Privacy policy

This policy sets out FreeConvert's privacy practices in connection with all services provided by us.

FreeConvert aims to protect your privacy when you use our services and communicate with us. We take the protection of privacy very seriously and have several measures in place to ensure that your information remains secure and private. As defined by various privacy regulations, you should be informed that FreeConvert is the Data Controller of your information.

In the question and answer section outlined below, we have answered several questions regarding our privacy practices. These answers should explain how we protect your information and your rights regarding your personal information.

If you have provided us with personal data of other individuals or organizations (such as colleagues for example), please make sure they understand our privacy policy. Furthermore, please only provide us their data if you are explicitly authorized to do so.

This privacy policy has been drafted bearing in mind data regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

If you have further questions regarding any aspect of our privacy policy, please contact us using the information provided at the bottom of this page.

Questions and Answers

1. What personal data does FreeConvert collect through its website?

Short version: We collect data that is necessary to provide our services to you, or data that can help us improve our services to you.

Upon visiting our website, FreeConvert collects your IP address and stores it in our MLab database. MLab is a platform for hosting databases and is owned by Atlassin. Various third-party services that we work with also collect your personal data. This is described in much more detail below.

1.1 Account

Short version: If you purchase a subscription plan, your personal account data is stored in our database.

When you pay for a subscription plan and create an account with us, we store your email address, name, billing address, encrypted password, subscription plan, payment method, card country, IP address and a unique customer ID, in our database. We also store your VAT number and/or company name, if applicable.

If you pay for a subscription plan and choose social sign-in (e.g. 'sign in with Google' or 'sign in with Facebook'), FreeConvert also receives and stores your name, email address and a unique ID associated with your social media account. To better understand how Facebook and Google use your data, please review their privacy policies accordingly.

1.2 Payment

Short version: Your payment details are stored in Stripe, Braintree and PayPal. We never receive your full credit card details. We use Quaderno to manage global sales taxes.

We use Stripe to process all our payments. More specifically, your payment details are stored with either Stripe so that we can charge you in the future.

Any information you provide to Stripe or Braintree/PayPal will be managed by those services in accordance with their privacy policies. For further information, please review their privacy policies in order to understand how they manage your data.

If you choose to pay with a credit card, the credit card details are sent directly to Stripe or Braintree. We never receive the full credit card number. Instead, we can only see the last 4 digits of the credit card.

We store information regarding your subscription plan in Braintree and Stripe including the plan, billing date, current billing cycle and paid-through date.

We store information regarding your subscription plan in PayPal including the payer email address (for PayPal), the payer name, transaction type, amount, time and status.

1.3 File storage

Short version: We store all customer files on Amazon Web Services (Ireland).

We store all user files (including uploaded files, converted files, edited files, images and signature images) on Amazon Web Services ("AWS")'s Simple Storage Service (S3), based in Ireland.

Note that we do not access or view your files. We will only access or view your files with your explicit and written consent, unless such action is necessary to comply with legal procedures. You retain all rights and ownership of your files.

1.4 Email

Short version: We send our emails via SendGrid.

We use Mailgun to send emails to you and anyone who you send files to through FreeConvert. Within Mailgun we can see information including your name, your email address, the email address of the recipient and your company name. We can also see which emails we have sent to you, which emails you have opened and whether you have clicked on any links. If you would like to stop receiving emails from us, you can unsubscribe directly through a link in the email.

1.5 Performance monitoring

Short version: We use Sentry.io to monitor our systems.

In order to track JavaScript errors, we use Sentry. If an error is detected, Sentry saves the error information as well as information including your browser type, operating system, screen size and IP address.

Note that some of the services above use cookies, which are addressed in the question relating to cookies below.

1.6 Fraud detection

Short version: We use MinFraud in order to reduce fraudulent payment activity.

In order to avoid minimize fraudulent payments, we use MinFraud (by MaxMind) in order to assess the risk of accepting a payment. MinFraud receives the IP address, proxy or anonymizer data (e.g. such as use of a VPN), email address, device information, billing address and credit card details (excluding the full credit card number) in order to assess the risk of a fraudulent payment.

1.7 User feedback and support

Short version: Customer support services we use, namely HotJar, receive personal data from you voluntarily.

Services we use to provide feedback and services, currently HotJar, do not actively collect your personal data.

2. How does FreeConvert keep my personal data secure?

Short version: We take many steps in order to ensure your data is as safe as possible.

FreeConvert takes several measures in order to ensure your data is kept secure and private.

Firstly, only authorized staff have access to your data. All staff who have access to your information are required to adhere to this privacy policy and global privacy regulations regulating Data Controllers (such as GDPR).

To ensure that your data remains secure, the company only stores data with world-class service providers (such as Amazon Web Services) and has measures to prevent unauthorized access (such as hacking).

Lastly, all communications between user devices and our systems are encrypted with SSL. Any stored passwords are also encrypted in our database.

3. What does FreeConvert use my personal data for?

Short version: We use your personal data in order to provide you a service. We take care to ensure your privacy.

Our goal in collecting personal data is to ensure both adequate support and to continuously improve our products. More specifically, any information collected from you will only be used for:

Enabling you to use our free plan
Creating and managing your paid account
Enabling you to pay for your subscription plan and sales taxes
Storing your files on cloud servers
Sending you email messages
Monitoring our service in order to improve the product
Detecting payment fraud
Providing customer support via live chat and tickets

4. With whom does FreeConvert share my personal data and why?

Short version: We only share your personal data with others in order to provide you a service. We never sell your data to any third party.

