PrivacyPolicy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") is issued by Interlinked ("Interlinked," "we," "us," or "our") and governs the collection, use, and protection of information in connection with the Interlinked desktop application, the Interlinked MCP server, and all related websites and services (collectively, the "Service").

Interlinked is a local-first desktop application for Windows that provides instant file search by reading the NTFS Master File Table directly. The Interlinked MCP server exposes this search capability to AI agents such as Claude Code and Cursor. All file indexing and search operations run entirely on your machine.

The Service also includes optional hosting. When you publish a link or a project, the files you selected are uploaded to our hosted storage and served from it. That is the one part of the Service that holds your files on our side, and Section 5 describes exactly what happens to them.

By using the Service, you ("User," "you," or "your") acknowledge that you have read and agree to this Policy. If you do not agree, discontinue use of the Service.

2. The Short Version

Interlinked is local-first software with a hosted side, and the line between the two is publishing. Search never uploads anything: your file contents, file names, search queries, and search results stay on your machine, indexing and search run entirely on it, and search works fully offline. The software uses the network for four things: (1) account sign-in, license activation, and a periodic license check-in, which occasionally carries the sealed usage counts described in Section 3.5 (categorical counts only, never content, and you can turn them off in Settings → Privacy); (2) checking for and downloading updates; (3) ordinary website and payment operations when you use interlinkedfiles.com; and (4) hosting, which moves only the files you choose to publish. Nothing is uploaded until you publish it, and Section 5 covers what happens to it once you do.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 License Activation

When you activate a subscription or use the free app, we collect a machine identifier derived from your hardware (and, for subscriptions, your license key). This is used solely to issue and verify your license across your devices (one plan covers all of them). The machine identifier is a one-way value: we cannot reverse it to identify your hardware.

3.2 Account Information

Creating an account requires an email address and a password (stored only as a secure hash), or sign-in with Google, in which case we receive the name, email address, and profile picture from your Google profile. We use your email for sign-in and for transactional messages only (welcome, email verification, activation, password reset), sent through our email provider, Resend. Receipts and billing notices come from Stripe, not from us. We do not send marketing email without separate consent.

3.3 Purchase Information

Subscriptions are sold through Link, and Stripe (trading as Link) is the seller of record. Stripe takes the payment, calculates and remits any tax due, and sends the receipts and invoices. We receive your email address and a record of the transaction (amount, date, plan, and subscription status). We never receive or store your card number. Stripe's privacy policy governs its handling of payment data.

3.4 Website Analytics

Our website may use privacy-respecting analytics to understand aggregate traffic patterns (pages visited, referral sources, download counts). We do not use tracking cookies, fingerprinting, or cross-site tracking.

3.5 Usage Measurement (Desktop App & MCP)

The app keeps a small local tally of how much its search features are used: daily counts of searches by kind (by name vs. inside content), which AI client made them (for example “Claude Code”), and the app version. The tally never includes query text, file names, paths, results, or file contents. It is sealed on your machine and delivered occasionally by riding the existing license check-in (no separate tracking request is ever made), so, like any check-in, it is associated with your license and machine identifier. We also derive approximate location from the network request itself, which our records keep as continent, country, region, city and time zone; it comes from the connection and is never read from your machine. You can turn this off at any time in Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data; the MCP server also honors a --no-telemetry flag.

3.6 What We Do NOT Collect

We do not collect, transmit, or have access to: your file contents, file names, directory structures, search queries, search results, MFT data, index data, MCP tool call logs, AI agent conversations, or any data processed locally by the Interlinked application or Interlinked MCP server. The single exception is content you publish yourself: files you upload to a link, or save into a hosted project, are stored by us so that we can serve them, and Section 5 describes that. Nothing is uploaded unless you publish it.

4. Local Data Storage

Interlinked builds and maintains file indexes locally on your machine. These indexes are stored in your local application data directory and are never transmitted over any network. All index data and cached search results remain entirely under your control; they can be removed during uninstall or deleted manually from the application data directory at any time.

5. Content You Publish

Hosting is the only part of the Service that keeps your files on our side, and it holds nothing except what you chose to publish.

5.1 Where It Goes

Published file contents are stored in Cloudflare R2. The records that describe them (project and link names, file names and sizes, version history, who holds access, and usage counts) are stored in Cloudflare D1. Both run on Cloudflare's network; the website itself is hosted on Vercel.

5.2 Who Can Read It

A link is a public URL by design: anyone who has the link can open and download the files behind it, with no account, no sign-in, and no way for us to know who they are. Treat the link itself as the key, and expect it to reach anyone it is forwarded to. A project is different: it opens to its owner and to anyone who redeemed a connect link for it.

5.3 What We Count

To bill and to apply the plan limits, we record how much storage a space uses and how much data moves in and out of it, including downloads by people who are not you. These are byte counts and timestamps against the account that published the content, not a log of who read what.

5.4 What We Access

We do not read published files as part of running the Service. We access published content only to operate or repair the hosting, to act on a report under the content policy (for example a copyright notice or a report of malware), or where required by valid legal process.

5.5 Removing It

Removing a link deletes the files stored behind it and the URL stops working. Deleting a hosted project removes its stored versions and frees the storage it was using. Content that breaches the content policy may be taken down by us, in which case the link stops serving.

6. MCP Server and AI Agents

The Interlinked MCP server communicates with AI agents (such as Claude Code or Cursor) over a local channel on your machine. Search queries from AI agents are processed locally and results are returned locally. We have no visibility into these interactions. The privacy implications of your AI agent's behavior (e.g., whether Claude Code sends file paths to Anthropic's servers) are governed by that agent's own privacy policy, not ours.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. We may share limited information with: (a) Stripe, the seller of record for every subscription, which handles payment, tax, and receipts, (b) Resend for transactional email delivery, (c) the infrastructure providers behind the Service (Vercel for the website, Cloudflare for hosted files, databases, and APIs), (d) law enforcement if required by valid legal process, and (e) a successor entity in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, with prior notice to affected users.

Content you publish is also served to whoever holds the link. That is what publishing means, and it happens only because you asked for it.

8. Data Security

License keys are signed using Ed25519 cryptographic signatures verified locally by the Interlinked binary. Activation requests are transmitted over HTTPS. For the local side of the Service, the primary security boundary is your own machine. Published content is stored on Cloudflare and served over HTTPS; a public link is a bearer URL, so anyone holding it can read what is behind it, and the link is the thing to protect. We recommend keeping your operating system and the application up to date.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. Your Rights

Because we collect minimal data, exercising your rights is straightforward. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal information we hold (your account email and sign-in details, the transaction record tied to your subscription, your license key and machine identifier, the aggregated usage counts described in Section 3.5, and the content you have published) by contacting us. The payment details themselves are held by Stripe as the seller of record and are governed by its policy.

If a subscription lapses, hosted data is kept and access is locked: nothing is deleted automatically, but the links stop serving until the subscription is active again, and there is no self-serve export from a lapsed account. A data portability request under Article 20 of the GDPR, or the equivalent right in your jurisdiction, is handled by hand: email us and we will arrange a copy.

For users in the EEA, UK, or other jurisdictions with applicable data protection laws, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via the website or the application's update mechanism. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

12. Contact

For privacy-related inquiries, including requests under Section 10, email [email protected] or reach out through our website at interlinkedfiles.com.