# Privacy Policy

_Last updated: October 12, 2026_

direct-img.link has no accounts and doesn't sell data. This page explains what is collected when you use it.

## IP addresses

- Your IP address is used to enforce rate limits.
- For the daily search limit, it's stored only as a hash combined with the current date, along with a counter. These records are periodically deleted once they are older than about a day.
- Cloudflare also uses your IP address for burst rate limiting and security.

## Search queries and images

- When a query isn't already cached, it's sent to Brave Search, and to Bing if Brave returns nothing or is unavailable. On free.direct-img.link, it's sent to Openverse and/or Wikimedia Commons instead. Searches and image downloads are made from our servers, so your IP address isn't shared with these search providers or the sites images come from.
- Each query (with its `i` and `src` options) and the image it returned are cached for up to 90 days. Failed searches are remembered for 24 hours.
- Cached images are shared: anyone requesting the same query and options gets the same image.

## Operational alerts

Queries and IP addresses may be included in alerts sent to the maintainer through a push notification service (ntfy), used to monitor usage and abuse.

## Analytics

We use [GoatCounter](https://www.goatcounter.com), a privacy-focused analytics service that doesn't use cookies.

- The homepage loads GoatCounter's script, which records the visit, the referring page, and your screen width.
- Each image request is reported to GoatCounter from our servers, including the query, the referring page (for example, the site embedding the image), your user agent, and your IP address.
- GoatCounter uses your IP address and user agent to work out your country, browser, and operating system, and to count unique visitors. It [doesn't store the IP address or user agent itself](https://www.goatcounter.com/help/sessions).

## Newsletter

- If you sign up for updates on the homepage, your email address, the sign-up date, and your IP address are stored by our newsletter service (newsletter.planetrenox.com, also run on Cloudflare) and used only to email you about direct-img.link.
- The sign-up form uses [Cloudflare Turnstile](https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/) to block bots.
- The maintainer gets a push notification (ntfy) with your email address when you sign up or unsubscribe.
- Every email has an unsubscribe link. Unsubscribing stops all emails right away.

## Hosting and third parties

- The service runs on Cloudflare, which processes all requests under its own [privacy policy](https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/).
- The homepage embeds GitHub's Sponsor button, which is loaded from GitHub under GitHub's [privacy statement](https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement).
- The homepage loads Cloudflare Turnstile for the newsletter sign-up form.
- direct-img.link doesn't set any cookies.

## Changes

We may update this policy at any time. The date above shows the latest revision.

## Contact

Privacy questions: [contact@direct-img.link](mailto:contact@direct-img.link)