Privacy policy

Who is responsible

johnmcm.com is run by John McMillan Consulting LLC in the United States (about the site). Questions about this policy, or a request to remove something you sent: email webmaster@johnmcm.com.

Your files

Nearly every tool works on your file inside your browser. The file is not sent to this site or anywhere else. The exceptions:

• ZIP to Text uploads the archive to this site's server, which joins the text files in it and sends the result back. The archive is kept only for the length of the request, then deleted.
• The Citation Generator sends a web address you paste into its Find box to the server, which fetches that page and returns its title, authors and dates. The address is not stored or logged.

Private by design explains how the tools work and how to check this for yourself.

What the site collects

• Page views. The site counts visits with Umami, which runs on this site's own server. For each page view it records the page, the site that linked to it, your browser, operating system, device type, screen size and language, and your approximate location (country, and sometimes region and city) worked out from your IP address. The IP address itself is not stored, and Umami sets no cookies. Nothing about what you put into a tool is recorded. I use it to see which tools people use.
• The server's access log. Like almost every web server, it notes each request: the IP address, the address asked for, and the request's headers, such as the browser's name and the page that linked to it. It is used to spot attacks and breakages, and is deleted after at most 30 days.
• Feedback. The feedback form sends your message, the email address you give if you want a reply, the page you were on, and your browser's description of itself (its name, version and operating system). It is stored in this site's database so I can read and answer it; every message is read. It is never shown publicly or passed on.
• File types nothing here opens. When you drop a file on Open a file that no tool here opens, or type a type that has none, the page sends its extension (the letters after the last dot, such as "xyz"; a long or unusual one is sent only as "other") and, for a file that is not text, up to its first 32 bytes with any readable text in them blanked out. For a text file only the word "text" is sent. Never the rest of the name or the contents, and nothing about you: each type is a counter, so I can see which formats to add.
• Donations. Paying happens on Ko-fi, under Ko-fi's own privacy policy. Ko-fi then tells this site the amount, the name and message you gave, and whether they may be shown. Your email address is not kept: it is only compared, as the notice arrives, with the emails on open feedback, so a supporter's request can be linked to their donation. The Donate button itself asks this site for one number, how far this month's goal has got, and sends nothing about you.

Cookies and storage in your browser

There are no user accounts, and the site sets no cookies for visitors. The only sign-in is the site owner's admin page, which uses one cookie for that purpose. Some tools keep your settings or work in your browser's own storage, such as the light or dark theme, saved setups, boards and saved citations. That stays on your device, is never sent to the site, and clearing the site's data in your browser removes it.

Other services your browser talks to

Some pages fetch things from other services. Each of them sees your IP address and what was asked for, as any website does, but not your files.

• Google Fonts serves the site's text fonts and the caption fonts in Add Subtitles to Video.
• Hugging Face (huggingface.co) serves the AI models some tools download the first time, such as Audio to Text, the Background Remover and the Image Upscaler.
• tessdata.projectnaptha.com serves the language data for text recognition (OCR), with this site's own copy as a fallback.
• OpenStreetMap serves the map tiles in the map viewers, so it learns which area is shown. The GPX and FIT viewers let you turn the map off.
• Crossref and Open Library answer the Citation Generator's DOI and ISBN lookups, straight from your browser.
• Pictures linked from inside an email or Markdown file, only if you choose to load them, come from wherever they are hosted.
• Ko-fi, only if you press Donate.

What is not done

No ads, no advertising or social-media trackers, and nothing is sold or shared for marketing. If this policy changes, this page will say so, with a new date at the top.