Privacy Policy

Plain English. No dark patterns. No surprises.

Last updated: May 19, 2026

TL;DR

The images and videos you upload never leave your browser. There is no server that sees, stores, or processes your media — everything runs on your own device. We do use anonymous analytics (PostHog) to count clicks and find broken features, but we don't track who you are, we don't sell anything, and we don't have advertisers.

1. Who runs this site

ASCII Magic is an independent, free, browser-based tool built and maintained by one person. There is no company, no team, and no parent organization. Contact: hello.kailashsr@gmail.com.

2. Your images and videos

This is the part people ask about most, so it gets a clear answer:

Nothing you upload is ever sent to a server. The file you drag in, paste, or pick from your computer is read directly into your browser's memory and rendered there. No upload step. No copy on disk. No copy in the cloud.
When you close the tab or refresh, the image is gone. We have no way to recover it because we never had it.
This is true for every Style, every effect, every export (PNG, JPG, GIF, MP4) — exports are generated in your browser and downloaded straight to your device.
The demo gallery images are public assets served from this site. They are not images other users uploaded.

3. Anonymous usage analytics

To understand which features get used and which ones break, the site loads PostHog — a self-hostable analytics tool. It runs in your browser and sends event data to PostHog Cloud (United States). We have configured it in anonymous mode (person_profiles: 'identified_only') and we never call identify(), so no profile is ever created tying events to you personally.

Each event captures the type of action and a few non-identifying parameters. The full list of events:

file_uploaded style_changed char_preset_changed custom_chars_modified animation_toggled animation_preset_changed lights_toggled light_added lights_perf_warning_shown effect_toggled mask_toggled crop_opened crop_saved crop_cancelled export_clicked export_completed export_failed inspire_clicked gallery_background_selected backgrounds_supply_toast_shown backgrounds_supply_clicked theme_toggled menu_opened about_opened privacy_opened bug_report_opened feature_suggestion_opened feedback_submitted

For file_uploaded we record the file type (image/video), upload method (drag, paste, picker), extension (jpg, png, mp4…), and size in megabytes. We do not record the file name or any image data.

PostHog also automatically records standard web metadata: page URL, referrer, browser and OS, screen size, approximate region derived from IP (then discarded), and an anonymous random ID stored in a first-party cookie so repeat sessions can be counted as one visitor. We do not use this ID to look you up. We cannot link it to your name, email, or any account because we don't have accounts.

You can opt out of analytics by blocking us.i.posthog.com in your browser (any ad-blocker does this), enabling Do Not Track, or by running this once in your browser console: posthog.opt_out_capturing().

4. Bug reports and feature suggestions

When you click "Report a Bug" or "Suggest a Feature" in the hamburger menu and submit the form, the following is sent to a private Google Apps Script endpoint:

The message you typed
The timestamp
Diagnostic context: browser and OS, screen and window size, current theme, network type, current Style and render settings (font size, character set, coverage, blend mode, animation state, mask state, active effects)
If you had a file loaded: file name, type, size, and source dimensions (e.g. 1920×1080) — used so we can reproduce the bug. The image bytes themselves are never sent.

This is opt-in — nothing is sent unless you write a message and click Send. The technical context is visible in the form before you send it (click "Show technical details").

5. What we store on your device

The site uses your browser's localStorage to remember tiny preferences. These never leave your machine:

ascii-magic-theme — whether you picked light or dark mode
ascii-magic-attribution — a flag so the "backgrounds by Backgrounds Supply" toast only shows once

Clearing site data in your browser settings removes these instantly.

6. Cookies

The only cookie set on this site is PostHog's anonymous distinct-ID cookie (typically named ph_*_posthog). It contains a random ID, not personal information. There are no advertising cookies, no third-party tracking cookies, and no marketing pixels.

7. Third parties that may receive data

Vercel — hosts the site. Like any web host, it sees each request's IP address, browser user-agent, and the URL requested, and keeps short-lived server logs. See Vercel's privacy policy.
PostHog — receives the anonymous analytics events listed in section 3. See PostHog's privacy policy.
Google Apps Script — receives bug reports and feature suggestions, only when you submit one (section 4).

That is the complete list. No advertisers, no data brokers, no social-media trackers.

8. No accounts, no payments

ASCII Magic has no sign-up, no login, no subscription, and no payments. We do not collect names, email addresses, billing information, or any identity data — there is nowhere on the site to enter it.

9. Children

The site is suitable for general audiences but is not specifically directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect any data from children, since we collect no identifying data from anyone.

10. Your rights

Because we do not store identifying information about you and have no account system, there is no profile to access, correct, or delete. If you want to stop all analytics collection, follow the opt-out steps in section 3. If you want any feedback message you previously submitted to be deleted, email hello.kailashsr@gmail.com with the approximate date and we'll remove it.

11. Changes to this policy

If this policy materially changes, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change and the most relevant changes will be summarized in the changelog. There is no mailing list to notify because we don't have your email.

12. Contact

Questions, deletion requests, or anything else: hello.kailashsr@gmail.com.