Privacy policy
This policy explains what information SSHwise (the "app") and sshwise.app (the "website") handle, why, and the choices you have. SSHwise is an independent app, developed and run by its developer in Singapore ("SSHwise", "we", "us").
The short version: SSHwise is designed so that we never see your servers, keys, passwords, command history or terminal output. In the one-time edition nothing about you leaves your device; the only contact with us is an anonymous check for app updates in the versions you download from sshwise.app. In the subscription, we also store an account record and data that is encrypted on your device before it reaches us, which we cannot decrypt.
1. Who is responsible
The developer of SSHwise, based in Singapore, is responsible for personal data processed under this policy. You can contact us at [email protected]. Where the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) applies, this address also reaches the person responsible for data protection. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we act as the controller for the account data described below.
2. Data that stays on your device
In both editions, the following is stored only on your device, encrypted at rest, with the encryption key held in your operating system's secure keychain:
- Saved servers: names, hostnames, ports, usernames, groups, tags, colour labels and SSH options.
- Private keys and any passwords or passphrases you choose to save.
- Known host keys you have trusted.
- Command history used for suggestions (only commands that finished successfully), kept per server.
- App settings.
Your SSH sessions, file transfers and terminal output go directly between your device and your servers. They do not pass through our systems. The local terminal (in the versions that include it) runs a shell on your own computer; nothing from it is sent anywhere. Saved local terminal settings, such as a start folder and start-up command, are stored in the same encrypted vault.
3. One-time edition
The one-time edition does not require an account and does not send any personal data to us. It works offline apart from the connections you make to your own servers and, in the versions downloaded from sshwise.app, the update check described in section 5. We receive no analytics, crash reports or identifiers from it.
If you buy from an app store (Apple App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Store or another store), the store processes the payment and shares with us only what it shares with all developers, such as aggregated sales reports. If you buy directly on sshwise.app, the payment is handled by the payment provider named at checkout, which gives us your email address and the order details we need to deliver and support your licence. We never receive your full payment card details.
4. Subscription edition
If you subscribe and sign in, we process the following:
| Data | Why | Legal basis (where applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| Email address and the account identifier from your sign-in provider (Google, Microsoft, Facebook or Apple) | To create and identify your account and let you sign in on other devices | Performance of our contract with you |
| The names of the sign-in providers linked to your account | To show you which sign-in methods are connected | Performance of contract |
| Subscription status and expiry date, and the store receipt or purchase token needed to verify it | To confirm you have an active subscription | Performance of contract; legal obligations for records |
| Encrypted backups and encrypted sync items, with their size, creation time, version number and the device name you give them | To store your backups and keep your devices in sync | Performance of contract |
| Technical logs: IP address, request time, endpoint and response status | To operate, secure and debug the service and prevent abuse | Legitimate interests in running a secure service |
End-to-end encryption
Backups and sync items are encrypted on your device with a key derived from a passphrase or key that only you hold. We store ciphertext only. We cannot read your servers, keys, passwords or history, and we cannot recover them if you lose your passphrase.
Sign-in providers
When you sign in with Google, Microsoft, Facebook or Apple, that provider tells us your email address and an account identifier. We do not request access to your contacts, files, posts or any other data. The provider's own privacy policy governs what it collects when you use its sign-in screen. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we receive a relay address instead of your real one.
Sign-in on the web
After you sign in, your browser may be redirected to sshwise.app/auth/done/. That page passes a one-time sign-in code straight to the SSHwise app on your device (only that app can redeem it), then removes them from the address bar. It does not send them anywhere else and does not store them.
5. App updates
Versions of SSHwise downloaded from sshwise.app (the Mac disk image, the Windows installer and the Linux packages) check for updates a short while after they start and every few hours after that. Versions installed from an app store are updated by that store and never make this check.
- The check is a plain request to sshwise.app for the latest release of your release channel (stable or beta) and package type, for example "stable, Linux AppImage, Intel". It contains no account, licence, device name or other identifier.
- As with any website request, our server sees your IP address, the time and the app version in the request. These are kept only in the access logs described in section 6.
- To release updates gradually, the app creates a random number on your device that decides when it is offered a new version. That number never leaves your device.
- If an update is available, the app downloads it from sshwise.app and checks that it is signed by us before offering to install it. Nothing is installed until you choose to restart.
- You can turn off automatic downloads, or choose the stable or beta channel, in Settings → Updates.
6. The website
sshwise.app does not use cookies, analytics, advertising tags or third-party scripts, and loads no resources from other domains. Our web server keeps standard access logs (IP address, time, requested page, browser user agent and response status) for security and troubleshooting. The website remembers your light or dark theme choice in your browser's local storage; that value never leaves your browser.
If you email us, we keep your email address and message only to reply to you. Ask us at any time and we'll delete them.
7. Telemetry
The app does not send usage analytics or crash reports by default. If we add optional diagnostics in the future, they will be off unless you turn them on, and this policy will be updated before that happens.
8. Who we share data with
We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it for advertising. We use a small number of service providers to run the website and the subscription service, such as cloud hosting for our servers and database, email delivery for account messages, and, if you buy on sshwise.app, the payment provider named at checkout. They process data only on our instructions. We may disclose information if required by law, and in that case could only disclose the account data described above; encrypted contents remain unreadable to us and to them.
9. International transfers
Our servers may be located outside your country. When we transfer personal data internationally, we take steps required by applicable law, such as contractual safeguards with our providers, so that it receives a comparable standard of protection.
10. How long we keep data
- Account data and encrypted backups and sync items: until you delete them or delete your account.
- When you delete your account, we delete your account record and all encrypted backups and sync items without undue delay, and in any case within 30 days. Residual copies in our own system backups expire within a further 35 days.
- Server access logs, including update checks and downloads: up to 30 days, unless needed longer to investigate a security incident.
- Purchase and subscription records: as long as required by tax and accounting law.
11. Your choices and rights
You can delete your account at any time from the app (Settings, then Account, then Delete account) or by following these steps. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict certain processing, to withdraw consent, and to complain to a data protection authority (in Singapore, the Personal Data Protection Commission). To make a request, email [email protected]. We will reply within 30 days and may need to verify that the request comes from the account holder.
12. Security
We protect data in transit with TLS, encrypt your vault on the device, and encrypt synced data end to end. App updates are signed with a key we keep offline, and the app refuses any update whose signature or checksum doesn't match. Access to our systems is restricted to people who need it. If you find a security issue, please report it as described in our security.txt.
13. Children
SSHwise is a tool for administering computer systems and is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
14. Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we handle your data, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
15. Contact
SSHwise, Singapore. Email: [email protected].