Privacy Policy

Overview

Lumara Links is a free link shortener and QR code generator provided by Lumara. You can use it without creating an account, and we designed it to collect as little information as possible. This policy explains what we do collect, why, and the choices you have.

In short: you can shorten links and create QR codes without giving your name, email address or payment details; QR codes are generated in your browser, so their content is not sent to us; and we set no advertising or tracking cookies of our own. The tool pages and the blog show advertising from a third-party network, which is loaded only after you accept advertising cookies in the cookie banner. We only receive an email address if you choose to write to us.

Anonymous use

The tools are available to anonymous visitors. We do not require registration, sign-in or an email address, and we do not build profiles of the people who use the service. Because links are created anonymously, we cannot tell you which links “belong” to you, and we cannot restore a short link you have lost.

Information we collect

When you shorten a link, we store:

• the destination address you entered;
• the short code or custom alias;
• the date and time the link was created.

When someone opens a short link, we record a click entry so that click counts can be shown. A click entry contains:

• the date and time of the click;
• the device type (desktop, mobile or tablet) and browser family, derived from the browser's user-agent header;
• the website the visitor came from, reduced to its domain name, when the browser provides it;
• the visitor's country, only when our hosting or network provider supplies it;
• an anonymous visitor code used to estimate unique visitors (see below).

We do not store the visitor's IP address or full user-agent string in click entries. Requests from automated tools and link previews are not counted.

When you contact us

Using the contact form is optional. If you send us a message through it, we store:

• your email address, so that we can reply;
• your name, if you choose to give it;
• the topic you selected and the message you wrote;
• the language the website was displayed in, so that we can reply in it;
• the date and time the message was sent.

We use this information only to read and answer your message and to deal with what you reported. We do not add your address to a mailing list, and we do not link it to any short link or click entry. If you email us directly instead, your message is handled by our email provider.

The anonymous visitor code

To estimate how many different people opened a link, we compute a one-way hash from the visitor's IP address, their browser's user-agent, the current date and a secret value. Only the resulting code is stored. It cannot be reversed to reveal the IP address, and it changes every day, so a visitor cannot be followed from one day to the next.

Technical data and abuse prevention

Like every website, our servers and hosting provider process technical request data, such as IP address, time, requested page and browser type, in order to deliver pages and keep the service secure. Hosting providers typically keep such logs for a limited period.

To prevent abuse, we limit how many links one IP address can create, and how many contact messages it can send, in a given period. The counters used for this are kept in server memory for a short time and are not written to our database.

QR codes

QR codes made with the generator on this website are created on your own device. The content you enter, including Wi-Fi passwords, phone numbers and messages, is not transmitted to or stored by us.

Developers who call our QR code API directly send the content to our server so the image can be rendered. That content is used to produce the response and is not stored.

Cookies and local storage

Lumara Links itself does not set cookies for advertising or cross-site tracking; the advertising network described in the next section may, once you have accepted advertising cookies. A cookie banner, provided by CookieYes, asks for your cookie choices and stores them in one strictly necessary cookie (cookieyes-consent). We also store two preferences in your browser's Local Storage: your language and your colour theme. They stay on your device and are not sent to us. See the Cookie Policy for details.

Advertising

The URL shortener, QR code generator, analytics and blog pages show advertising provided by Adsterra, an advertising network. The homepage, the About and Contact pages, the legal pages and short-link redirects do not show ads.

The ad is loaded only after you accept advertising cookies in the cookie banner. If you reject them, or do not answer, no ad is requested and the advertising network receives nothing from your visit.

When an ad loads, your browser connects directly to the advertising network and the partners it works with. They receive the technical data such a request involves, such as your IP address, browser and device type, language, approximate location and the address of the page you are on, and they may set or read cookies or similar identifiers in order to choose and limit ads, measure them and detect fraud. Ads are selected by the network, not by us.

We do not give the advertising network the contact messages or email addresses we hold. How the network uses the data it collects is described in Adsterra's own privacy policy, published on its website.

You can withdraw your consent at any time from the cookie button shown on the site. Ads then stop being requested from the next page you open.

How we use information

• to redirect short links to their destinations;
• to show click statistics for a short link;
• to answer messages sent through the contact form;
• to protect the service and its users from spam, malware, phishing and other abuse;
• to diagnose problems and keep the service running;
• to comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not build advertising profiles. The advertising shown on the site is provided by a third party, as described under “Advertising”.

Click statistics are visible to anyone with the link

Because there are no accounts, the click statistics of a short link can be viewed by anyone who knows that short link. They show totals and breakdowns only, never individual visitors. Do not rely on click statistics being private.

Service providers

We rely on a small number of providers to run the service, and they process data on our behalf:

• a hosting provider, which runs the website and processes request data;
• a database provider (Supabase), which stores links, click entries and contact messages;
• a consent management provider (CookieYes), which displays the cookie banner and keeps a record of consent choices. Loading the banner involves a request from your browser to CookieYes's servers;
• an advertising network (Adsterra), which serves the ads on the tool pages and the blog once you have accepted advertising cookies. It acts on its own behalf for the data it collects.

These providers may process data in countries other than your own. We do not embed third-party analytics scripts or social media trackers. If that changes, we will update this policy before it takes effect.

Short links lead to websites that we do not control. Once you follow a link, the destination site's own privacy policy applies.

How long we keep information

Short links and their destinations are kept for as long as the link is active, so that the link keeps working. Click entries are kept for as long as they are needed to provide statistics. We may delete links and click entries that are old, unused or in breach of our Terms of Service. Contact messages are kept for as long as needed to answer them and to keep a record of the request, and are then deleted. You can ask us to delete your messages sooner.

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), restrict access to our database, validate everything submitted to the service, and keep access keys on the server. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please do not put confidential information in a link address.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask for access to personal information about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to or restrict its processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority.

Because we do not know who created a link or who clicked it, we often cannot connect the limited data we hold to a specific person. If you would like a short link you created to be removed, or you believe a link exposes your personal information, email us with the short link and we will review the request. Messages you sent through the contact form are stored with your email address, so we can find, correct or delete them when you ask from that address.

Children

Lumara Links is a general-purpose tool and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service develops. When we do, we will change the “last updated” date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be described here before they take effect.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy can be sent to shortener@lumara.chat.