Privacy Policy

Overview

This policy covers astound.tools as a whole: the marketing site you are reading now, and the developer tools suite at astound.tools/dev. It explains what information gets processed, which cookies and third-party services are involved, and the controls you have. When we say "we" or "us", we mean Astound Technology, the company that runs the site.

For most tools, everything happens inside your browser. A small number of tools fetch information you asked for from public sources, such as a domain registration record. We do not run user accounts, and we do not sell personal data.

Information we collect

We only handle information that is needed to run the service, or that you trigger yourself by using a tool:

• Anything you type into a tool, like text to encode or a JSON document. For most tools this never leaves your browser.
• Your IP address, which any web server you contact can see. That includes ours, our analytics and advertising partners, and the outside services that some tools talk to.
• General usage details such as which pages are viewed, how you arrived, and the broad type of browser and region you are using. Analytics collects these only after you turn the Analytics category on.

We do not set out to collect sensitive personal data. If you think any has reached us by accident, please get in touch and we will delete it.

Cookies and tracking technologies

One small first-party entry remembers the choice you made in our consent banner. The analytics and advertising cookies come from Google, and they only switch on once you allow their category. With Consent Mode v2, everything starts in a denied state until you accept.

The exact cookie names and lifetimes are set by the provider and can change over time, so the table above shows the typical set. You can withdraw your consent whenever you like; see the next section for how.

Analytics

The tools app uses Google Analytics, through Google Tag Manager, to get a sense of how things are used in aggregate: which pages get visited, how people arrive, and general browser and region patterns. The marketing site can also load Tag Manager when it is configured.

Analytics only runs after you allow the Analytics category. Google processes that data under its own terms as an independent controller (see Google Privacy and Terms). We use it in aggregate form to make the site better, not to single anyone out.

Advertising

The tools app shows ads from Google AdSense and takes part in Google ad network. AdSense and its partners, such as doubleclick.net, may set cookies to measure how ads perform and, unless you have opted out elsewhere, to show you ads based on visits to this and other sites.

• Ads and their cookies load only after you allow the Advertising category.
• You can turn off personalized ads at any time in Google Ads Settings at adssettings.google.com.
• Third-party vendors and Google may use cookies to serve ads based on your earlier visits to this site or others.

Using advertising cookies lets Google and its partners serve ads based on your visit here and elsewhere on the web. If you would rather not see personalized ads, you can opt out through Google Ads Settings.

Consent and your choices

We use Google Consent Mode v2. The first time you visit, a banner asks you to choose. There are three categories:

• Essential is always on. It keeps the site working and remembers the choice you made.
• Analytics turns on Google Analytics measurement.
• Advertising turns on AdSense and the cookies that go with it.

Your choice is stored on this device. To change it or withdraw consent later, use the small cookie button at the bottom right of the tools app, which opens the preferences panel again. Withdrawing consent stops further tracking, but it does not undo data that was already handled lawfully before you changed your mind.

How our tools handle data

Most tools run entirely in your browser. A few reach out to other services to do their job, and the table below sets out what each of those involves:

Every other tool, including Base64, the JWT Debugger, JSON Toolkit, Hash Generator, UUID Generator, Cron Builder, Password Generator, YAML Toolkit, XML Toolkit and the Timestamp converter, runs fully on your device. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere, and you can confirm that in your browser network inspector.

Data retention

We do not keep user accounts or long-term profiles. Your consent preference lives in your browser until you clear it. Any analytics and advertising data that Google keeps is governed by Google retention settings and its privacy policy. The server-side lookups we do for tools like WHOIS are only there to return a result to you; we do not use them to build profiles.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights over personal data, such as the right to access, correct, delete or move it, to object to certain uses, and to withdraw consent. If you are in a region with laws like the GDPR (EEA and UK) or CCPA and CPRA (California), you can exercise these by contacting us.

• Ask for access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal data we hold.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information as California law defines it. We do not sell personal data.
• Withdraw consent for analytics and advertising whenever you wish, using the cookie button.
• Turn on Do Not Track in your browser. Where it is set, we treat non-essential categories as denied by default.

Beyond what Consent Mode provides, we do not respond to do-not-track signals in other ways, since there is no single standard for them. The consent banner gives you the same control directly.

Children and privacy

These services are not meant for children under 13, or the equivalent minimum age where you live, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you think a child has given us personal data, please contact us and we will remove it.

Third-party links and policies

Some tools connect to outside services, and each of those handles data under its own policy. It is worth reviewing them:

• Google Privacy and Terms: policies.google.com/privacy
• Google AdSense: support.google.com/adsense
• OpenStreetMap data and privacy: osm.org/site/about-data
• ipapi.co privacy policy
• Cloudflare privacy policy

We are not responsible for how those third parties handle data.

Changes to this policy

From time to time we update this policy to keep up with changes in our tools, the services we rely on, or the law. When we make a meaningful change, the Last updated date at the top moves with it. If you keep using the site after a change, we take that as acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about privacy, or you want to exercise one of your rights, write to [email protected] or send a message through our contact form. We will get back to you within a reasonable time.