Privacy Policy

2.1. There is no registration: the Service has no accounts, logins or passwords, so no account identifiers are collected.

2.2. The conchshell.app website, its update server and the statistics address t.conchshell.app keep web server logs: a shortened network address (IPv4 to /24, IPv6 to /56), the country as determined by Cloudflare, the address requested and the time of the request; the website and update server logs also keep the browser or client string and the referring page. For the statistics address, the address requested is the whole statistics request, so that log links the identifier described in 2.5 with the shortened network address and the country. Full addresses stopped being written to disk on 8 August 2026, and the records made before then have been removed. Addresses that clients put into their own request headers are not logged either.

2.3. The website also collects aggregate visit statistics through Google Analytics and Yandex Metrica. Where consent is required, these are enabled only after consent is given; declining does not affect how the website works. What exactly they set is described on the Cookie page.

2.4. Usage statistics. While it is running and statistics are on (see 2.6), the application sends a request to t.conchshell.app every three hours; the first one goes about a minute after the first launch, and on iPhone and iPad no earlier than the User agrees and within about a quarter of an hour after that. The request contains: a permanent identifier of the installation (see 2.5); the date of the first launch; the application version; the family and major version of the operating system; the architecture the build was made for; the interface language; whether a licence is active; how many connections are saved, in ranges (0, 1–5, 6–20, 21–100, over 100); whether a session has ever been opened; on the desktop, whether the Security tab of the settings has ever been opened and whether a Buy button (in the settings or on the news card) has ever been pressed; the kind of the day’s most recent failed connection (authentication, timeout, server identity, other, or none); and, for SSH, SFTP, FTP, RDP, VNC and the local terminal, how many sessions were opened that day, in ranges (0, 1–2, 3–10, 11–50, over 50). Days are counted in UTC. On iPhone and iPad, the local terminal count is always 0, and whether a licence is active, whether the Security tab has been opened and whether the Buy button has been pressed are not sent.

2.5. The identifier is derived from a random secret created on first launch, kept in the application’s data folder and never sent. It contains nothing about the User, the device or the network, but it stays the same for the life of the installation — across updates, and when statistics are switched off and on again. The statistics are therefore pseudonymous, not anonymous. The identifier changes only if the file holding the secret (telemetry.json in the application’s data folder) is deleted or damaged. The request contains no server addresses or names, logins, file names or error messages, and carries no browser string or cookies.

2.6. On iPhone and iPad, statistics are off until the User agrees: at the first launch the application asks, with two buttons, “Send statistics” and “Don't send”, and no statistics request is sent before the answer or after “Don't send”. If the application is closed without an answer, nothing is sent and it asks again at the next launch. On other devices statistics are on by default. On every device the choice can be changed at any time in the application’s settings, under Advanced (in version 2.16 and earlier the switch is labelled “Anonymous usage statistics”); once switched off, no statistics requests are sent. The same place, under “What is sent”, shows the exact request that would be sent, including the identifier. How to have statistics that have already been received deleted is described in 5.6.

2.7. When it starts, the desktop application fetches the number of the latest version from conchshell.app. The request carries no application version, platform or identifier; its client string names only the update component and its version. A new version is downloaded only when the User chooses to install it. The automatic check can be switched off in the application’s settings, under Advanced (“Check for Updates”); while it is off, the request is made only when the User asks the application to check for updates.

2.8. After an update, the application downloads the list of changes from conchshell.app to show what is new; if that fails, it tries again at the next launch until the list has been shown. The request carries no identifier, no application version and no browser string (in version 2.16 and earlier it was made by the application’s built-in browser and carried its browser string). The iPhone and iPad application does not make this request.

2.9. A copy with a licence key downloads a signed list of revoked licences from conchshell.app about a minute and a half after each launch, then every 24 hours while it runs, and once right after a key is entered. The request contains no key, licence number or identifier; it does not depend on the statistics setting and stops when the key is removed from the device. Entering a short licence code sends that code to conchshell.app to exchange it for a key. Each successful exchange is recorded in an activation log: the licence number, the shortened network address (as in 2.2) and the time; a code that is not accepted is not written to the log. The log is used to see how often codes are exchanged and to look into complaints and misuse of a code. The number of exchanges that can be made from one network in an hour is limited. The iPhone and iPad application makes neither request.

