Privacy & Data Protection

Core principle: Your code never leaves your machine unless you explicitly choose cloud features. We are privacy-first, privacy-by-default, and fully GDPR compliant.

You have complete control over your data:

Right to Access Your Data

Request a complete export of all your data:

Open SnapBack Settings in VS Code
Click “Export My Data”
You’ll receive a ZIP file with:
- All snapshots you’ve created
- Account information
- API keys and sessions
- Subscription details
- Audit log of all access

Request data export →

Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”)

We’ll delete all your data permanently:

Go to SnapBack account settings
Scroll to “Danger Zone”
Click “Delete My Account”
Confirm your identity
All data deleted in <24 hours
- Your snapshots
- Your account
- Your API keys
- Audit logs mentioning you

This includes cascade deletion of dependent records (sessions, subscriptions, API keys).

Right to Anonymization

We can anonymize your data while keeping historical records:

SnapBack replaces your user ID with a one-way hash (e.g., anon_a7f3e2b1c9d4e) in all systems:

Analytics
Audit logs
Performance metrics
Error tracking

Benefit: You remain privacy-protected in our systems while we keep valuable product data.

Request anonymization →

Right to Data Portability

Your data export includes:

Raw snapshot files (original format)
Metadata (timestamps, file paths)
Subscription history
API keys (plaintext, one-time export)

Use this to:

Migrate to another tool
Archive your work
Integrate with other services

VS Code Extension

When you first install the SnapBack VS Code extension, you’ll see a consent modal that explains what data we collect and why. You can:

Accept - Enable analytics collection
Remind Me Later - Postpone the decision for 7 days
Cancel - Disable analytics collection

You can change your consent preferences anytime in VS Code Settings:

Open VS Code Settings (⌘+, or Ctrl+,)
Search for “SnapBack Privacy”
Toggle the consent options as desired

Web Dashboard

Our web dashboard uses a cookie consent banner to manage analytics preferences. You can:

Allow - Enable analytics collection
Decline - Disable analytics collection

What We Collect: The Complete Picture

Data	Collected?	Default	Storage	Purpose
Source code contents	Never	n/a	n/a	n/a
File paths	Optional	Off	Hashed locally	Session grouping
File types (.ts, .py)	Optional	Off	Cloud (if enabled)	Detection accuracy
Event metadata	Optional	Off	Cloud (if enabled)	Improve detection
Restore history	Yes	On	Local only	Risk scoring
AI tool detected	Optional	Off	Cloud (if enabled)	Tool-specific learning

Pioneer Program Telemetry

Pioneers who opt into “Help Improve Detection” share:

Which AI tool was detected (not what it wrote)
File types affected (not file names or contents)
Whether a restore occurred (not what was restored)

This data trains our detection models. Your code never leaves your machine.

What “Opt In” Means

Setting	Default	What’s Shared
Basic analytics	Off	Feature usage, errors
Detection improvement	Off	AI tool + file type + restore event
Crash reports	Off	Stack traces (no code)

You control each setting independently in VS Code preferences.

Data We Collect

Usage Analytics

We collect data about how you use SnapBack to improve the product:

Feature usage - Which features you use and how often
Navigation patterns - How you move through the interface
Performance metrics - Load times and responsiveness
Error rates - When things don’t work as expected

Technical Information

We collect technical information to ensure compatibility and performance:

VS Code version - To ensure compatibility
Operating system - To optimize for different platforms
Extension version - To track adoption of new features
Screen resolution - To optimize UI design

Interaction Data

We collect interaction data to understand user behavior:

Command usage - Which commands you execute
UI interactions - Button clicks and form submissions
Session duration - How long you use SnapBack
Workflow patterns - Common sequences of actions

Data We Don’t Collect

We are committed to protecting your privacy and do NOT collect:

Source code - Your actual code content
File contents - The text of your files
Personal identification - Beyond what’s necessary for account management
Sensitive personal data - Health, financial, or other sensitive information
Private repository names - Specific project identifiers
API keys or secrets - Any authentication credentials

Privacy Controls

VS Code Extension Settings

You can control privacy settings in VS Code:

{
  "snapback.privacy.consent": true,
  "snapback.privacy.clipboard": true,
  "snapback.privacy.watcher": true,
  "snapback.privacy.gitWrapper": true
}

Web Dashboard Controls

You can manage cookie consent through the consent banner or by clearing your browser cookies for snapback.dev.

Data Processing & Security

Encryption

All data is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) and stored securely with appropriate access controls.

Access Controls

Analytics data is only accessible to authorized SnapBack team members who need it for product development and support.

Third-Party Services

We use PostHog for analytics processing, which has its own privacy policy.

SnapBack is fully compliant with GDPR requirements:

Explicit consent for data collection
Right to access your data
Right to rectification of your data
Right to erasure of your data
Right to data portability
Privacy by design principles

Data Subject Rights

You can exercise your rights by contacting us at privacy@snapback.dev.

Data Retention

We retain analytics data for different periods based on its type:

Usage analytics - 24 months
Performance metrics - 12 months
Error logs - 6 months
Session replays - 3 months

You can request deletion of your data at any time.

Schema Documentation

Event Properties

We use a consistent schema for event properties:

Property	Type	Description	Example
`event`	string	Event name	`snapshot_created`
`timestamp`	ISO date	When event occurred	`2023-01-01T12:00:00Z`
`distinctId`	string	Unique user identifier	`user_12345`
`user_id`	string	User identifier	`user_12345`
`org_id`	string	Organization identifier	`org_67890`
`version`	string	Extension version	`1.2.3`

Privacy Filtering

All events pass through our privacy gate which:

Filters out sensitive properties using an allow-list
Blocks known patterns of sensitive data
Scrubs potentially identifying information

Our privacy implementation uses an allow-list filtering approach to ensure only safe, anonymized data is collected.

Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at:

📧 privacy@snapback.dev

For general support, contact:

📧 support@snapback.dev

Policy Updates

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We’ll notify you of significant changes through:

Email notification
In-app messaging
Website announcements

The latest version will always be available at this page.