Privacy & rules

What we keep in our paws

For every file you upload, we store:

• the file itself;
• its details: a random link ID, the original file name, its extension, type and size, whether it came from your device or from a link (and, if from a link, that link's address), and when it was uploaded and when it expires;
• a SHA-256 hash of its delete key. The key itself is kept only in your browser. We can't turn the hash back into the key.
• a salted scrypt hash of its password, if you set one. The password itself is never stored, and we can't turn the hash back into it.

We don't ask for your name, your email or an account. We don't look inside your files, apart from reading their first bytes to tell the file type and to refuse programs.

Nine lives? Your files get three days at most

You choose the lifetime when you upload: 1, 12 or 24 hours, or 3 days. When it runs out, the file and its details are deleted. A cleanup job runs every 10 minutes, so this happens within minutes of expiry.

You can delete a file earlier with the Delete button. It is removed right away, together with its details. After either, the link stops working.

Whiskers up: links are public

Anyone who has the link. Links are random and hard to guess, but they are not private: whoever gets one can open the file, download it and pass it on. The preview page also shows the file's name, size and type.

So please don't upload passwords, ID documents, other people's personal data, or anything you wouldn't want a stranger to see.

Locked files. If you set a password, the preview page hides the file's name, size and type until someone enters it, and the file can't be downloaded without it. Send the password separately from the link. A password keeps strangers out; it doesn't make FilesDrop a vault.

IP addresses and logs: a cat's short memory

To stop flooding, we count uploads per IP address: 30 uploads per 10 minutes. That counter lives only in the server's memory. IP addresses are not written to our database.

Password guesses are counted the same way: 10 wrong tries per 15 minutes per IP address and file, and 50 per file from everyone. These counters also live only in the server's memory and are forgotten after 15 minutes or on restart.

Our application logs record each upload's link ID, size, type and source. They don't record IP addresses or file names. Server logs are rotated: at most five files of 20 MB per service, the oldest overwritten first.

Cookies: just two, no treats for trackers

There are two cookies, both only there to keep your settings: NEXT_LOCALE remembers the language you picked, and FD_THEME remembers light or dark if you chose one instead of following your system. Each is kept for up to a year.

There are no analytics, no tracking, no advertising and no third-party scripts on any page. Not a single tracking pixel, catnip-flavoured or otherwise. Even the fonts are served from our own server.

What naps in your browser

FilesDrop keeps a few things in your browser's local storage. They stay on your device and are never sent to us:

• filesdrop:history:v1: your upload history, with file names, links, expiry times and the delete keys;
• filesdrop:link-mode:v1: whether you copy direct or preview links;
• filesdrop:history-panel:v1: the size of the history panel.

“Clear history” in the history panel removes your upload list from this browser. Clearing the site's data in your browser settings removes all of it. Without the delete keys you can no longer delete those files early, but they still expire on time.

Who carries the box: Cloudflare and our server

All traffic to FilesDrop passes through Cloudflare, which encrypts the connection (TLS) and forwards it to us through a tunnel. Along the way Cloudflare processes your IP address and request details under its own privacy policy.

Everything else, meaning the website, the API, the database and the files, runs on a server operated by the maintainer of FilesDrop. We don't sell your data and don't hand it to anyone beyond what this page describes.

Nothing to hide under the paws: FilesDrop’s code is public, so anyone can read it on GitHub and check exactly what the service stores.

Uploading from a link: the cat fetches it

When you paste a link, our server downloads the file itself. The site you link to sees our server's IP address and the user agent FilesDrop/1.0, not yours. The link's address is saved with the file's details and deleted along with them.

Paper planes: the Telegram bot

You can also send a file to @catfilesdrop_bot on Telegram. Whatever you send there passes through Telegram first, and Telegram processes it under its own privacy policy.

• How the file gets here. The bot downloads your file through FilesDrop’s own Telegram Bot API server, which runs on the same server as the rest of FilesDrop, then uploads it to FilesDrop like any other file: the same lifetimes, the same 95 MB limit and the same rules. Everything on this page about stored files applies to it.
• The temporary copy. The downloaded copy stays on our server while the buttons under the bot’s reply work: up to 30 minutes after the upload, counted again from your last lifetime change. It is deleted within about a minute after the buttons expire, as soon as you press Delete, or right away if the upload fails. A cleanup every 15 minutes also removes any copy older than 2 hours, for example one left behind by a restart.
• What the bot keeps in memory. So that the buttons work, the bot keeps a short-lived note in memory that links its reply to the uploaded file and its delete key, along with what it needs to upload the file again: the chat, your Telegram user ID and the file’s name. The note is dropped when the buttons expire, and every note is lost when the bot restarts.
• Your language. When you pick English or Ukrainian with /start or /lang, the bot saves your Telegram user ID and that choice (en or uk) in a small file on our server, so it can answer you in that language next time. That is all it saves: no name, username, chats, messages or files. Apart from the short-lived note above, nothing else is kept about you. Change the language any time with /lang; to have the entry removed, write to us.
• Limits and logs. Bot uploads are counted per Telegram user ID instead of per IP address, with the same limit of 30 uploads per 10 minutes, and the bot takes one upload per person at a time. These counters live only in memory. The bot’s logs record events, results and rough size ranges, never your Telegram ID, chat, file names, links or messages.
• Changing the lifetime. A lifetime button uploads the same file again under a new link, then deletes the old file, so the old link stops working; if that deletion ever fails, the old link still expires on time. Delete removes the file right away, and only works in the chat the file was sent from.

The bot can’t lock files with a password. For a locked file, use the website.

Your choice: knock it off the table yourself

You can delete any file you uploaded yourself: press Delete on its card or in your upload history. It needs the delete key that this browser keeps.

If you no longer have the key, or want to ask anything about the data on this page, write to us with the file's link and we'll sort it out. You can also simply wait: every file is deleted once its time runs out.

House rules (the cat's fine print)

FilesDrop is a small free service run by one person. By using it, you accept these rules:

• As is, as available. The service is free and provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind: no promise of availability, uptime, integrity of files, or fitness for any particular purpose.
• Not storage, not a backup. Files may be lost or deleted at any time, including before they expire. Always keep your own copy.
• Liability. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the maintainer is not liable for any direct or indirect damages, data loss or lost profits arising from your use of the service or from content uploaded by others.
• Your upload, your responsibility. You alone are responsible for what you upload and share, and you must have the rights to it. Forbidden: illegal content, malware, phishing, content that infringes anyone else's rights, and other people's personal data without their consent. Programs and scripts are refused automatically.
• Removal. The maintainer may remove any file and block abusive use at their discretion, without notice.
• Links are public. Anyone who has a link can open the file, so never upload confidential data.
• Reports. Send reports of abusive files and notices from rights holders by email or Telegram (see Contact), with the file's link. Reported files are removed promptly.
• Changes. By using FilesDrop you accept these rules and this policy. They may change; the “Last updated” date at the top shows the current version.