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+# WinMute Privacy Policy
+
+**Applies to:** WinMute for Windows, all versions and distribution channels
+**Effective date:** 2026-08-25
+**Publisher:** Alexander Steinhoefer (lx-systems)
+**Contact:** kontakt@lx-s.de
+
+## Summary
+
+WinMute does not collect, transmit, sell, or share any personal data.
+
+It has no accounts, no advertising, no analytics, and no telemetry. Everything
+WinMute needs in order to work stays on your device. Its only optional network
+feature is a check for new versions, which is switched off unless you turn it on
+(see section 5).
+
+## 1. What WinMute does
+
+WinMute is a small utility that automatically mutes and unmutes your Windows
+audio devices in response to events on your computer — for example when you lock
+your workstation, when the display turns off, when your Bluetooth headphones
+disconnect, or when you connect to a particular wireless network.
+
+All of this happens locally, on your machine, using standard Windows APIs.
+
+## 2. Data WinMute stores on your device
+
+WinMute saves your settings so they survive a restart. This data never leaves
+your computer, is not encrypted or uploaded anywhere, and is only readable by
+your own Windows user account.
+
+The settings include:
+
+* Which mute triggers you enabled (lock, display standby, sleep, shutdown,
+  log-off, lid close, remote desktop, and so on).
+* The names of Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) you added to your mute or allow list.
+* The names and addresses of Bluetooth devices you added to your device list.
+* The names of the audio devices (endpoints) you chose to manage individually.
+* Your quiet-hours schedule.
+* Interface preferences such as the display language, notification settings, and
+  your global mute hotkey.
+
+The settings are stored in the Windows registry under your own user account, in
+`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\lx-systems\WinMute`. If you installed WinMute from
+the Microsoft Store, Windows keeps that data inside the app package's own
+private, per-user storage instead.
+
+## 3. Information WinMute reads from your system
+
+To decide when to mute, WinMute reads the following from Windows while it is
+running. This information is evaluated in memory, used for the mute decision,
+and then discarded. It is never stored beyond what you explicitly configured in
+section 2, and never transmitted.
+
+* **Audio devices:** the names and mute/volume state of your playback devices,
+  so it can mute and restore them.
+* **Wireless networks:** the name (SSID) of the Wi-Fi network you are currently
+  connected to, so it can be compared against your own list. WinMute does not
+  read your Wi-Fi passwords, saved profiles, or network traffic.
+* **Bluetooth:** the state of your Bluetooth radio and the names of connecting
+  and disconnecting devices, so it can react to your headphones. WinMute does
+  not pair with devices or read their content.
+* **Session and power events:** notifications from Windows that the workstation
+  was locked, the display switched off, or the system is suspending.
+* **Media playback:** if you enable the option, WinMute sends a pause or play
+  command to your media applications. It does not read what you are playing.
+
+## 4. Optional log file
+
+Logging is **switched off by default**. If you turn it on in the settings — for
+example because you were asked to when reporting a bug — WinMute writes a plain
+text log file to your Windows temporary folder (`%TEMP%`).
+
+The log records what WinMute did and why, which can include the names of your
+audio devices, Wi-Fi networks, and Bluetooth devices. The file stays on your
+computer. WinMute never uploads it.
+
+When you switch logging off again, WinMute deletes the log file. You can also
+delete it yourself at any time.
+
+If you choose to attach the log to a public bug report, please review it first —
+anything you send us is shared by your own decision, not by the app.
+
+## 5. Network connections and the update check
+
+The only part of WinMute that uses the internet is the optional update check,
+and it is **switched off by default**. Unless you tick "Check for updates on
+startup" in the settings, WinMute never connects to anything.
+
+If you do enable it, then each time WinMute starts it downloads one small,
+static text file over an encrypted HTTPS connection:
+
+```
+https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lx-s/WinMute/main/CURRENT_VERSION
+```
+
+That file lists the latest available version number. WinMute compares it with
+the version you are running and, if yours is older, offers you a link to the
+download page. Nothing is uploaded: the request carries no information about
+you, your device, your settings, or your usage — not even the version you
+currently have installed.
+
+As with any download, the server hosting the file (GitHub, operated by GitHub,
+Inc.) necessarily sees your IP address and the time of the request in order to
+answer it. That data is handled under
+[GitHub's Privacy Statement](https://docs.github.com/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-privacy-statement).
+We receive no report of these requests and cannot identify who checked for
+updates. If you would rather not contact GitHub at all, simply leave the update
+check switched off.
+
+In builds distributed through the Microsoft Store the update check is disabled
+altogether and cannot be enabled, because the Store keeps the app up to date
+itself.
+
+WinMute contains no other network functionality of any kind.
+
+## 6. Where you got WinMute
+
+This policy covers the WinMute application itself. How you obtained it is a
+separate matter: downloading, installing, and updating software through a store
+or package manager involves that provider, under their own privacy policy and
+not ours. Depending on the channel this may be the
+[Microsoft Store](https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement),
+[winget](https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement),
+[Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/privacy), or
+[GitHub](https://docs.github.com/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-privacy-statement)
+for direct downloads and releases.
+
+From these providers we receive at most anonymous, aggregated figures such as
+download or install counts. These do not identify individual users, and we have
+no way to link them to a person or a device.
+
+Likewise, if WinMute were to crash, Windows Error Reporting may send diagnostic
+information to Microsoft according to your Windows settings. That is a Windows
+feature and outside our control.
+
+## 7. Sharing, selling, and third parties
+
+We do not collect personal data, so there is nothing to share. We do not sell,
+rent, or transfer data to third parties. WinMute contains no advertising
+networks, no analytics SDKs, and no third-party tracking components.
+
+## 8. Data retention and deletion
+
+Your settings remain on your device for as long as you keep them there.
+
+* **Microsoft Store:** uninstalling the app through Windows removes it together
+  with its stored settings.
+* **Setup or package manager:** uninstall WinMute the usual way. Your personal
+  settings are deliberately left behind so they survive a reinstall; to remove
+  them as well, delete the key `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\lx-systems\WinMute`
+  with the Windows registry editor (`regedit.exe`).
+* **Portable/ZIP version:** delete the WinMute folder, and the registry key
+  above if you want the settings gone too.
+
+To delete the optional log file, either switch logging off in WinMute — which
+deletes it immediately — or remove the WinMute log from your `%TEMP%` folder.
+
+## 9. Children
+
+WinMute is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children. It does
+not knowingly collect any information from anyone, regardless of age.
+
+## 10. Your rights (GDPR)
+
+We do not process personal data as defined by the GDPR. We operate no servers
+and run no service that WinMute talks to: we have no access to your settings,
+your device, or any identifier. Even if you enable the optional update check,
+your request goes to GitHub as the file's host and never reaches us. There is
+therefore no data held by us that could be exported, corrected, or erased on
+request.
+
+You remain in full control of the data described in sections 2 and 4 at all
+times, since it exists solely on your own computer.
+
+If you believe otherwise, or have any question about how WinMute handles data,
+please contact us at the address below.
+
+## 11. Open source
+
+WinMute is open source and released under the 3-clause BSD licence. Every claim
+in this policy can be verified in the source code at
+<https://github.com/lx-s/WinMute>.
+
+## 12. Changes to this policy
+
+If this policy changes, the updated version will be published at this address
+and the effective date at the top will be revised. Material changes will also be
+noted in the app's changelog.
+
+## 13. Contact
+
+Alexander Steinhoefer (lx-systems)
+Email: kontakt@lx-s.de
+Project: <https://github.com/lx-s/WinMute>