Privacy policy

Scope and who “VniDrop” means

This policy covers the official VniDrop website, the VniDrop applications for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux, and the bug-report service configured by the official project. For an official release, VniDrop’s data controller is the individual publisher named in the applicable app-store listing. In this policy, “VniDrop,” “we,” and “us” also include the maintainers acting on that publisher’s behalf. The publisher can be reached at [email protected].

VniDrop is open-source software. A build distributed or operated by someone else may use different networking infrastructure, bug-report settings, or website hosting. That distributor is responsible for explaining its own practices.

What happens during a transfer

File contents

The sender chooses files or folders on their device. VniDrop streams those bytes to an approved receiver and does not first upload them to a VniDrop-hosted storage bucket. The receiver saves the files to a destination they choose. Relayed traffic remains end-to-end encrypted.

Invitations and transfer metadata

A QR code or .vnd file contains a transfer invitation. The invitation includes connection and content identifiers plus transfer metadata such as the transfer name, optional sender name, creation time, file count, and total size. It is a capability: anyone who receives it may be able to request the transfer while the share is active. Treat it like a private access link.

What peers and relays can see

A receive request can disclose the receiver’s chosen display or device name, application version, and a technical endpoint identifier to the sender. A direct connection exposes the peers’ IP addresses to one another. When a public relay is used, its operator can observe connection metadata such as source and destination IP addresses, connection time, and the amount of relayed data, but cannot read the encrypted transfer contents.

Information kept on your device

VniDrop stores the information needed to operate the app locally, including:

• device identity and networking keys used to establish secure connections;
• active shares, transfer history, receiver requests, progress, and status;
• app preferences, including access choices;
• download destinations and locally managed transfer data; and
• an anonymous installation identifier used only for bug-report correlation.

This information remains until you remove the relevant history, stop or delete a share, clear the app’s data, or uninstall the app, subject to operating-system file behavior. Removing VniDrop history does not delete a file you already downloaded; delete that file through your operating system if you no longer want it.

Optional bug reports

VniDrop has no automatic telemetry, usage analytics, or crash auto-reporting. Nothing is sent to a bug-report service unless you explicitly submit a report.

User-submitted bug reports

A bug report is sent only when you press submit. It can contain what you say happened, what you expected, reproduction steps, an optional contact email, app and platform versions, an anonymous installation ID, device name and model, operating system, network and battery information, and optional recent logs. You can exclude logs before submitting.

Data deliberately excluded

Bug reports are designed to exclude transfer contents, invitations, and file paths. Before optional logs are sent, VniDrop applies rules intended to redact invitation tokens, endpoint identifiers, absolute paths, file and content URIs, and platform document identifiers. No redaction system is perfect, so review anything you type into a bug report and avoid including secrets.

The VniDrop website

This website is a static product site. It does not provide an account, contact form, advertising, behavioral analytics, marketing pixels, or non-essential cookies. It does not ask the browser for access to your files, camera, contacts, location, or nearby devices.

GitHub Pages hosts the static site, while Cloudflare proxies requests and provides DNS and security services for the domain. They may process routine request information—such as IP address, time, requested page, referrer, and browser user agent—to deliver the site, maintain reliability, and prevent abuse.

The download page requests public release information directly from GitHub’s API to show recent previews. GitHub receives ordinary web request metadata, including your IP address. This request contains no app identity, transfer information, or file contents. Download links also lead to GitHub or the relevant app store.

Device permissions

Files & folders

Choose what to send and where received files are saved.

Camera / scanner

Scan a QR invitation when you choose that receive method.

Network & notifications

Connect peers and alert you to background receiver requests.

VniDrop requests a platform permission only for the related feature. Current Android builds use an on-device QR scanner with camera permission. Older releases may use Google Play services Code Scanner. Platform-level permission prompts and any applicable service-provider terms also apply.

Infrastructure and external services

Iroh / public relay operators

Device discovery, connection establishment, and encrypted relay fallback. Relays process connection metadata but cannot decrypt transfer contents.

Cloudflare

Proxies website requests and provides DNS, security, and abuse controls. When the optional bug-report service is configured, it uses Cloudflare Workers, D1, and R2.

Google Play services

Older Android releases may use its QR code scanner when you choose to scan an invitation. Current source builds decode QR codes on the device without it.

GitHub / GitHub Pages

Hosts the source repository, issue tracker, static VniDrop website, and release downloads. Its public API supplies preview download metadata to your browser.

Provider policies: Iroh, Cloudflare, Google, and GitHub.

Retention and deletion

Operational backups, provider logs, and deletion backlogs may persist briefly beyond the stated period where necessary for security, integrity, or legal obligations. If the production bug-report retention configuration changes, this policy should be updated to match it.

Your choices and rights

• Submit a bug report only when you choose, omit contact information, and exclude logs.
• Approve or refuse each receiver, cancel a transfer, or stop sharing.
• Delete individual transfer history or clear completed, failed, and cancelled receive history.
• Delete downloaded files using your operating system, or clear all app data by uninstalling or resetting the app.

Depending on where you live, privacy law may provide rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of personal information. Because VniDrop has no account and bug reports use an anonymous installation ID, we may not be able to connect a server record to you without additional information. Use the contact method below and provide only what is needed to locate your submission.

Security

VniDrop uses authenticated end-to-end encrypted connections, content verification, deny-by-default share access, bounded bug-report payloads, redaction, and safe file publishing that avoids silently replacing an existing file. No system can guarantee absolute security. Keep invitations private, verify receiver names, keep your device updated, and stop sharing when a transfer is finished.

Please report a suspected vulnerability through the private process in the VniDrop security policy, not in a public issue.

Changes to this policy

VniDrop is in early development. Features and data practices may change. When this policy changes, we will update the effective date and version at the top of the page and publish the revised text with the project. Material changes should be called out in release notes or the application where practical.