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Privacy

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Zeku is a desktop app that edits files on your computer. Your writing stays on your computer and in your own git repository. We never see it.

Zeku is made by David V. Kimball, called "we" here, who is responsible for the data described below. Questions and requests go to hello@zeku.dev.

The app

Zeku does not include analytics, crash reporting, or usage tracking. It connects to the internet only in these cases:

  • Update checks. At most once a day when you open Zeku, or when you ask, it downloads a small public file from our release server listing the latest version. The request carries nothing about you, your computer, or which version you have.
  • Trial start. Each time you open Zeku, until our server has answered once, it sends the hashed machine identifier and the app version, so the trial's start date is recorded and a reinstall does not restart it.
  • License activation. Activating a license sends your license key, the app version, the hashed machine identifier, and your computer's name. The identifier ties the license to that computer. Lemon Squeezy stores the name as that activation's label, so you can recognize the computer in Settings, where anyone with your license key can see it.
  • License check-ins. About once a week when you open Zeku, a licensed copy sends its stored license and the hashed machine identifier to confirm the license is still active. The stored license contains your email address, your license and activation IDs, your tier, a hash of your key, and the key's last four characters. Listing or removing computers in Settings sends the same, or the key you type. Zeku never stops working when a check-in fails.
  • Stock photo search. If you search Unsplash, Pexels, or Pixabay from inside Zeku, the search goes from your computer to that service, or to the Unsplash proxy you set in Settings, using the API key you provided, and the images load from that service. Their privacy policies apply to those requests.
  • Embeds and images in your posts and pages. Live preview loads remote images and embeds straight from where they are hosted: players such as YouTube, X, Vimeo, and Spotify, post and repository details from GitHub, Reddit, and Bluesky, and for link cards the linked page itself plus its icon from Google's favicon service. Those services see your IP address and what is being loaded.
  • Things your project does. Site preview runs your project's own astro dev and shows your pages with anything they load, and Publish runs your own git. Whatever those send, they send on your behalf and not to us.

The hashed machine identifier is a one-way hash of the ID your operating system gives your computer: on Windows, the ID Windows assigns when it is installed, and on a Mac, the Hardware UUID that System Information shows. If that ID cannot be read, it is a hash of the computer's name instead. It contains no name or serial number, but it is a stable ID for that computer, and once you activate a license our server stores it with your email address. Settings, then License, shows it.

Zeku keeps its settings and crash recovery copies of unsaved work in its data folder on your computer, outside your repository, and never uploads them. The license file in the same folder holds the stored license described above. Zeku also keeps a copy of the trial start date outside that folder, which uninstalling does not remove, so a reinstall does not restart the trial: on Windows in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Zeku, and on a Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/Zeku/.trial. You can delete it at any time.

Our servers

Update checks, downloads, trials, and license requests go to releases.zeku.dev, which runs on Cloudflare. Cloudflare sees your IP address in order to deliver each request. Our code does not log or store it, and does not pass it on to Lemon Squeezy.

For each activated computer we store your license key, your email address, the hashed machine identifier, the Lemon Squeezy license and activation IDs, your tier, and when it was activated and last checked. We delete that record when you deactivate the computer or remove it in Settings, or when a check-in finds the license refunded, disabled, or freed. For each computer that starts a trial, we store only a hash of its identifier and the date it first asked, and keep it so the trial cannot be restarted.

This website

zeku.dev uses no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking cookies. The only thing it stores in your browser is your light or dark theme choice, kept in local storage so the page remembers it. The film on the home page plays from YouTube (youtube-nocookie.com), which may set cookies. The Product Hunt and Orynth badges at the bottom of the home page load from those sites, which see your IP address when they do.

The site is hosted on Netlify, which, like any web host, processes standard request data such as IP addresses to serve pages and protect against abuse. The download button fetches the installer from releases.zeku.dev, described above. Fonts are served from zeku.dev itself, not from a third party.

Purchases

Payments are handled by Lemon Squeezy, a merchant of record that acts as the seller and handles tax. It collects what it needs to take payment and issue a license, such as your name, email address, and billing country, under its own privacy policy. We receive your name, email address, country, and order details so we can deliver and support your license.

Services we use

Lemon Squeezy for payments and license keys, Cloudflare for releases.zeku.dev, Netlify for this website, and an email provider for messages you send us. They may process data in the United States and in other countries where they operate.

Your choices

You can block Zeku's network access with a firewall and it will keep working for writing, previewing, and publishing. You will not hear about updates or be able to activate a license, and embeds will not load.

We use this data only to provide the license you bought, keep the trial fair, and answer you. To see, correct, or delete what we hold about you, email hello@zeku.dev. For a trial record, include the machine identifier from Settings. We answer within 30 days. If you are in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your data protection authority.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date. Changes that affect what the app sends will also be noted in the changelog.