Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

PeerDrop is an open source application for direct peer-to-peer file transfer. It is developed and maintained independently. The application is available on the Mac App Store, as a direct download, and as open source software on GitHub.

2. What we collect

Nothing. PeerDrop does not collect any personal data, usage data, or analytics of any kind.

Specifically, PeerDrop does not collect:

• Your name, email address, or any account information
• The files you send or receive
• Your Peer ID or cryptographic keys
• Your IP address or network information
• Usage statistics, session data, or crash reports
• Device identifiers or hardware information
• Location data

3. How PeerDrop works

PeerDrop uses Hyperswarm — a distributed hash table (DHT) — to discover and connect to peers. This is a decentralised network with no central authority. When you join a topic on Hyperswarm, your connection is made directly to the other device.

Your cryptographic identity (a mnemonic seed) is generated locally on your device and stored in ~/.peerdrop/seed. This file never leaves your device. Your Peer ID is derived from this seed — it is a public key that you can safely share with others.

4. Third-party services

PeerDrop uses the following open source infrastructure:

• Hyperswarm DHT — for peer discovery. Public bootstrap nodes are used only to find peers; your files never pass through them.
• Apple Push Notification Service — used only to display local notifications on your device when a transfer completes. No data is sent to Apple in relation to your transfers.

PeerDrop does not integrate with any analytics services, advertising networks, or data brokers.

5. Data stored locally

PeerDrop stores the following data on your device only:

• ~/.peerdrop/seed — your mnemonic seed (chmod 600, readable only by you)
• ~/.peerdrop/config.json — your download folder preference
• ~/.peerdrop/saved-peers.json — your saved contacts list (display names and Peer IDs)

You can delete all of this at any time by removing the ~/.peerdrop directory. Doing so will permanently delete your identity — a new one will be generated on next launch.

6. Children's privacy

PeerDrop does not knowingly collect any information from children under the age of 13. As we collect no data from any users, this applies universally.

7. Changes to this policy

If we ever change this privacy policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and post a notice in the GitHub repository. Since PeerDrop collects no data, changes are expected to be minimal.

8. Open source

PeerDrop is fully open source. You can inspect exactly how the application works, including its networking and data handling, in the GitHub repository. We believe transparency is the strongest privacy guarantee.