Imprint and privacy

Imprint

Responsible for this website and the tools Pixelhütte, Dunkelkammer, Vektorwerk, Schnittstube, Papiermühle and Schaukasten as well as the desktop apps:

Privacy

What this covers

This notice explains which personal data we process when you use freiraum.cloud. It follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Your images stay on your device

Pixelhütte, Dunkelkammer, Vektorwerk, Schnittstube and Papiermühle run in your browser. Images, drawings and videos you open and edit are not sent to us. Data is only transferred when you explicitly save a project to team storage. If you save a project to your own Nextcloud, it goes through our server directly there.

Visiting the website

When you visit, the server records technically necessary details in log files, such as IP address, date and time, the address requested and browser type. They serve secure and stable operation.

We use no analytics or advertising tools and embed no third-party content. We also serve the fonts ourselves.

Browser storage

The tools save settings such as language, window positions and a backup of your most recent work in your browser’s storage (local storage). This data stays on your device, and you can delete it in your browser settings.

Account and team storage

Using the tools requires an account. For this we store your name, email address, your password as a non-reversible hash, your chosen language and the times you signed up and signed in. A technically necessary session cookie keeps you signed in.

If you turn on two-factor sign-in, we store the secret key for your authenticator app in encrypted form and your recovery codes as non-reversible hashes. If you choose “Trust this device for 30 days”, we set a technically necessary cookie; we only keep a hash of it, which expires after 30 days and which you can delete in the settings at any time.

The operators of Freiraum see an admin overview with the name, email address, teams and roles of all accounts and the time of last activity. They can confirm, block or delete accounts and assign teams. They do not see the content of projects there.

In team storage we keep the projects you save there, including images and earlier versions. Team members see the team’s projects, the names of the other members and who currently has a project open. If you invite someone, we store their email address until the invitation is accepted or expires.

We only send emails to confirm your address, reset your password, deliver invitations and send security notices about your account (for example when two-factor sign-in is turned on or off).

To prevent abuse, we store the IP address of sign-in attempts and similar actions for no more than 24 hours.

Personal Nextcloud

In the “Files” window you can connect your own Nextcloud. You sign in with your Nextcloud (Login Flow v2); we never see your Nextcloud password. For each connection we store the server address, the label, your Nextcloud user name and display name, the features reported by the Nextcloud, the connection status and a dedicated app password. The app password is stored encrypted in the database; the key is kept separately outside the web directory.

Files you view, upload, download or save from the tools to Nextcloud pass through our server to your Nextcloud. We do not store them permanently; large uploads are only buffered for the duration of the transfer. You create shares directly in your Nextcloud.

When you disconnect, we revoke the app password in your Nextcloud and delete the connection. You can also revoke it in your Nextcloud under “Security”. The operators of Freiraum only see how many connections an account has and can disconnect them; they cannot see your files.

Office, Calendar and Talk

Office, Calendar and Talk work directly with your connected Nextcloud. Documents, events and messages stay stored there; our server only passes them on and keeps no copy. To edit documents, your Nextcloud creates a one-time link that only your browser receives. Voice and video calls run in Nextcloud Talk on your Nextcloud; audio and video do not pass through our server. If you offer a calendar in a Freiraum team, we store its name, colour and public link (encrypted); members of that team see the name, colour and your name and can add the calendar to their Nextcloud. Subscribed calendars are fetched by your Nextcloud itself.

Mail

For each mail account you add, we store the email address, name, label, the incoming and outgoing servers, the user name, the signature and the password. The password is stored encrypted in the database and only used to connect to your mail server. Messages stay on your mail server; we keep no copy. Attachments you upload while writing are stored encrypted on our server for at most 24 hours and deleted after sending. We only load images from other servers in HTML emails when you ask for it. When you remove an account, we delete the credentials and signature.

Desktop, profile picture and background

So that your desktop looks the same on every device after signing in, we store in your account the arrangement of icons, dock and start menu, the chosen appearance and the background. If you upload a profile picture, we store it on our server; it is visible to the members of your teams and to the operators in the administration overview. A background image of your own is visible only to you. You can remove both at any time; they are deleted together with your account.

Presentations

Your Nextcloud converts presentations from your Nextcloud to PDF using Nextcloud Office. This briefly creates an intermediate file in your Nextcloud, which we delete immediately, including from the trash bin. We only pass the PDF on to your browser and do not store it. If you open a PowerPoint or ODP file from your device, we briefly upload it to your Nextcloud for this and delete it there right away. PDF files you open from your device do not leave your browser.

Contacts

Contacts and address books are stored in your Nextcloud. Our server reads and writes them there on your behalf and keeps no copy. For address suggestions while writing an email, it searches your Nextcloud for matching contacts. Contact photos are only shown from the contact data itself; Freiraum does not load external addresses for them.

AI functions in Pixelhütte

Object Selection, “Select Subject”, “Select Sky”, “Remove Background”, “Sky Replacement”, “Remove Object” and the Spot Healing Brush run in your browser. No image data is transferred.

Optionally, you can store your own OpenAI key under “Settings → AI service”, or the operator sets up a shared AI service (OpenAI, USA). With your own key, requests run on your own OpenAI account, governed by OpenAI’s terms. Only when you explicitly trigger “Generative Fill”, “Generate Image” or “Generate Background” does our server send the image section, a mask and your description to the OpenAI image API and return the result to your browser. Pixelhütte shows you a notice before sending. We store neither images nor descriptions; we only count how many AI images were created per account and day to enforce the quota. OpenAI processes the data under its own API terms and may keep it for a limited time to detect abuse. The USA is not considered a country with adequate data protection, so please do not upload confidential images or personal data. API keys are stored encrypted on our server and are never sent to browsers; you can delete your own key at any time.

Papiermühle (PDF)

PDFs that you open, edit and export in Papiermühle are processed by your browser. They are not uploaded to our server – unless you explicitly save them to team storage (the project with the original PDF and your edits is then stored in your team’s database) or to your Nextcloud. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are converted to PDF by your Nextcloud, as with “Presentations”. Saved signatures are kept only in your browser.

The Papiermühle AI assistant uses the same AI service as Pixelhütte (your own or a shared OpenAI key). Only when you explicitly ask a question or request a summary, key points, dates or a translation does our server send the document text (for long documents, part of it) and your question to the OpenAI text interface (USA) and return the answer to your browser. We do not store document text, questions or answers; we only count the number of requests per account and day. Do not send confidential documents or personal data if this is not permitted for you or your organisation.

Downloading the apps

To download the desktop apps, we ask for your name and email address. We use them to send you the download link, to see which app you requested and to contact you with questions about the test phase. We only send news by email if you explicitly tick the box; you can unsubscribe at any time. We keep the details until the end of the test phase, for two years at most, or until you ask us to delete them. The installed apps occasionally check freiraum.cloud for a new version; no information about you is transmitted.

Retention

We keep account data until you delete your account, which you can do at any time in your account settings. Projects are kept until they are deleted in the team. Older versions are removed automatically. Confirmation and password links expire after 48 hours, invitations after 7 days.

Sharing

We do not sell data or pass it on for advertising. The website and team storage run on the servers of our hosting provider in a data centre in Switzerland; it processes the data on our behalf.

Security

Connections are encrypted with HTTPS. Passwords are stored only as a hash. Project files are kept outside the publicly accessible part of the server. App passwords for Nextcloud connections are encrypted (XChaCha20-Poly1305) and bound to the respective account. Connections to internal network addresses are blocked.

Your rights

You can ask what data we hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, and receive it in a common format. Write to info@freiraum.cloud. If you disagree with our response, you can contact the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Last updated: October 2026