Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what data CADXChange collects through the CADXChange website (the "Site") and the CADXChange desktop applications — BlockSync, BlockCopy, BlockCompare, TextSync, TextCompare, Dwg2Pdf, DwgSearch, P3DSync and LayerSync (each a "Tool") — and how it's used. CADXChange is operated by an independent software developer based in Japan.

Every Tool processes DWG files locally through AutoCAD's own engine (accoreconsole.exe) running on your computer. No drawing content, filename, file path, or extracted data (block attributes, text, layers, geometry) is ever uploaded to CADXChange, Stripe, or any other party. Excel exports, backups, and reports a Tool produces are written only to folders on your own machine that you chose. The only exception is a file you decide to send us yourself, described in section 4.

Each Tool contacts a license-verification service at startup and periodically while running. That check transmits only: the license key (Pro tier only), your computer's name, a one-way hash of the Windows machine identifier (the raw identifier is never sent), a random one-time value that prevents a reply from being reused, an identifier of the Pro module build shipped with the Tool (not personal), and your IP address. The server stores the IP address only as a keyed hash, together with the country it maps to, the time, and whether the request was accepted, for 30 days. This is used to rate-limit requests and to notice a license being shared across far more machines than its terms allow; such a notice is informational and never blocks a license automatically. No drawing content or file metadata is included in this check.

CADXChange Toolkit also has a 30-day free trial that needs no account. When the trial starts, the Toolkit sends the machine hash described above plus three more values taken from your computer's hardware, each one-way hashed with a fixed salt so the original values cannot be read back, together with your IP address and country. We keep them with the trial start time so that reinstalling or changing a single setting does not start a new trial; the IP address is stored only as a keyed hash. Trial records are kept for as long as the trial rule needs them and are not used for anything else.

Usage statistics are off until you say yes. A Tool asks once, in a bar that appears after your first completed operation (older Tools ask at first start), and declining changes nothing about what the Tool can do. If you decline, the Tool may ask again from time to time, at irregular intervals of a few weeks. You can switch statistics on or off at any time under Settings; when you switch them off, sending stops immediately.

If you opt in, a Tool sends: the Tool name and version; when it starts and exits and how long the session lasted; which tool or feature was used (for example "extract to Excel" or "compare"); for each operation, how many files and items it covered — numbers, never names — how long it took and whether it succeeded, failed, was cancelled or timed out, as a fixed word; whether an update was offered, downloaded or failed, with the version number only; whether the upgrade window was shown and whether its buy button was pressed; the edition (Free, trial or licensed), the AutoCAD version, the Windows version and the interface language; the country the report comes from, which our server works out from the connection (the IP address itself is not stored with these records); when a license is activated or deactivated; and, if the Tool crashes or an operation times out, the name of the error type only (no stack trace, path or message). If a Tool cannot read a drawing, it also sends the drawing's format version (for example "AC1032"), the code page stored in the file header and a coarse class of the error (for example damaged or unsupported) — never the file name, the path or the error text. We never receive file names, folder paths, drawing text, layer or block names, attribute values or search words. Each installation is identified by a random ID generated on your computer and kept in the Tool's settings folder; deleting that folder creates a new one. That ID is not linked to your email address or license key, and we do not store your IP address with these statistics.

This is used only to see which Tools and features are used, which AutoCAD versions and languages matter, and what to fix first. Detailed records are kept for 90 days in our database and are then archived in compressed form for at least three years; only aggregated totals are kept beyond that in the dashboard. Because the ID is anonymous, we cannot look up or delete the records of a particular person; switching the setting off stops any further collection.

If you email us for support, we receive whatever you send us (your email address and message content) and use it only to respond to your request. Requests and reports sent through the forms on the Site (including any email address you add) are also kept in our own records for up to one year, so that we can follow them up. If you subscribe to release notifications on the Site, we store the email address you provide for that sole purpose and it is never sold or shared for marketing by third parties. If you attach files to a support report on the Site, or press "Send this file to us" after the online viewer could not open a drawing, the files you chose are uploaded to private storage that only we can read. They are used only to reproduce and fix the problem, are checked for file type but not opened by anyone else, and are deleted automatically 90 days after upload. Nothing is uploaded unless you attach it or press Send; a drawing may contain your design data, so only send one you are comfortable sharing.

Signing in: you can sign in to your account page with a link we email to you, or with your Google account. If you choose Google, we receive only your email address and Google's confirmation that it is verified. We do not receive your Google password, and we do not ask for your name, profile picture, contacts, files or any other Google data, nor do we access your Google account in any other way. Google handles the sign-in under Google's Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy). Clicking the confirmation button in an update-notification mail also signs you in on that browser, because it proves you read that mailbox. Signing in sets a cookie in your browser that keeps you signed in for up to 30 days and is used for nothing else; signing out removes it. The email address is used only to show the licenses and subscriptions that belong to it.

Your account page: while you are signed in, we keep a list of the resources you download (symbol libraries, title block templates, sample drawings) with the date, so that the page can show what has changed since. Nothing is recorded when you are signed out. We can see an account's list and settings when we help you with it. You can switch the list off, clear it, download a copy of everything stored for your account, or delete it all on the account page at any time. If you add a second email address to your account, it is confirmed by a link sent to that address first. This list is not shared with anyone and is not used for advertising.

