Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Link Watchdog (the "Service") collects, how it's used, and the third-party services involved. The Service does not require an account, and we do not maintain a database of the text or links you submit.

1. Information You Submit

When you paste text into the Service and click "Check Links," that text is sent to our server to extract and check the links it contains. Our server:

• Requests each extracted link (and follows redirects) to determine its final destination and detect affiliate-network parameters
• Sends the final destination URL to the Internet Archive's public Wayback Machine API to check for an existing archived snapshot

Submitted text and results are processed to generate your response and are not stored in a database afterward. Standard server and hosting logs (see "Hosting and Infrastructure" below) may transiently capture technical details such as a blocked or invalid URL for security and debugging purposes.

2. Information Collected Automatically

Your IP address is used to apply rate limits (to prevent abuse) and is shared with Cloudflare as part of bot verification (see below). Rate-limit counters are held in server memory and expire automatically - they are not written to a database.

3. Cookies and Local Storage

The Service itself stores only your light/dark theme preference in your browser's local storage. That preference stays on your device and is never sent to us. The third-party services below may set their own cookies or use other identifiers as described in their respective privacy policies.

4. Third-Party Services

• Cloudflare Turnstile - verifies you're not a bot before a link check is processed; may evaluate device and browser signals. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
• Google Analytics - collects usage data (such as pages visited and general location) using cookies and identifiers to help us understand how the Service is used. See Google's Privacy Policy and their opt-out browser add-on.
• Vercel Web Analytics - a cookieless, privacy-focused analytics service used for basic traffic metrics. See Vercel's Privacy Policy.
• Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) - the destination URL you submit is sent to archive.org's public availability API to check for an existing archive. See the Internet Archive's Terms & Privacy.

5. Hosting and Infrastructure

The Service is hosted on infrastructure that may log standard request metadata (such as IP address, timestamp, and request path) for operational and security purposes, retained per that provider's own log-retention practices.

6. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

7. Your Choices

You can decline to use the Service, use your browser's cookie and privacy controls, or use Google's opt-out tools linked above. Because affiliate-link checking requires visiting the destination URLs, avoid pasting URLs containing sensitive personal information you don't want transmitted to those destinations or to the Wayback Machine lookup.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes take effect when posted on this page.

9. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy can be sent to info@port82.com, or via our contact page.