2.10. Synchronisation does not pass through servers of the Administration: the encrypted vault is written to a folder the User chooses, or passed directly between the User’s own paired devices over the local network. On iPhone and iPad the application uses the camera only to read the code that another of the User’s devices shows when linking, and the local network only to reach the servers and computers the User chooses, including that device.

2.11. Buying a licence. When the User continues to payment, an order is recorded, whether or not the payment is then completed: the e-mail address, the interface language, the shortened network address (as in 2.2), the payment method, the amount and currency, the payment provider’s transaction number and the address of its payment page, the status of the order and when it changed. Once payment is confirmed, the order also records the number of the licence issued, whether the licence e-mail was sent and, if issuing failed, the error. Separately, a record of each issued licence keeps its number, the e-mail address, the date of issue and whether the licence e-mail was sent. These records are needed to issue the licence, to reissue it on request and to answer questions about a payment.

2.12. The Service does not ask the User for identity documents, photographs or other personal information beyond the minimum needed to operate.

2.13. Starting with version 2.17.2, the desktop application downloads a public list of news and offers from conchshell.app (https://conchshell.app/push/feed.json) two minutes after it starts and then about every six hours, to show a short card at the bottom of the connection list; this is switched off under Settings → Advanced → “News and offers in the app”. The Android application downloads the same list in the background about every six hours, and only if the User has turned on notifications for at least one of the topics “News and updates” and “Offers and promotions” (both are off until the User turns them on; the second is the Service’s promotional messages); only items of the topics turned on are shown. The request carries no identifier, application version, OS version or device model; the client string is “Conchshell-Desktop” or “Conchshell-Android”. The iPhone and iPad application does not make this request.

2.14. Notifications on iPhone and iPad. Starting with version 2.17.2, the Service can send notifications to the iPhone and iPad application on two topics: “News and updates” and “Offers and promotions”. Both topics are off until the User turns them on; the second is the Service’s promotional messages, and turning it on means agreeing to such messages. While at least one topic is on and notifications are allowed in the system settings, the application sends to conchshell.app its notification token — an identifier of this application on this device, issued by Apple and used by Apple to deliver notifications — together with the chosen topics, the interface language, the application version and whether it is a development build. Apart from that, the request carries only a format number and the platform name; it contains no identifier from 2.5, no device model and no OS version. The request is sent at every launch, whenever the topics or the language change, and when the User returns to the application if something has changed since the last request (for example, notifications were just allowed in the system settings) or that request did not get through. The server keeps the token with those fields, the first and last day it arrived (without the time) and whether Apple has confirmed it; no network address or country is kept with the token, and the request itself is recorded in the web server log (2.2) without the token. To weed out fake tokens, the server sends each new token an invisible service notification through Apple, with no text or sound. If both topics are switched off in the application (Settings → Notifications), the application asks the server at once to delete the token; if notifications are turned off in the system settings, it does so as soon as the application is back on screen; until then the token stays on the server, but no longer than the period in 5.7. The desktop and Android applications send no tokens (2.13).

2.15. The following are not collected and cannot be: the addresses and names of the User’s servers, logins, passwords, keys, session contents, the names and contents of transferred files, and connection history (only the counts in ranges described in 2.4 are sent). None of it is ever sent to the Administration; synchronisation moves it, in encrypted form, only between the User’s own devices and storage.

3.1. The Service uses the information collected solely to: operate its functionality and deliver updates; issue, reissue and verify licences; contact the User, including for notifications and support; send the Service’s promotional notifications to Users who have turned on the “Offers and promotions” topic (2.14); and analyse and improve the Service.

3.2. The information is not sold and is not used for third-party advertising. The Service’s promotional notifications on iPhone, iPad and Android are shown only if the User has turned on the “Offers and promotions” topic (2.13, 2.14); the desktop application may show the Service’s news and offers in its card until that card is switched off (2.13).

