🗂 HearthFiles

Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 10, 2026

HearthFiles is a local-first file manager. In plain words: your files, their names, your folders, and every note, category and mark you create stay on your PC. We do not have a server that receives them, there are no accounts, and we do not sell or share your data.

The short version

• Your files and your organization never leave your device. Browsing, file operations, search (including search inside file contents), notes, categories and marks all happen locally. We never receive file names, contents, paths, or notes.
• No account, no sign-up. The app never asks for your name, email, or any personal identifier.
• No analytics, no telemetry, no ads. There is no tracking of any kind and no crash reporting that sends data to us.
• Deletes go to the Recycle Bin. File operations run through Windows' own file-operation service, deletions are recoverable from the Recycle Bin and from the app's Undo.

What the app accesses

To do its job, the app lists and reads the drives and folders you browse to. When you use "Words inside the files" search, the app reads the contents of files under the folder you are searching, on your device only, to find your search words. When you open or extract an archive (zip, rar, 7z and similar), the app reads that archive and writes the extracted files to the location you choose. When you compress files to a zip, the app reads the files you selected and writes the zip next to them. Image files may be read to show thumbnails and folder pictures. All of this happens on your own device. The app does not send any of this information to us.

Information we collect

None. The app does not contain analytics, telemetry, usage tracking, advertising identifiers, or crash reporting that sends data to us. We do not build a profile of you and we do not receive your file names, file contents, folder paths, notes, IP address, or device identifiers.

Information stored on your device (and only there)

• Your memory layer, the color marks, work statuses, categories, pinned items and folder pictures you create, in a local data folder under your Windows user profile (%USERPROFILE%\.foldernotes or %USERPROFILE%\.hearthfiles). If FolderNotes is installed, both apps share this folder so your notes stay in sync.
• Folder notes, saved as a small hidden file inside the folder the note belongs to, so the note travels with the folder if you copy it.
• App settings and view memory (language, per-folder views, remembered folder sizes, recent locations) in %APPDATA%\HearthFiles.
• The local work log, a diary of your own file activity shown in the Work Log window. It stays on your device, is trimmed automatically after 14 days, and is never transmitted to us.
• A small cached copy of the "More from Hearth" list (see below).

You can delete any of the app's own data at any time, and the app includes a Backup button that exports all of it to a single zip you control. Uninstalling the app and deleting the folders above removes everything.

Limited network activity

HearthFiles is designed to work offline. The only network activity is the following, none of which sends us your files or personal data:

• "More from Hearth" update check. The app occasionally (at most once per day) downloads a small, public file that lists our other apps and websites, so the in-app suggestions stay current. It contains no account, no identifiers, and no information about you or your files. As with loading any web page, our hosting provider may keep standard technical request logs (such as an IP address and timestamp); we do not use these to identify you. If the app is offline, it simply uses the built-in list.
• Links you click. Tapping a "More from Hearth" suggestion opens the Microsoft Store or your browser. Those third-party services run under their own privacy policies, which we do not control.

No advertising, analytics, or tracking

The app contains no third-party advertising SDKs, no analytics SDKs, and no cross-app or cross-site tracking. The "More from Hearth" suggestions promote only our own apps and websites and do not profile you.

If you contact us

If you choose to email us (for support, feedback, or a bug report), we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message. We use them only to respond to you and to fix the issue, we do not add you to any mailing list, and we do not share them with anyone. You may ask us to delete the correspondence at any time.

GDPR, UK GDPR, and other privacy laws

The app is designed for data minimization: it processes your files and your organization only locally on your device, under your control, and we act as neither a controller nor a processor of any personal data on your behalf, because no personal data ever reaches us from the app. As we hold no data about you, requests to access, correct, port, restrict, object to, or erase data held by us have nothing to act on; you can exercise full control by editing or deleting the local files described above.

California (CCPA/CPRA)

We do not collect, sell, or share personal information, and we have no personal information to disclose. "Sell" and "share" are used here as defined by California law. There is nothing to opt out of because no data is collected.

Children's privacy

The app is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children. Because we do not collect personal information, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Data security

Because your data stays with you, its security depends primarily on your own device, accounts, and disks. No method of storage is completely secure, and you are responsible for securing your own device and your backups.

Changes

We may update this policy as the app evolves. When we do, we will change the effective date above and post the updated policy at this URL.

Contact

For privacy questions, contact us at support@hearth-software.com or iam@nirnagar.com.