Legal

Privacy policy

Effective December 1, 2026

Riftway is private by design. There’s no account with Riftway, no cookies from Riftway, and no browsing data on Riftway’s side.

This policy covers the Riftway desktop app for Mac and Windows and this website, riftway.app. “Riftway”, “we” and “us” mean the makers of Riftway. You can reach us about anything here at [email protected].

The short version

• What you browse, the sites you’re signed in to, your grids and your saved links stay on your computer. We never receive them.
• The app talks to us only to check for updates, and, if you buy Pro, Lemon Squeezy checks your license key.
• Anonymous usage counts are off unless you turn them on, and they never include anything about what you browse.
• We don’t sell or share personal information, and we don’t use it for advertising.

What leaves a Riftway install

These, and nothing else:

• The websites you open, as in any browser, plus searches to the search engine you pick. Those sites receive what any browser sends them, under their own privacy policies. When you save a link, Riftway loads that page once, out of sight, to make its preview card; the preview is stored on your computer.
• Update checks to downloads.riftway.app when Riftway starts and every 4 hours. It asks which version is current for your operating system, so the right update is offered. Like any web request, it reveals your IP address to the server.
• License checks to Lemon Squeezy, only after you enter a license key: the key, and a computer label made of your operating system’s name and a random suffix (never your computer’s name). Once a day while you have Pro.
• Usage counts, only if you turn them on. Riftway asks once, and the answer is no until you say yes. With them on, Riftway sends, at most once a day and once a week, that the app was used, your plan (Free, trial or Pro), how many panes were open, in broad ranges (1, 2, 3–4, 5–9 or 10+), and a plan change if there was one, with the app version, your operating system and its language. Never a web address, page title, site name, email address or account name. They go to Aptabase, a privacy-focused analytics service, on its servers in the European Union, which keeps them for up to 5 years. They carry no identifier that links them to you, so they can’t be picked out and deleted later. You can turn them off at any time in Settings, and sending stops at once.
• Ad and tracker blocking lists, only if you turn on Block ads and trackers: the first time, Riftway downloads the public filter lists (EasyList, EasyPrivacy and similar, prebuilt by Ghostery) and keeps them on your computer.
• Report a Problem (Help menu) opens an email to [email protected] with only the app version, your operating system and your plan filled in. Nothing is sent until you send the email.

What stays on your computer

Your grids, profiles, logins, cookies, saved links, link previews and settings are kept on your computer, and Riftway doesn’t send them anywhere. Each profile keeps its own sign-ins, separate from the others. Uninstalling Riftway and deleting its app data removes them.

This website

riftway.app sets no cookies and runs no analytics or advertising scripts. Like any website, its hosting provider sees your IP address and the pages you request, in standard server logs used only to run and protect the site.

Payments

If you buy Pro, Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record, handles the payment, sends your license key and manages your subscription. Lemon Squeezy collects your name, email address, billing address and payment details under its own privacy policy. We can see your name, email address, country, what you bought and your license key, so we can help with your purchase. We never see your full card details.

Email with us

If you write to [email protected], we use your email address and what you send only to reply and help you, and keep the conversation only as long as it’s useful for that.

Who processes data for us

• Lemon Squeezy: payments, license keys and subscriptions.
• Aptabase: usage counts, only if you turn them on, stored in the European Union.
• Our hosting provider: this website and app updates.

Each only receives what’s described above, for that purpose.

Why we’re allowed to use it

If the GDPR or a similar law applies to you: we check licenses and handle purchases to perform our contract with you; we send usage counts only with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time; and we run update checks and server logs in our legitimate interest in keeping Riftway working and secure.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you can ask to see, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, object to or limit how we use it, or take a copy of it. Write to [email protected] and we’ll reply within 30 days. Most of what Riftway knows stays on your own computer, where you can delete it yourself. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

Riftway isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them.

Changes to this policy

If we change what Riftway sends, we’ll update this page and its effective date first. If a change needs your consent, the app will ask before anything new is sent.

Contact

Questions about privacy: [email protected].