FreeConvert will never sell your data to any third-party business unless you provide us with explicit permission to do so. FreeConvert earns revenue exclusively from the sale of its premium subscription plans and desktop software.

While FreeConvert may share your data with third parties, it will only do so only under the following circumstances:

We may supply your information to law enforcement agencies if we are required to do so by applicable law, or (in our good faith judgment) if such action is reasonably necessary to comply with legal procedures, to respond to any legal claims or actions, or to protect the rights of FreeConvert or its customers.

5. How can I view, update, or delete my personal data held by FreeConvert?

Short version: If you would like to view, update, or delete your personal data, please contact us.

You have the right to view, update, or delete any of your personal data that is held by us. Please contact us at help@freeconvert.com. We will respond as soon as possible.

For users without an account (that is, free plan users), most files uploaded to FreeConvert are automatically and permanently deleted after 24 hours. You also have the option of permanently deleting the files manually before they are automatically deleted. Note that if you share a file with a third-party (by requesting a signature, for example), the file will be stored on our server for longer than 24 hours.

For customers with a subscription plan, files are stored indefinitely. You have the option of permanently deleting the files manually at any time.

6. Where and how does FreeConvert store my files?

Short version: We store all files on AWS.

All files uploaded to FreeConvert are stored with Amazon Web Services ("AWS") in Ireland. By storing files on AWS, FreeConvert can offer world-class security while complying with global privacy regulations.

Note that we do not access or view your files. We will only access or view your files with your explicit and written consent unless such action is necessary to comply with legal procedures. You retain all rights and ownership of your files.

7. Which countries are my personal data being sent to and why?

Short version: We transfer your personal data outside of United States, while ensuring that your data is protected regardless of location.

When you use our service, your personal data may be transferred to other countries such as the United States of America, member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom. We only store your data in countries that are considered adequate as per GDPR regulations. Furthermore, we take care to ensure that your personal data is protected to a high standard regardless of its ultimate location.

8. How and why does FreeConvert use cookies (or tracking technology)?

Short version: FreeConvert and some services we work with use cookies in order to provide our service to you. Without the use of cookies, we would not be able to provide our service. FreeConvert uses two types of cookies: a session cookie and a 1-month cookie. Session cookies are saved in temporary memory and deleted once you close your browser. They are used by FreeConvert to 'remember' any changes you applied to a particular web page during a session (e.g. saving changes to a file).

A 1-month cookie is used to enable you to use your free plan without the need to create an account. This particular cookie stores information such as (1) how many credits you have used during the 1-month period and (2) what files you have worked with during this time. Cookies used by FreeConvert do not collect personally identifiable information. Without the use of cookies, we would not be able to provide our free plan.

However, we also use a few third-party services that use cookies. These include:

MinFraud: minimizing payment fraud
Cloudflare: mitigating DDoS attacks by identifying trusted web traffic
Google Analytics: analyzing user behavior on our website
New Relic: monitoring the performance of our systems
HotJar: user feedback on our website
Twitter: enabling users to share our service on Twitter
Facebook: enabling users to like and share our service on Facebook

Third-party services do not receive personal data from FreeConvert, but they may track your usage on our website and combine this data from other websites you have visited.

9. How does FreeConvert manage social media privacy?

Short version: Many users share, follow and like our services on social media, which has privacy implications.

FreeConvert encourages users to share, follow and like our services on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. Users should know that such engagement may allow social media companies to track user activity. Accordingly, please review the specific privacy policies of Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.

10. Why does FreeConvert track my behavior and its own systems?

Short version: We track various aspects of our business in order to improve our service to you.

We track user behavior (this does not include viewing/accessing your files), our system metrics and any errors, in order to improve our service and minimize errors. To the maximum extent possible, we minimize the collection of personal data in order to maintain your privacy.

11. How long does FreeConvert keep my personal information?

Short version: We only keep your personal information for as long as legally necessary.

For customers with a subscription plan, files are stored indefinitely. You have the option of permanently deleting the files manually at any time.

With regard to your personal data, we will delete your personal data in an identifiable form a maximum of three years after it is no longer necessary. However, we are obligated by Canadian law to maintain transaction and invoice data for a minimum period of 6 years.

12. Can FreeConvert change the terms of this Privacy Policy?

Short version: Yes, this Privacy Policy is subject to change.

As privacy regulations mature and as our product improves, please note that FreeConvert reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy. Please regularly check this page for the latest version of our policies.

13. What are my legal rights with regard to my personal data?

Short version: Your rights are guaranteed based on global and local privacy regulations such as GDPR. For further details, please see our full list of Terms and Conditions.

You have the right to access, update and delete any personal data that is held by us. Furthermore, you have the right to restrict our processing or transfer of your personal data to another data controller (that is, data portability rights). You must prove your identity (by providing a copy of an identity document, for example) in order to exercise these rights.

Please note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your requests where we have statutory obligations ourselves. If exercising your rights is in conflict with your contractual obligations to FreeConvert, this may result in premature contract termination or other costs. In this case, we will inform you in advance.

Lastly, you may also enforce your rights in court or lodge a complaint with the relevant authority. For further details, please see our Terms and Conditions page.

14. Why do I have to accept the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy?

Short version: You agree to accept the terms by using our service.

FreeConvert collects data when you use our service. The nature of our service means that we process and transmit your data across borders.

This Privacy Policy is designed to notify you with all the necessary information in an easy format. We hope that you can make an informed choice prior to using our service or communicating with us.

Therefore, by using our service, you agree to the processing of your personal data according to the terms established in this document.

If you have questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, please do not hesitate to contact us at help@freeconvert.com. We will be happy to assist you.