Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2, 2026. This Privacy Policy explains what information PicBrewery collects when you use the website at picbrewery.com or the PicBrewery Chrome extension, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We aim to keep things short, plain and honest.

1. Who we are

The website is operated by Whisper Arts ("we", "us"). For privacy-related questions, requests or complaints, contact us at support@whisperarts.com.

2. The most important thing

The image optimizer is 100% client-side. When you drop a file into PicBrewery, decoding, re-encoding and ZIP packaging all happen inside your browser via WebAssembly. Your images are never uploaded to any server we control, and we have no access to them.

3. Chrome extension

PicBrewery offers an optional Chrome extension that scans images on the web page you are viewing when you open the extension popup. The extension is separate from the client-side optimizer described in section 2.

Client-side processing. PicBrewery is a WebAssembly-based image optimizer that runs in your browser. Decoding, re-encoding and compression all happen on your device — image files are never uploaded to our servers for processing.

What stays on your device. Scan results (the page URL, image URLs, file sizes, formats, dimensions and optimization scores) are stored locally in your browser — mainly in chrome.storage.session, which expires when the browser session ends. Your preferences (such as whether on-page overlays are shown) may be stored in chrome.storage.local. The extension does not sell data and does not include third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.

Optional site access. If you click "Grant access", the extension may send HTTP requests to the current site to read image file sizes and MIME types when that information is not available from the page itself. This permission is optional and is requested only for the scan feature.

Optimize flow. If you choose "Optimize", the extension opens PicBrewery in your browser and passes selected image URLs so the web app can load those files into the page. All compression and format conversion still runs locally in WebAssembly on your device. Passing URLs is the only data the extension shares with picbrewery.com, and only when you explicitly choose Optimize. We do not use this data for advertising or unrelated purposes.

4. What the website itself collects

The website (separately from the image processing) may collect the following — but only after you give consent in the cookie banner:

Strictly necessary cookies (e.g. the cookie that remembers your consent choice and your theme preference in localStorage) are always set, because the site cannot function without them. They do not identify you across sites.

5. Cookies and similar technologies

We use first-party storage (a small pb_consent cookie and localStorage entries) and, when you consent, the following third-party services. Each service has its own privacy policy, linked below.

Analytics

Advertising

6. Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR)

For visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the legal basis for processing analytics and advertising data is your explicit consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive). Strictly necessary cookies rely on our legitimate interest in operating the site (Article 6(1)(f)). You can withdraw consent at any time via the "Cookie settings" link in the footer.

7. International data transfers

Google and Yandex may transfer your data outside the European Economic Area. Both providers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and other safeguards described in their respective privacy policies.

8. How long we keep data

We do not store personal data on our own servers. Third-party services retain data according to their own policies — typically up to 14 months for Google Analytics and up to 25 months for Yandex. Cookie lifetimes are listed in the cookie banner's preferences modal.

9. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

To exercise any of these rights, write to support@whisperarts.com.

10. Children

PicBrewery is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Manage your consent

You can change or withdraw your cookie choices at any time:

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest change. Material changes will be flagged via the cookie banner.

13. Contact

Whisper Arts · support@whisperarts.com