Privacy

Who is responsible#

PCB Canvas is made by Vojtěch Krejčík, Czech Republic, who is the controller of the data described here. Contact: vojtech.krejcik@gmail.com.

This website#

• No analytics, no tracking scripts, no third-party fonts or CDNs. Everything is served from this server.
• No tracking cookies. A cookie is set only when you sign in (it keeps you signed in) and, in the forum, when you pick a language or light/dark mode.
• The web server’s logs keep no IP addresses. See Server and logs.
• Accounts are optional. You need one only to post in the forum; see Accounts and the forum.
• The trailer picture on the home page is served from this site; pressing play opens the video on YouTube, under Google’s privacy policy.

Newsletter#

When you subscribe to the newsletter, we store:

• your email address,
• the language of the page you signed up on,
• the time of the sign-up and which version of the consent text you agreed to.

(Sign-ups from the earlier beta list, before 31 October 2026, may also include the iPad model chosen then.)

We do not store your IP address with the sign-up. To stop abuse, the server counts sign-up attempts per IP address in memory for one hour; that count is never written to disk.

Why: to send you news about PCB Canvas: releases, new features and offers. The legal basis is your consent (the checkbox on the form). We write only when there is news.

Who sees it: only the developer of PCB Canvas. The list is not sold or shared.

How long: until you unsubscribe or the newsletter ends, then your address is deleted. You can unsubscribe, ask to be removed, or ask what we store about you at any time: write to vojtech.krejcik@gmail.com.

When the form says “subscriptions open soon”, nothing you type is stored.

Accounts and the forum#

An account is your email address. You sign in with a one-time link we email you; there are no passwords. The same account is used on this website, in the forum and, later, in the app. We store:

• your email address, the display name you choose, your language and email settings, and when you joined;
• what you post in the forum: threads, replies, votes, reports, and the photos and project files you upload (photos are re-encoded, which removes their location and camera data);
• which browsers and app installs are signed in (stored as unreadable hashes; for the app, the device name it reports and when it was last used).

We do not store IP addresses with accounts or posts. To stop abuse, the server counts sign-in attempts and posts per IP address in memory for up to an hour; that count is never written to disk.

Why: to run your account and the forum you asked to use. Emails: the sign-in link, replies to your threads and a weekly digest; the last two can be turned off in your account or with the link in every email.

Who sees it: your posts, display name and uploads are public. Your email address is never shown. Emails are sent through [SMTP provider — confirm], which processes the address only to deliver them.

How long: until you delete your account. On the account page you can download everything we hold about you (JSON) and delete the account; your posts then stay as “deleted user”, or are deleted too if you tick that box. Backups of the database are kept for [up to 12 months — confirm], then overwritten.

The app (iPad and Mac)#

• The app has no account today, no analytics and no tracking. It collects no personal data. When sign-in comes to the app, it will use the same account as the website and keep only a sign-in token on your device.
• Your projects stay on your device (or in the iCloud Drive or Files location you save them to, under Apple’s terms). The app uploads nothing by itself.
• When you open the order review, the app asks JLCPCB’s public parts service for the prices and stock of the LCSC part numbers in your bill of materials. Only the part numbers are sent, together with what every internet request carries (your IP address). JLCPCB handles that request under its own privacy policy.
• Feedback and crash reports are sent only when you choose to, through the Mail app.
• If you turned on sharing with app developers in your device’s settings, Apple may pass us anonymous crash and usage statistics. That is Apple’s setting and under Apple’s privacy policy; we cannot link it to you.

Library packs (the pack server)#

When you browse or install a library pack, the app downloads the pack list and the pack from this server. The server sees the usual request data (IP address, time, which pack) and keeps it only in its access logs (see below). No account or device identifier is sent.

In-app purchases#

PCB Canvas Pro is a one-time In-App Purchase handled entirely by Apple. Apple processes the payment under its own terms and privacy policy. We receive no payment details, no name and no email address from the purchase: the app only learns from Apple whether Pro is unlocked on your Apple Account. Restore Purchases asks Apple again; it sends nothing to us.

AI agents (MCP) on the Mac#

On the Mac you can let your own AI app (for example Claude, Codex, Cursor or a local model) work on the open project through MCP.

• It is off until you turn it on, and you can turn it off or stop the agents at any time.
• The connection is local only: the AI app starts a small helper on your Mac that talks to PCB Canvas through a private local connection. PCB Canvas opens no network port and accepts no connections from other computers.
• What the agent reads from your project (parts, nets, the board) goes to the AI app you connected, and from there to that app’s AI service, under that provider’s terms and privacy policy. A local model keeps it on your Mac. PCB Canvas itself sends nothing to any AI service and we never see it.

Server and logs#

This website, the forum and the pack server run on a virtual server rented from Hetzner Online GmbH in [Germany or Finland — confirm] (EU). The web server keeps access logs without IP addresses, cookies or sign-in links (time, requested page, browser), and rotates them after about 50 MB. We use them only for security and to fix problems.

Until every app build uses the new server, older builds still download packs from the previous host, Render in its Frankfurt (EU) region, which keeps its own access logs with IP addresses for a limited time.

Your rights#

Under the GDPR you can ask for access to your data, its correction or erasure, object to its processing, and withdraw your consent at any time; write to the address above. You can also complain to the supervisory authority, in the Czech Republic the Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů (uoou.gov.cz).

If the app or the site starts handling any other data, this page will be updated before it does.