BrailleKit Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 27, 2026
1. Data Controller
Responsible for BrailleKit and its data processing:
Stefan Lohmaier
Weitlstr. 103
80935 München
Germany
Email: support@slohmaier.com
Website: slohmaier.com
A data protection officer has not been appointed; there is no obligation to appoint one under Art. 37 GDPR or § 38 BDSG.
2. Summary
BrailleKit’s core features run entirely offline. All Braille translation, document conversion, and formatting functions work locally — no text, documents, or translation output ever leaves your device. The free tier (BrailleKit Lite) requires no license activation and sends no licensing data; the only optional network feature is the update check described below.
However, premium features require a paid license. License activation and periodic validation contact our licensing service at lic.slohmaier.com. This page explains exactly what is sent, what is stored, and on what legal basis.
- No telemetry, analytics, or crash reporting
- No tracking SDKs or advertising libraries
- Network access is limited to license activation/validation and automatic update checks
3. License Activation & Validation
When you activate or revalidate a license, BrailleKit contacts lic.slohmaier.com (the licensing service operated by Stefan Lohmaier) and sends:
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| License key (UUID issued at purchase) | Verify the key against LemonSqueezy’s records |
| Device hostname (your computer’s name) | Label the activation in the license dashboard |
Device identifier — a SHA-256 hash derived from hardware properties of your device (Windows: registry MachineGuid + system volume serial; macOS: IOPlatformUUID; Linux: /etc/machine-id or /var/lib/dbus/machine-id) | Bind the license to your device and enforce the per-device activation limit |
The device identifier is a one-way cryptographic hash. It cannot be reversed to identify your hardware, user account, or any personal information; it is used solely to count and verify device activations.
Validation requests are sent automatically in the background approximately every 14 days and contain only the license key, the product identifier, and the device identifier — not the hostname.
4. What Is Stored on Our Server
For each activation, the licensing service stores:
- The license key
- The customer email address (received from LemonSqueezy with the order)
- Order metadata (e.g. order identifier and product/variant of the purchase)
- The device identifier hash
- The device hostname
- Timestamps of activations and validations
- Your IP address (only the most recent one — it is overwritten on each request and removed after 90 days; no history is kept)
The licensing server is hosted by 1blu GmbH in Germany (data processing agreement per Art. 28 GDPR in place).
5. Legal Basis (GDPR)
- Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR (performance of a contract): processing the license key, the customer email address, the order metadata, and the device binding (hostname + device identifier) is necessary to provide the licensed software you purchased.
- Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest): processing the IP address and the device fingerprint serves our legitimate interest in enforcing the per-device activation limit and preventing license abuse.
No separate consent is required for this processing.
6. Trial / Evaluation Period
The free tier and any evaluation of premium features run fully local and contact no server. The licensing service only ever sees a paid activation — never a free-tier or evaluation user.
7. Payments
Payments are processed entirely by LemonSqueezy, acting as Merchant of Record and as a separate, independent data controller. LemonSqueezy is US-based, so your payment data is processed in the United States. Stefan Lohmaier does not receive or store your payment details — only the license key, the customer email address, and the order metadata required to fulfil the license agreement. During activation, the device name you configured is also forwarded to Lemon Squeezy (USA) as the activation’s instance name. See LemonSqueezy’s privacy policy: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/privacy
8. Automatic Update Checks
BrailleKit checks for software updates once daily:
- Windows: via WinSparkle — an HTTPS GET request to
dl.slohmaier.com/appcast/braillekit-win.xml. The request includes the app version and WinSparkle version in the User-Agent header. - macOS: via Sparkle — an HTTPS GET request to
dl.slohmaier.com/appcast/braillekit-mac.xml. The request includes the app version and macOS version in the User-Agent header. System profiling is not enabled. - Linux: via a built-in updater — an HTTPS GET request to
dl.slohmaier.com/appcast/braillekit-linux.xml. The request includes only the app version in the User-Agent header. AppImage installations download and apply the update after your confirmation; deb/rpm installations are only notified and are updated through your system package manager.
No hardware details, system profile, or personal information are sent with update checks. Downloaded updates are verified against an Ed25519 signature before installation.
9. File System Access
BrailleKit accesses files only when you explicitly open or save them:
- Read access to documents you open (EPUB, DOCX, Markdown, TXT) for conversion to Braille
- Write access to locations you choose for saving Braille output files
Documents are processed in memory and are never stored beyond the current session, nor transmitted anywhere.
10. Local Data Storage
BrailleKit stores your preferences and license state locally on your device only:
- Windows: Preferences and license state are stored in the Windows Registry at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BrailleKit. To delete, uninstall via Windows Settings and removeHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BrailleKit. - macOS: Preferences and license state are stored in UserDefaults (
~/Library/Preferences/). To delete, uninstall the app and rundefaults delete com.slohmaier.BrailleKitin Terminal. - Linux: Preferences and license state are stored in
~/.config/BrailleKit.conf(or$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/BrailleKit.conf); installations from older versions may still use the legacy file~/.BrailleKit, which continues to be read. Embosser profiles are stored in~/.config/braillekit/(a legacy~/.braillekit/folder is moved there automatically on first use). The timestamp of the last update check is stored in~/.cache/braillekit-last-update-check(or$XDG_CACHE_HOME). To delete, uninstall the package (or remove the AppImage) and delete these files.
11. Third-Party Libraries
BrailleKit uses open-source libraries for document processing (see ATTRIBUTIONS). None of these libraries transmit any data.
12. Retention & Your Rights
Your activation data is retained only for as long as it is needed: IP addresses are removed after 90 days, activations that have not been validated for about 18 months are deleted automatically, and the customer email address is anonymized about 12 months after the license is disabled or expires. Deactivating a device in the app immediately deletes that device’s activation record from the server.
Under the GDPR you have the right to access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and to object (Art. 21) to the processing of the data held about you on the licensing server. You can also view and reset your own activations at any time via the self-service portal at https://lic.slohmaier.com/portal.
No automated decision-making or profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (BayLDA), Promenade 18, 91522 Ansbach, Germany (www.lda.bayern.de).
To exercise your rights, email support@slohmaier.com with the subject “Privacy Request — BrailleKit”. Requests are handled within 30 days.
13. Changes to This Policy
Any material changes to this policy will be noted on the BrailleKit product page at slohmaier.com/products/braillekit and in the release notes.