Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information Paint 3D Lab collects when you use paint3dlab.com and our download server at dl.paint3dlab.com, how that information is used, and the choices you have. We keep it in plain language on purpose.

Who we are

Paint 3D Lab is an independent website with guides to Microsoft Paint 3D. We are not affiliated with Microsoft. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Paint 3D Lab.

For any privacy question or request, email [email protected].

The short version

• You do not need an account to use this site, and we never ask for one.
• We only get your name or email address if you choose to email us.
• Our hosting providers keep standard server logs, such as IP addresses, for security and to keep the site running.
• We use Google Analytics to see how the site is used, and Google AdSense to show ads. Both use cookies.
• Where the law requires it, we ask for your consent before those cookies are used, and you can change your choice at any time.
• We do not sell your personal information for money.

Information we collect

Information you give us

If you email us, we receive your email address, your name if you include it, and whatever you write. We use this only to reply to you and to fix anything you report. Please do not send passwords or other sensitive details.

Information collected automatically

When you visit any website, your browser shares some technical details. For this site, that happens in three ways.

Server logs. The site is hosted on Cloudflare. The download file is served from our own server. Both keep standard logs: your IP address, browser type, the page or file requested, the time, and the page that sent you. We use these logs to keep the site secure, stop abuse and fix errors.

Cookies and similar technologies. A cookie is a small text file a website stores in your browser. The next section explains each kind we use.

Analytics and advertising data. Google Analytics and Google AdSense collect information about your visit, as explained below.

Cookies we use

Strictly necessary. These make the site work and keep it secure. They include the cookie that remembers your consent choice, and security cookies our hosting provider may set to block attacks. They do not need consent.

Analytics. Google Analytics cookies help us understand which pages are used and where readers get stuck. See "Analytics: Google Analytics" below.

Advertising. Google and its partners use cookies to show ads, to limit how often you see the same ad, and, where you allow it, to show ads based on your interests. See "Advertising: Google AdSense" below.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. If you block all cookies, some parts of the site, such as saving your consent choice, may not work.

Advertising: Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to show ads. Ads keep this site free.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings.
• You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info. In Europe, you can use Your Online Choices.

Other third-party vendors and ad networks may also serve ads on this site through Google. The consent message on this site lists each of these vendors by name, with a link to its own website and privacy policy. You can visit those websites to opt out of their use of cookies for personalized advertising.

To learn how Google uses information from sites like ours, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. Google's own privacy policy is at policies.google.com/privacy.

If you opt out, you will still see ads. They will simply be less related to your interests.

Analytics: Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how people use this site, so we can improve our guides. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information such as:

• the pages you view and how long you stay,
• how you arrived, for example from a search engine,
• your device type, browser and screen size,
• your approximate location, such as your country or city.

This information is shown to us as statistics. We do not use Google Analytics to identify you personally.

Google processes this information as described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. To stop Google Analytics from collecting data on any website, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Your consent choices

If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we show a consent message from a consent platform certified by Google. It uses the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework. Analytics and advertising cookies that need consent are only used after you agree. You can accept, reject or choose by purpose and by vendor.

If you visit from a US state with its own privacy law, we show the choices that law requires, including a way to opt out of the use of your information for targeted advertising.

You can change your choice at any time. Click Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.

Why we use your information

• To run and protect the site. Server logs and security cookies. This is in our legitimate interest in keeping the site available and safe.
• To understand and improve the site. Google Analytics. Where consent is required, we rely on your consent.
• To show ads. Google AdSense. Where consent is required, we rely on your consent.
• To reply to you. Emails you send us. We rely on our legitimate interest in answering you, or on steps you asked us to take.

Who we share information with

We share information only with the service providers that run this site for us:

• Cloudflare, which hosts the website and protects it from attacks.
• Contabo, which hosts our download server.
• Google, for Google Analytics and Google AdSense, and the ad vendors named in the consent message.

We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect the site and its readers from fraud or abuse. We do not sell personal information for money. Some US state laws treat ad cookies as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. Where they do, the opt-out described above applies.

International transfers

Our service providers may process information in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where the law requires it, they use approved safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to protect it.

How long we keep information

• Emails: only as long as needed to answer you and deal with what you raised, then deleted.
• Server logs: for a limited time, for security and troubleshooting, then deleted by the provider.
• Analytics data: kept for the shortest retention period Google Analytics allows us to set.
• Advertising data: kept by Google and its partners under their own policies, linked above.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• ask what personal information we hold about you,
• ask us to correct it or delete it,
• object to or limit how we use it,
• ask for a copy in a portable format,
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting what happened before,
• opt out of targeted advertising, or of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information,
• not be treated differently for using any of these rights.

To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. We may need to confirm your request before acting on it. Most of what we hold, such as analytics data, cannot be linked to you by us. In that case, Google's own tools, linked above, are the most direct way to control it.

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

This site is for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under 16 where local law sets that age. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

Security

The whole site runs over HTTPS, so what passes between your browser and our servers is encrypted. We keep the data we hold to a minimum. No method of sending or storing data is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect it.

Links to other websites

Our guides link to other websites, such as Microsoft and free software projects. Their privacy practices are their own. Please read their policies when you visit them.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our tools or the law change. The current version is always the one on this page. If a change is significant, we will make it clear on this page.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: [email protected].