.. _main_about_policy:

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Privacy Policy
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.. _Sphinx: https://www.sphinx-doc.org/
.. _Domainnameshop: https://domainname.shop/
.. _GitHub: https://github.com/


Introduction
============

No data about you as a user of novelWriter is collected by the app or the project itself. However,
data may be collected by third party services you interact with while using certain features of
novelWriter, and when visiting the project's website.


Using the Website
=================

The novelWriter website is a static website generated by Sphinx_. No information is collected by
the novelWriter project itself when you visit the site.

The novelWriter website is hosted in Norway by Domainnameshop. Domainnameshop collects data about
your visit in their server access logs, and aggregated visting statistics is made available to the
website administrator. Please see the Domainnameshop_ website for more information.

Downloads are hosted externally by GitHub. Please see the GitHub_ website for more information.


Using novelWriter
=================

No usage data is transmitted by novelWriter when using the app on your local computer, however it
may have access to the following information, and cause information to be revealed under certain
circumstances:

* **Documents (device folders and files)** when reading and writing novelWriter projects data, and
  importing or exporting content. Paths are usually included in generated error reports.
* **Name and/or user credentials** when they are a part of a file path when reading and writing
  novelWriter project data, which may be included in generated error reports.
* **Various information accessed by web browsers** when links are opened from within novelWriter to
  online resources. Online links in novelWriter are forwarded to your system's default browser.
* **System information** like hostname, platform, and version information. Platform and version
  information is used for compatibility checks during startup, and when generating error reports.
  The hostname is used when generating lock files for your projects.


Error Reports
-------------

In the case of a critical error, a crash report is generated and displayed to the user. This error
report is **not** automatically submitted, but the user is encouraged to post it to the project's
issue tracker.

This report contains some minimal system information, and a backtrace of the error, which includes
file or folder paths. The user should review this information before submitting it to the project's
issue tracker.


Checking for Updates
--------------------

When checking for updates from within novelWriter, the app will contact the public GitHub API to
request data about the latest release of novelWriter. The app identifies itself as
"novelWriter (Python)" to the API. GitHub may collect access information on API calls.


Revisions
=========

* Original policy added on 30 May 2023.