----  ----  --- |   |  ---   ---  |   |
|   | |   |  |  |   | |   | |   \ |   |
|   | |   |  |  |   | |   | |      \ / 
|---  |--/   |  |   | |---| |       |  
|     | \    |  |   | |   | |       |  
|     |  \   |   \ /  |   | |   /   |  
|     |   \ ---   /   |   |  ---    |  

ASCII Art Maker is a free tool that turns a picture into text characters. There is no account, and the conversion itself happens on your device rather than on a computer of ours. What we do collect is measurement of how the pages and the tool are used. This page explains what that is, why we collect it, who receives it, how long it is kept, and what you can do about it.

The short version

• No account and no personal details. There is no sign-in anywhere, and we never ask you who you are.
• Your pictures never reach us. They are converted in your browser, so we hold no copy — not because we delete one, but because we never receive one.
• We measure how the site is used, through Google Analytics, so we can see which parts of the tool people use and decide what to build next. A random identifier for your browser travels with that measurement.
• In the UK, the EEA and Switzerland nothing is measured until you allow it. Everywhere else measurement starts with the first page view, and either way you can change your answer at any time from the footer of any page.
• No advertisement is displayed here today, though the site is built to carry Google AdSense and Google's advertising script already loads on every page.

Who we are

ASCII Art Maker is operated by ZW Studio LLC, a limited liability company formed in the State of New Jersey, United States. We are the controller of the personal data described here under UK and EU data protection law. This policy covers the website at asciiartmaker.com, and ascii-art.app, which redirects to it. Write to support@zwstudiollc.com with any question, request or complaint about this page; the mailbox is monitored.

Your images stay on your device

Every conversion runs in the browser tab you already have open. The file you choose, drag, paste or capture with your camera is decoded by the browser itself, resampled and turned into characters by code running on your own device, and written straight back into the page. It is never sent over a network, never stored, and nothing about it survives closing or reloading the page.

There is no account, no upload, no history and no list of recent conversions, because each of those would mean keeping something. Nothing about a picture or the way you converted it is ever put in the address bar either: no link from this site carries your image, its file name or its settings.

What we measure, and why

We measure to learn which pages people open and which parts of the tool they actually use, so we can decide what to fix and what to build next. Nobody buys this data, and we do not use it to advertise to you.

What we collect describes how the site is used: which page you opened and the page you came from, and three things you do with the tool — that a conversion finished, that you copied a result, and that you downloaded one. With a finished conversion we record which of the six conversion styles produced it, whether color was on, a band for how wide the output was rather than the width itself, and how the picture reached the page: a file you chose, your camera, a drag or a paste. With a copy or a download we record which format you asked for, and nothing else. Google's tag adds its own baseline — a first visit, session starts, engagement time, and general device information such as browser, screen, language, and the approximate country it derives from your connection.

Both page addresses are cut back before they are sent. The address of the page you are on and the address of the page you came from are each reduced to the site and the path; any query string or fragment is removed. Nothing appended to a link you followed can travel on into our measurement.

Nothing we record describes your picture. Its contents, its dimensions, its file name and its size are never collected, and the width of your output is recorded as one of five bands rather than as a figure — a deliberate coarsening, so that what we learn is that people make wide art rather than what any particular person made.

An identifier travels with all of it. Google's tag creates a random identifier for your browser, stores it on your device and sends it with each event, so that repeat visits can be counted as one person rather than as many. It is not your name and it is not an account; we hold nothing that can turn it back into a person. Clearing this site's storage in your browser discards it.

Google's enhanced measurement is switched off, every flag of it. That is the feature which otherwise adds scroll depth, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, file downloads and form interactions on its own, without anything being written into the page. It was turned off when the property was created, and confirmed by reading the setting back.

Our legal basis

Where the law requires consent to store or read information on your device — the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area among them — consent is our legal basis for measurement and for advertising, and we do not offer legitimate interests in its place. Measurement is not necessary to use this site: every mode, every control and every download works the same either way.

For our host's access logs we rely on our legitimate interest in serving and protecting the site, and for email you send us, on our legitimate interest in answering it.

Your privacy choices

In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, nothing that stores or reads information for measurement or advertising runs until you allow it. Those defaults are set before any Google tag loads, and nothing changes until you ask — the Privacy choices link in the footer of every page is how you ask.

Everywhere else, measurement runs from the first page view and you can turn it off at any time from that same link, which is in the footer of every page, this one included. Choosing “Turn it off” denies measurement and all three of Google's advertising signals at once. That stops anything being stored on your device and stops anything being tied to you; Google still receives an anonymous, cookieless count of the page being opened, which carries no identifier and cannot be joined to any other visit of yours.

We honor Global Privacy Control. If your browser or an extension sends the GPC signal, we treat it as a request to stop the sale or sharing of personal information: measurement and advertising storage are denied before any tag runs, and our ad requests are marked for restricted data processing. A choice you make in the footer dialog is later and more specific than a browser-wide default, so from then on it takes precedence — in both directions, and reversibly, from the same place.