4.1. The Administration does not pass the data collected to third parties, except: where required by law; where necessary to meet obligations to the User; or where the User has given consent.

4.2. Payment is processed by the payment provider Platega. The Administration passes it the payment method, the amount, the currency and the order number, but not the User’s e-mail address. What the User enters on the provider’s payment page, including card details, is handled by the provider and never reaches the Administration.

4.3. The website's visit counters pass data to their providers, Google and Yandex, to the extent described on the Cookie page, and only where the User has allowed them.

4.4. The website, the update server and the statistics address are served through Cloudflare, which carries the network connection and therefore sees full network addresses, as well as the contents of requests, such as a statistics request (2.4) or a notification token (2.14). Cloudflare processes that data on the Administration’s behalf under its Data Processing Addendum and provides protection equal to or greater than that described in this Policy.

4.5. Notices about downloads, installations and purchases reach the Administration through Telegram: for a download, the platform, version and country; for an installation, the system and its version, the architecture, the interface language, whether a licence is active, the application version and the country; for a purchase — a sale, or an order that needs attention — the beginning of the order number, the amount, the currency, the payment method, the payment provider’s transaction number, the licence number and the e-mail address with everything but its first character and its domain hidden. Network addresses are not included. To tell repeated downloads apart, the notifier keeps the shortened addresses of downloads for no more than 48 hours.

4.6. Licence e-mails are sent through SendPulse, which receives the buyer’s e-mail address and the message with the licence code.

4.7. Notifications on iPhone and iPad are delivered by the Apple Push Notification service: Apple receives the token and the text of the notification and processes them under its own privacy policy.

5.1. Data is kept for as long as the purpose of processing requires.

5.2. A web server log file has no time limit while it is open: it is closed when it reaches a set size, and a closed file is deleted at the first rotation after it has been closed for 30 days. At current traffic the statistics log fills in about a year.

5.3. Separately from the log, the statistics themselves are kept without network addresses or country, with the time rounded down to ten minutes, for 92 days, and are then deleted. Backup copies are made daily and only the 60 most recent are kept, so a deleted record can remain in a backup for about 60 days longer, or more if some daily copies were missed.

5.4. An order that has not been paid loses its e-mail address, its network address and the address of its payment page 30 days after it was created, and is deleted entirely a year after it was created. Paid orders and the records of issued licences are kept while the licence is valid: without them a licence cannot be reissued and a question about a payment cannot be answered. The activation log described in 2.9 is kept no longer than the records of issued licences. Backup copies of these records are kept in the same way as in 5.3, so data removed under this section can remain in a backup for about 60 days longer, or more if some daily copies were missed.

5.5. The Administration takes reasonable measures to protect data but does not guarantee absolute security of information transmitted over the internet.

5.6. Deleting statistics. To have the statistics received from an installation deleted, the User writes to support@conchshell.app with the identifier shown in the application under Settings → Advanced → “What is sent” (the value after “id=”). Within 30 days the Administration deletes every record with that identifier from the statistics storage and from the web server logs of t.conchshell.app; copies in backups disappear when those backups expire (5.3). A deletion request does not cover statistics sent after it; sending stops only when statistics are switched off (2.6). Switching statistics off does not delete the secret the identifier is derived from; on iPhone and iPad it is deleted together with the application’s data when the application is removed.

5.7. A notification token (2.14) is deleted from the server when the application asks for it to be deleted, when Apple reports that the token is no longer valid, and 180 days after the last day it arrived. If the token file on the server is ever damaged, the copy kept to find the cause is deleted after 7 days. A deleted token remains in backups until those backups expire (5.3).

6.1. The User understands and agrees that transmitting information over the internet always carries risk.

6.2. The Administration is not liable for loss, theft or disclosure of data caused by third parties or by the User themselves.

7.1. The Administration may amend this Policy.

7.2. The current revision is always published on this page; its date is stated at the top of the document.

7.3. Continued use of the Service after a change means the User accepts the new revision.

8.1. For any question about this Policy: support@conchshell.app.

8.2. The same address is shown inside the application, under “About”, and in the footer of every page of the website.