Education licences: when you claim a free education licence, we compare the domain of your account e-mail (the part after the @) with a list of school and university domains. Nothing about the e-mail leaves our systems for this check. If your school is not on the list and you send us its name through the form on the page, we keep that request with your account e-mail like any other support request, to add the school and let you claim again.

Pro license purchases are made through Stripe's Managed Payments service, in which Stripe is the merchant of record. Stripe collects your billing details (name, email, payment method, billing address) directly, to process payment, calculate tax and prevent fraud. CADXChange receives from Stripe the information needed to deliver and support your license — your email address, the product purchased, and the order/license identifiers — but never your full card number. Stripe's handling of your payment data is governed by Stripe's own Privacy Policy (https://stripe.com/privacy), in addition to this policy governing CADXChange's own handling of your data.

Digital libraries and circuits: for each order we keep your account e-mail, the item, the licence type and seat band, the amount and currency, the billing country Stripe reports, Stripe's reference numbers and the time. To see which pages lead to purchases, the order also keeps four things taken from the anonymous page statistics described in section 6: the link on the Site that the checkout started from, the kind of source the visit came from (a search engine, an AI assistant, a direct visit or another site, never the address or the search words), the page language and the page the visit began on. The anonymous visitor identifier used to look these up is not stored with the order.

Every licensed file you download carries a licence number in a licence record inside the ZIP. The number links the file to your order in our records, not to your name or e-mail inside the file, so that we can find the licence a copy came from if files are shared against the licence terms. Each download from your account is logged with the time, the item and the country your connection comes from (not your IP address), to apply the daily download limits and to notice a licence that is being shared; such a notice is only a reason to look and never blocks a licence by itself.

Cloudflare, which hosts the Site, provides us with aggregate, cookie-free traffic statistics. The Site also uses the analytics described below, and keeps logs to understand what visitors need and to improve the Tools. None of this is used on the administration pages, and the analytics are not switched on when your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal.

Advertising: the Site uses Google AdSense to show advertisements on some pages, to help pay for the free resources. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's previous visits to this Site or other websites, and 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. Advertising is not shown on the pages of the administration area, the online DWG viewer, or the download and purchase flows, and nothing from your Tool usage or from your account is shared with advertisers. You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google's Ads Settings (https://adssettings.google.com), or opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at https://www.aboutads.info. How Google uses data from sites that use its services is described at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Visitor behavior analytics: the Site uses Microsoft Clarity, a service of Microsoft Corporation, to see how visitors use the pages — for example where they click, how far they scroll and where they get stuck — through anonymized session recordings and heatmaps. Clarity sets cookies in your browser to recognize a visit and a returning browser, and receives your IP address, browser and device type, approximate location and the pages you view. Text you type into form fields is masked and is not recorded. Microsoft processes this data under the Microsoft Privacy Statement (https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement). We use the results only to improve the Site and do not use them for advertising.

Page statistics: the Site counts which pages are opened, how long they are actively read, how far they are scrolled and which downloads and links are used. This is stored without cookies or browser storage; a visitor appears only as an anonymous value that changes every day.

Homepage searches: the text you type into the search box, the Site language, the country your connection comes from (resolved at request time — your IP address is not stored), what the search returned, and which result, if any, you opened. No IP address, cookie or other identifier is stored with a search, so searches cannot be linked to you or to one another. Search text is also sent to Cloudflare's Workers AI service to find matching results. Please don't type personal information into the search box.

Online DWG viewer: the viewer counts how it is used, never what is in it. When the page loads, and when a drawing is opened or exported to PDF, it records the type of event, whether it worked, how long it took, the file type (DWG or DXF), a size range, the Site language and the country your connection comes from. When a drawing does not open properly it also records the drawing's format version (for example "AC1032"), the code page stored in its file header, where in the opening sequence it failed, a coarse class of the error, whether it opened empty, your browser family, and your device's memory range as the browser reports it. File names and drawing content are never sent — drawings are opened entirely in your browser. No IP address or cookie is stored, and the random identifier that groups one visit's events exists only until you close the page.

Download clicks: when you click a download button we record the product and version, the time, the Site language, your approximate location (country, region, city), your IP address, browser user agent and the referring page, in order to count downloads and filter out automated traffic.

License and support records are kept for as long as needed to provide the license and related support, and as required for tax and accounting purposes. License-check request logs (described in section 2) are deleted after 30 days. You can ask us to delete personal data we hold about you (see "Your Rights" below); this doesn't affect billing/transaction records CADXChange and Stripe are legally required to retain for tax and accounting purposes.

Orders, licence numbers and the download log of a licence are kept for as long as the licence exists and as required for tax and accounting purposes; education licences expire after a year unless renewed, and their records follow the same rule.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data we hold about you, or to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise any of these rights over data CADXChange holds directly, email us at the address below. For data held by Stripe as the merchant of record (full payment method details), contact Stripe directly, or reach us and we'll relay the request.

CADXChange is operated from Japan, and Stripe operates globally. Data described in this policy may be processed in Japan or other countries where CADXChange or Stripe operate, with appropriate safeguards where required by applicable law.

The Software and Site are intended for professional/business use and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

We may update this policy from time to time; the "Updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.

Questions about this policy or your data: support@cadxchange.net.