# Privacy - **BudgieBackup** Last updated: 29 September 2026 (draft v5 - who is responsible, 7-Zip removed; v4 - weekly update summary in the tray; v3 - news, status check, encrypted bug reports, local network features) > **Draft.** This statement is written to match what the software actually does > at build v0.9.26.268. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer and is not legal > advice. The binding terms are in `disclaimer.txt` - Sections 15 and 19 in > particular. Where the two ever disagree, the disclaimer wins and this file is > the one with the mistake. ## The short version Budgie Backup runs on your computer. It has **no telemetry, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking**. Nothing about your files or your backups is ever sent, and nothing about you is sent automatically. The only personal details that ever leave your PC are the ones you choose to type into the bug-report form (an email address, optional) or the alpha tester sign-up form (name and email address). The software goes online only for: an update check, a news check, a server status check, a bug report you fill in and press Submit on, the alpha tester sign-up form, and uploads to your own Backblaze bucket. The news and status checks run automatically and can each be switched off; everything else happens only when you start it (see below). Your backups are written only to the destinations you choose. They are never sent to the author, and the author has no way to reach them. ## What stays on your computer Everything, by default. Specifically: - **Your backups.** Written to the destination folders and drives you pick. - **Backup plans** (`.budgiebackup` files), wherever you save them. - **Debug logs and screenshots**, under `%TEMP%\Budgie Backup\\` (or `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Budgie Backup\debug\` if `%TEMP%` cannot be written). - **Submitted bug-report zips**, kept under `\SubmittedBugReports\` so you can always see exactly what was sent. - **Settings and statistics**, under `HKCU\Software\Fearby.com\Budgie Backup`. Settings that could be misused if copied - the Remote Monitor code and your saved favourite folders and files - are stored **encrypted with Windows DPAPI**, readable only by your Windows account on this PC. - **Backup plans are signed** for your Windows account when saved, so RunBudgieBackupFile can tell if a plan was changed or came from somewhere else. The signing key is also DPAPI-protected and never leaves your PC. - **Windows Event Log entries** the suite writes about runs and errors. These can be turned off. You can delete any of it at any time. Screenshots from previous sessions are deleted automatically each time an app starts. ## Backblaze B2 credentials (BudgieBackupSync) If you use BudgieBackupSync, **your B2 Key ID and Application Key are never written to disk by this software** - not to the registry, not to a settings file, not to a log. They are held in memory for the session only, which is why you are asked for them each time. The Key ID is masked on screen so it cannot appear in a screenshot attached to a bug report. Your Backblaze account, bucket and charges are yours - see `disclaimer.txt`, Section 13. ## When the software uses the internet The news and status checks run automatically from BudgieBackupSysTray and can each be switched off. Everything else happens only when you start it. ### 1. Update check BudgieBackupUpdater fetches a small, digitally signed version file from **budgiebackup.com** and compares it with your installed version. It only checks after you have given permission. If you tick "Check for updates automatically" it may also check in the background without asking each time; untick it to stop. With "Check for updates automatically" ticked, BudgieBackupSysTray also looks about once a week (shortly after you sign in, when no check has been made for 7 days): it reads the same signed version file and the public change log (`change_log.txt`) from **budgiebackup.com**, so its reminder can say how many versions behind you are. Nothing is downloaded or installed by the tray, and nothing is sent except the request itself. Untick the box and the tray only reminds you, without going online. Like any web request this reveals your IP address and a Budgie Backup user-agent string to the web server, and those may appear in routine server logs. No personal data is sent, and nothing about your backups is sent. ### 2. News check (BudgieBackupSysTray) About five minutes after you sign in to Windows, and then once a day, BudgieBackupSysTray fetches a small, digitally signed file of notices from **budgiebackup.com** (`/api/v1/news.json`) - for example "the signing certificate has changed, please download the new version by hand". A notice you have not seen before is shown once. Which notices you have seen is remembered only on your PC, under `HKCU\Software\Fearby.com\Budgie Backup\News`. Like the update check, this reveals your IP address and a Budgie Backup user-agent string to the web server. Nothing else is sent. Turn it off from the tray menu ("Disable automatic news check") or set `HKCU\Software\Fearby.com\Budgie Backup\Settings\AutoCheckNews` to 0. ### 3. Server status check (BudgieBackupSysTray) To show "Server Status (Operational)" in the tray menu, BudgieBackupSysTray reads a public status summary from **fearby.instatus.com** (a status-page service run by Instatus) at start-up and every five minutes. This reveals your IP address and a Budgie Backup user-agent string to Instatus. Nothing else is sent. Turn it off from the tray menu ("Disable auto server status check"). ### 4. Bug reports Nothing is uploaded until you press **Submit**. When you do, the zip contains: - your answers on the form, including an email address **if you choose to give one** (it is optional); - the current session's debug log; - basic system statistics - Windows version, processor, memory; - Windows Event Log entries relating to the suite, unless you untick that; and - **only if you choose to attach them**, screenshots of Budgie Backup's own windows (they are not attached by default). You can review and edit the text of the report before it is sent. The whole report is **encrypted on your PC before it is uploaded** (AES-256-GCM, with a single-use key that is itself encrypted with the author's RSA-4096 public key). Only the public key is built into the software, so neither the network, the storage provider, nor anyone holding a copy of the software can read a report. Screenshots only ever capture Budgie Backup's own windows, never your desktop or other applications - but they may incidentally show the names of drives, folders and files you are backing up. You can review, edit or delete anything in the debug folder before submitting, untick the screenshot option, or disable screenshot capture entirely by creating an empty folder named `no` at `\debug\no`. **Where bug reports go.