Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

• Links you create: destination URL, short slug / custom alias, creation time, expiry setting, and aggregate click counts.
• Technical data for security: IP address, user agent, and request timestamps — used only for rate-limiting, bot detection, and abuse prevention, then discarded or aggregated.
• Contact messages: if you email us or use the contact page, we receive your email address and message content so we can reply.
• No accounts: we do not require registration and do not collect names, passwords, or profiles.

2. How we use information

• Operate redirects, enforce expiry, and show public click counts.
• Prevent spam, phishing, malware, and automated abuse; enforce rate limits.
• Respond to abuse reports sent to abuse@urlshortenerapp.com and contact messages.
• Maintain reliability and debug issues on Cloudflare Workers + D1.

We do not sell personal data and do not use it for behavioral advertising profiles.

3. Cookies & third parties

• Cloudflare Turnstile: bot protection on the shorten form may set strictly-necessary security cookies to distinguish humans from bots.
• Theme preference: a local usa-theme value in your browser remembers light/dark mode. It never leaves your device.
• Ads & affiliates: the free service is funded by non-intrusive ads and affiliate links. Ad providers may use their own cookies to measure views and prevent fraud. We do not share link-creation history with advertisers.

4. Data retention

Short links are kept until their expiry (1 hour to never, as you choose) or until removed for Terms violations. Security logs (IP, rate-limit counters) are kept only as long as needed for abuse prevention and then deleted or aggregated. Contact emails are kept only to handle your request.

5. Your rights & choices

• You can use the service without providing any personal information.
• You can clear site data / local storage in your browser at any time to reset theme preference.
• To request deletion of a short link you created, or ask about data related to an abuse report, email abuse@urlshortenerapp.com with the short URL.
• Depending on your region (e.g. EU/UK GDPR, California CCPA), you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal data — contact us and we will respond.

6. Children & security

The service is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. We use HTTPS, edge rate-limiting, bot checks, and expiring links to protect the service, but no online system is 100% secure.

7. Changes & contact

If we update this policy, we will change the “Last updated” date above. For privacy questions, use our contact page or emailabuse@urlshortenerapp.com.