Privacy Policy

Overview

Online Tools ("we", "us") provides free browser-based utilities at hela.tools. This policy explains what information is processed when you use the site, why it is processed, and the choices available to you.

We designed these tools to minimise data collection. There are no user accounts, no sign-in, and no database of user activity.

Information we do not collect

We do not require registration and we do not store the files or text you submit to our tools.

Files you upload are held only in the memory of the server process for as long as it takes to run the operation, and are discarded immediately afterwards. They are never written to disk, and they are never associated with you.

Information we process

• Files and text you submit — processed in memory to perform the requested operation (conversion, hashing, comparison, encoding, and so on), then discarded. We do not retain copies.
• Domains and IP addresses entered into the DNS Check tool — sent to public DNS resolvers to perform the lookup you requested.
• Contact form details — if you use the contact form, we receive the name, email address, subject and message you provide so that we can reply. These are delivered to us by email.
• Server logs and IP addresses — our server records standard request information (including IP address) for security, abuse prevention and rate limiting. Rate-limit counters are held in memory and expire automatically.
• Cookies and similar technologies — see the sections below on analytics and advertising.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for two purposes: measuring how the site is used, and displaying advertising that funds the service. We do not use cookies to build a profile of you within our own tools.

These fall into two categories you can control independently — analytics and advertising. The Cookie settings link in the footer lets you accept or reject either category, and change your mind at any time.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, a certified consent message is shown when you first visit. It records your choices under the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework. Choosing there, or in our Cookie settings dialog, updates the same signals.

You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect how advertising and analytics behave, but every tool on this site will continue to work.

Advertising

This site is supported by advertising delivered through Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies, including the DoubleClick cookie, to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.

Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and other sites on the internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.

Where you have not consented to personalised advertising, we still display ads, but they are selected without using your personal data. In that case we also ask Google to redact advertising identifiers and to pass campaign information through links rather than cookies, so the ads remain measurable without tracking you.

You can also opt out of third-party vendor cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info or, in the European Union, youronlinechoices.eu. Opting out does not remove ads; it makes them less relevant to you.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which tools are used and how visitors reach the site. Google Analytics collects information such as pages viewed, approximate location (derived from IP address), device and browser type, and referral source.

This data is aggregated and is not used to identify you personally. If you reject the analytics category, Google Analytics does not store identifiers on your device; we then receive only aggregated, cookieless measurements. You can also prevent Google Analytics from collecting data by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Legal bases for processing (EEA and UK)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases: legitimate interests for operating, securing and improving the service and for preventing abuse; consent for analytics and advertising cookies where consent is required; and consent or legitimate interests for responding to enquiries you send us.

For visitors in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, analytics and advertising storage is denied until you make a choice, so nothing is stored on your device before then. You may withdraw consent at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer, or by adjusting your browser settings or your ad personalisation preferences as described above.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the processing of your personal data, to object to processing, to data portability, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Because we do not maintain user accounts or store submitted files, in most cases we hold no personal data about you beyond correspondence you have sent us. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below.

California residents may also request disclosure of the categories of personal information collected and request deletion. We do not sell personal information.

Children's privacy

This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can remove it.

Security

Uploads are transmitted over HTTPS and processed in memory. We apply security headers, request rate limiting and input validation to protect the service.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. In particular, you should not submit confidential material to a browser-based tool unless you have independently assessed the risk — the Cryptography tool runs encryption and decryption on our server, not in your browser.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected in the "last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.