** They are uploaded to a private storage bucket operated for the author by Cloudflare, Inc. (Cloudflare R2), acting purely as a hosting provider. The bucket has public access disabled - it cannot be browsed or downloaded from the internet, and the upload endpoint accepts uploads only; it has no ability to read anything back out. **How long they are kept.** Reports are used only to find and fix bugs. They are normally downloaded and removed from online storage within hours, are deleted once the bug is resolved, and are in any case automatically and permanently deleted from online storage within **90 days** of upload by an automatic retention rule. They are never sold, never shared with anyone else, and never used for anything other than fixing the software. ## Alpha tester sign-up If you fill in the Alpha Test registration form in BudgieBackupSysTray, the name and email address you enter are sent to a separate private bucket, used only to contact you about the alpha, and never sold or shared. They are encrypted on your PC before they are sent, like a bug report. **How long they are kept.** Every registration - the online copy and any copy the author has downloaded or received by email - is deleted by **31 December 2026**. You can ask for yours to be removed sooner at any time by emailing budgiebackup@fearby.com. A copy of what you sent stays on your own PC until you delete it. ## Uploads to your own Backblaze bucket (BudgieBackupSync) When you start a sync, BudgieBackupSync uploads the folder you chose **directly to your own Backblaze B2 bucket**. It goes to Backblaze under your account and is never sent to, or readable by, the author. The software checks that the storage address is a genuine `https://*.backblazeb2.com` address before your application key is used. ## Links and the introduction video Opening a web link from the software, or playing the online introduction video, loads that page or video from its website in your browser or player in the usual way - just as if you had typed the address yourself. ## On your local network (Remote Monitor and Phone Upload) The Remote Monitor (RunBudgieBackupFile and BudgieBackupSync) and Phone Upload (BudgieBackupSysTray) run a small web server on your PC **while you are using them**, so your phone can watch a backup's progress or send photos and videos to the PC. Nothing goes over the internet and nothing is sent to the author: - they listen only on your local network, never on an internet-routable address, and only accept connections from your PC's own subnet; - each session is protected by a code shown on your screen; - their Windows Firewall rules are limited to the local subnet; and - Phone Upload accepts photos and videos only, and marks received files as downloaded from the internet (so Windows treats them with the usual caution). These local connections use **HTTP only - there is no HTTPS**. What they carry (the access code, backup progress, and any photos and videos you send) is **not encrypted** and could be seen by other devices on the same network. Use them only on a network you trust - your own home Wi-Fi, not public, shared, work or guest Wi-Fi. ## What is never collected - The contents of your files or backups. - File or folder listings, except where they happen to be visible in a debug log or a screenshot you choose to attach to a bug report. - Your Backblaze credentials. - Any identifier that follows you between sessions or machines. - Anything at all when you simply run a backup. ## Children Budgie Backup is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children. ## Third parties Products and services the software can detect, link to or work with - including Backblaze, Acronis, Cloudflare and Instatus - are independent and have their own privacy policies, which apply when you use them. The author is not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. ## Your choices - Leave "Check for updates automatically" unticked and do not run the updater, and no update check is made. - Disable the automatic news check and the automatic server status check in the tray menu, and BudgieBackupSysTray makes no requests unless you click those menu items. - Do not submit a bug report, and nothing is uploaded. - Leave screenshots unattached (the default), or use the `debug\no` kill switch, to keep images out of reports entirely. - Leave the email field blank on a bug report - it is optional. - Turn off Windows Event Log entries. - Delete the local debug, log and bug-report folders whenever you like. ## Who is responsible The person responsible for Budgie Backup and for the information described here is its author, Simon Fearby, an individual in New South Wales, Australia, who publishes it under the Fearby.com name. Information you send (bug reports, alpha registrations) is stored with Cloudflare, Inc. as the author's hosting provider, so it may be held on servers outside Australia. If you are in the European Union or the United Kingdom, that means your information may be transferred outside your region; you can avoid this by not sending a bug report or registering. ## Contact Questions, corrections, or a request to delete something you have sent: **budgiebackup@fearby.com**. Please do not include sensitive personal data in bug reports or emails. --- _See https://budgiebackup.com for the latest builds; https://fearby.com/utilities/budgiebackup/ now hosts back-end/misc documentation._ Released 27 October 2026 (v0.9.26.300)