Changing your answer governs what is sent from that point onward and does not delete what was already sent. You can also opt out of personalized advertising with Google at adssettings.google.com.

The only thing this site stores on your device is that answer — a single entry recording the word granted or the word denied. There is no identifier of ours, no visit counter and no saved conversion. Where local storage is unavailable, as some private windows make it, the answer applies to that page load and is gone afterward, which is the correct outcome rather than a fault.

Advertising

No advertisement is displayed on this site today. The site is built to carry Google AdSense, and Google's advertising script loads on every page so that Google can review the site: Google's advertising service is contacted on each page view and receives your IP address and browser details, even though nothing is shown. Neither the Privacy choices control nor Global Privacy Control stops that request — the script loads either way. What they do is tell Google to deny advertising and analytics storage, so that no advertising cookie is set or read and no identifier is attached to you. We will update this page before any advertising begins.

The terms on which that advertising works are these:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or to other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
• You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info/choices and optout.networkadvertising.org, and, in Europe, at youronlinechoices.eu.

Advertising is never placed above or beside the tool, its drop zone or its output. This page, Credits and About carry no ad unit at all.

Who else receives your data, and how long it is kept

Google is the only measurement service on this site: Google Analytics, reporting into a property we control, and the advertising script described above. Google's handling of what it receives is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. Netlify hosts the site and keeps ordinary access logs of IP addresses, times and pages requested.

Otherwise we disclose data only to our professional advisers, to a successor if the business is sold, and where the law requires it. We do not sell personal data. We require every third party that receives data from this site — Google and Netlify included, and any of their affiliates that handle it — to protect it at least as well as this policy describes.

Transfers. Google and Netlify process data outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area, including in the United States. We rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension where the recipient is certified, and otherwise on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum; ask and we will send you the safeguards that apply.

Retention. Analytics event and user data expires after 14 months, after which the event-level records are deleted, though Google's aggregated reports are not subject to that setting. Netlify keeps its access logs for its own period, which we do not control. What is on your device lasts until you clear it. Email you send us is kept while the matter needs it and for up to two years afterward.

What we never collect

• your name, email address, telephone number or date of birth;
• an account, a password or any sign-in;
• your images, or anything drawn from them beyond the settings described above;
• your contacts, your files or your microphone — and the camera only where you choose it, with what it captures converted on your device and never transmitted;
• your precise location;
• sensitive data of any kind — health, biometric, racial, religious or comparable;
• payments or payment details, because nothing here is priced.

We build no profiles and make no automated decisions about you.

Your rights

If you live in the United States, you may ask what is held about you and ask for it to be deleted or corrected, and you may opt out of any sale, sharing or targeted advertising. Global Privacy Control is honored on this site, and the Privacy choices link in the footer of every page is the always-available opt-out. We will never treat you differently for making a request — no feature is withheld, no page is degraded, and nothing here is priced at all.

If the UK or EU GDPR applies to you, you may ask for access to your data and a copy of it, have it corrected or deleted, have processing restricted while a dispute is resolved, receive data you gave us in a portable form, and withdraw consent at any time — withdrawing is as easy as giving, and does not affect what was done beforehand. You may also object at any time to processing we base on legitimate interests: our host's access logs and our handling of your email. You need give no reason.

Write to support@zwstudiollc.com to use any of these. We reply within one month, extendable by two for a complex request, and charge nothing. Because there is no account and no server of ours holding anything, the usual answer is that there is nothing to produce — and where that is so we will say it plainly, rather than ask for more identifying information than the request needs.

You may complain to a data protection authority at any time: in the United Kingdom the Information Commissioner's Office, in the European Economic Area the authority for the country where you live or work, and in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. We would rather you told us first, so we can put it right.

Do Not Track

This site does not respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, because no common standard for interpreting them has been established. Global Privacy Control is a different signal with an agreed meaning, and it is honored as described above: a GPC signal is treated as a request to stop the sale or sharing of personal information, and denies measurement and all three advertising signals before any tag runs.

Children

ASCII Art Maker is a general-purpose tool for an audience aged 13 and over. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us something, write to support@zwstudiollc.com and we will delete it.

Security

There is very little to secure, which is the strongest thing we can say about it. The site is static files served over HTTPS; it accepts no submissions and has no database; your images are converted on your own device and never transmitted; and everything that does leave your browser travels over an encrypted connection. No system is perfectly secure — if you find a problem, write to support@zwstudiollc.com.

Changes, and how to reach us

We update this policy when the law, a service we use, or something this site does changes. When we do, we move the effective date at the top of this page and note what changed below. Changes apply going forward and are never retroactive; the current version is always the one published at asciiartmaker.com/privacy.

ZW Studio LLC, a limited liability company formed in the State of New Jersey, United States, operator of ASCII Art Maker, is the controller of the data described here. Questions, requests, objections and complaints all go to support@zwstudiollc.com.

What changed

September 12, 2026. Rewritten as a policy rather than as a description of the code, on the model of the same operator's other sites: a named controller, a legal basis, the recipients, the transfer mechanism and the authority to complain to are now stated, where before they were not. Nothing changed about what is collected, who receives it, or how long it is kept.