates” yourself or leave the once-a-day automatic check switched on. Because anyone on the internet can send a request to that address, and can put whatever they like in it, we keep this log to be able to account for traffic to our own server if a problem is ever raised. For it we record the IP address the connection actually came from (the full address, not a partial one), the date and time, what was requested, and the browser or client identification the request supplied. We keep these entries for two years and then delete them. If you download an update from inside the application, that download is counted the same way any download from this website is.

Separately from that access log, the application reports its own installation once per version, as described under “Install count” above; those records are kept in the same way and for the same two years. Beyond the install count and the licence check, the application sends nothing about you, your computer, or what you do in it. There is one further optional item, off unless you switch it on: Settings › General › “Tell it which version I have” adds your FloDee version number to the update check, the same way a web browser names itself when it loads a page. It exists so we can tell how many people are still running older builds. It is a version number and nothing else — no name, no licence key, no hardware details, no information about your files or your use of FloDee — and with it switched off the request is exactly what it has always been.

This is logged for every visit, including anonymous browsing, not just for registered accounts. The site also includes Google Analytics; if and when it's actively configured, it may set its own cookies subject to Google's privacy policy.

Community Comments & Bug Reports

If you're logged in, your comments and bug reports are public and visible to other visitors.

Help Chat (AI Assistant)

The site may offer a floating help-chat assistant. When you use it, the messages you type are sent to an AI provider (Google's Gemini API) to generate the reply, and your conversation is stored on our server, associated with your IP address, so the assistant can remember context between visits and so we can enforce our abuse limits (per-IP rate limiting and, after repeated abusive use, temporary blocking). Site administrators can review these conversations and may join in to answer directly. Don't type personal or sensitive information into the help chat — it isn't needed to answer product questions.

Support Correspondence & Account Emails

If you message us directly through the site, that conversation is stored, and our replies are emailed to your registered address. Account emails such as password-reset links are sent the same way. These website emails are delivered through our own outgoing mail server (SMTP); the separate license-key emails you receive after a purchase are sent through SendGrid (see Purchases above).

Cookies

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in while you're using an account on the site. We don't use third-party advertising cookies.

3. Third-Party Services We Use

• PayPal — to process purchases.
• SendGrid — to email license keys.
• Google Analytics — to measure site traffic (see Site Analytics above).
• Google Gemini API — to generate replies in the website's help chat (see Help Chat above). Used only by the website, never by the FloDee application.

FloDee is AI-free. The FloDee application contains no AI models, no AI features or functions, and connects to no AI service. Any mention of AI on this site refers only to tools used to review FloDee’s source code during development (the way an outside code reviewer would) and to this website’s own help-chat mascot; none of that is inside the program you install. The application contains no usage analytics and no tracking of what you do in it; the one thing it reports is the install count described in section 1, which you can switch off. The application uses the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime solely to display the bundled Keyboard & Mouse Manual PDF in-app when you open it from a Help link — this only renders a local file and does not transmit your data anywhere.

4. Data Retention

We keep website data for as long as needed to provide the related feature (your account, support history, etc.) or as required by law. If you'd like your account or data removed, contact us and we'll handle the request.

5. Security

Passwords are hashed, never stored in plain text. The website is served over HTTPS. The application's peer-to-peer Chat Channel connections are encrypted.

6. Your Choices

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account information at any time by emailing us.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as FloDee changes. We'll update the effective date above whenever we do.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at: support@flodeeapp.com