Privacy and your data
Last updated 22 October 2026. This notice explains what 4w1z.io collects, why, who else receives it, how long it is kept and how to use your privacy rights.
Who is responsible
4w1z.io is operated by Dented Printer, based in Ontario, Canada. The owner of Dented Printer is the person in charge of the protection of personal information for this service. Contact: wand@4w1z.io.
Who this notice covers
- Account holders: people with a 4w1z account (currently invitation-only).
- Link visitors: anyone who opens a 4w1z short link, with or without an account.
- Cardlink users: people whose Cardlink cards get a 4w1z short link.
- People who share gems on dentedprinter.com, whose share links are 4w1z short links.
- People who report a link through the report form.
Link visitors
When you open a short link, the application looks up its destination, checks it against the link-protection services described below and redirects you. It sets no cookies on redirects, stores no IP address, referrer or visitor identifier, and builds no profile of you. It adds one to aggregate request counts for that link (a lifetime total, the total for the current destination, a last-activity date and, when the owner has charts turned on, a daily total kept for 30 days). Obvious bots and link previews are filtered from activity dates only on a best-effort basis.
Like most websites, our hosting provider's web servers keep standard access logs (such as IP address, time, requested address and browser type) to run and secure the service. DreamHost keeps them for about 7 days by default (a rarely used log can stay longer until it next rotates). The application does not read them to track visitors.
Cardlink short links
Cardlink, another Dented Printer tool, creates a 4w1z link for each card page. Cardlink's server sends us the card page address, a card identifier and, if you connected your account in Cardlink, a scrambled reference that we cannot turn back into your account. We never receive your username, profile picture or the card text. These links last until Cardlink deletes them: when you use "Delete my data" in Cardlink, when an unviewed card is cleaned up, or at most 420 days after creation. Deleted short addresses are never reused. See the Cardlink privacy policy.
Gem share links
When someone shares a gem on dentedprinter.com, the website's server asks 4w1z for a short link to that gem's page. We receive only the gem page address and the gem's identifier, nothing about the person sharing it. A gem's short link is deleted when the shared gem is deleted (30 days after it was last opened); gems the site owner publishes as animations are kept until removed. Deleted short addresses are never reused. See the Gems privacy policy.
Account holders: what the site keeps
Your contact email, account permissions, saved destinations, short codes, request counts and account dates. When activity tracking is enabled, links also have last-click, renewal and warning dates. We do not keep a raw visitor click history, IP address list or referrer analytics in the application.
Signing in
Passkeys keep their private keys, PINs and biometrics on your device or passkey provider. The site keeps a public credential and its label/usage dates. Optional Google sign-in keeps a provider account identifier and link date; Google handles its own account and consent records. We discard Google access and refresh tokens.
Link library and destination history
Titles, labels and dynamic-destination permission are saved with your account/links. Each destination period keeps its URL, active dates, aggregate request count and last counted request date. Earlier clicks without observed destination history are shown separately. We retain this history until the link or account is deleted. URLs can contain private query values. Full account JSON includes every retained period; link CSV is a current-link convenience.
Import previews expire after 10 minutes; the server session holds only an owner, random nonce and deadline. To survive sign-in confirmation, your browser tab temporarily stores draft URLs/CSV and signed preview fields. Drafts are cleared on success, sign-in/account change or tab close; expired drafts are removed on the next site page visit. CSV uploads are read locally into the form, not saved as named files. Existing security limits also cover editing and library requests.
Daily analytics
When enabled, the site counts successful redirect requests by short link, destination period and UTC day for the last 30 UTC calendar days. It separately counts qualifying activity requests using best-effort bot/preview filtering. These are requests, not unique people; no visitor identities, IP addresses or referrers are stored. HEAD, QR generation, readiness, blocked visits and ad impressions do not add daily counts. Data starts when collection is enabled and cannot reconstruct earlier lifetime clicks.
Account settings lets you stop collection and clear your own daily history, or clear it while continuing collection. Lifetime and full destination-period totals remain separate. Daily records are included in account JSON, expire after 30 UTC calendar days and disappear sooner with link or account deletion. Physical retention cleanup runs in bounded maintenance passes; independent backups remain separate.
Inactive links
Ordinary links receive a warning after 10 days without a qualifying click and expire after 30 days. You can renew for a fresh 30 days. Administrator links are exempt. Earlier explicit expiries still apply. Database cleanup runs in bounded maintenance requests.
Deleted and expired short codes stay permanently retired without an owner or destination. They are never assigned to another link or person, and no history of the retired link is kept.
Link protection and reports
When connected, Google Safe Browsing (or Web Risk) and supplemental IPQualityScore receive destination URLs, including their path and query values, to check for known threats. We add no account email, visitor IP or visitor identifier. IPQualityScore may visit a submitted destination and follow redirects. Avoid shortening URLs containing login tokens or private secrets. Checks may miss harmful sites or flag legitimate sites; a result is never a guarantee of safety.
These services are off until their private keys are configured. Google results are used only while valid; IPQualityScore results are refreshed after one day when requested and within the configured allowance. The application stores a per-account keyed URL hash, provider, verdict and check/expiry dates, without raw provider responses. Account erasure removes these records; provider retention is controlled by their own policies.
Enabled abuse reporting collects a short code and category, without a reporter contact field or free-text message. Reports and owned review actions expire after 30 days and disappear sooner when their link/account is erased. Reports never automatically suspend an account. Independent administrator destination rules last 30 days and store only an exact-URL hash and host, or an exact-host rule. They may remain after an account is removed to protect other users.
Blocked-link notices
Your dashboard shows current safety blocks and their source. When owner notifications are enabled, actual blocks can also generate an email digest to your saved account contact. A report alone does not trigger one. Messages identify short codes and the reason, without copying destination URLs. Notice and delivery metadata are kept for up to 30 days, are included in your account download and are erased sooner with your link/account. Emails already submitted and mailbox/provider copies cannot be recalled. Discovery and delivery run in bounded web requests or private scheduled maintenance, so notices may be delayed when the site is idle; they are not an always-on scanning service.
Account recovery
Enabled recovery requests have a generic public response. Eligible ordinary-account requests expire after 24 hours and create no automatic sign-in token or email. The operator must verify ownership separately before a 30-minute setup link is emailed only to the current account contact. Delivery/status dates are retained with the request; account deletion cascades them. Administrators use backup passkeys or a separate hosting procedure.
Why we use this information
- To provide the service you asked for: accounts, sign-in, creating and managing links, redirects, data downloads and service emails.
- To keep the service safe (legitimate interests): link-protection checks, abuse reports, rate limits, security counters, keeping retired codes reserved and keeping the site available.
- To show link owners aggregate counts (legitimate interests, with owner controls to stop and clear daily charts). These counts never identify visitors.
- To meet legal obligations, such as responding to lawful requests and keeping required security-incident records.
We do not sell personal information, use it for advertising profiles or share it with data brokers.
Who else receives information
- DreamHost (United States): website hosting, database and outgoing email.
- Google (United States): optional Google sign-in, and destination URL checks through Safe Browsing or Web Risk.
- IPQualityScore (United States): supplemental destination URL checks.
- UptimeRobot: checks that the site is reachable; it receives no information about you.
- Cloudflare (for Cardlink's servers): sends us Cardlink link requests as described above.
Your information is therefore stored and processed outside Canada, mainly in the United States, where it may be accessible to authorities under local law. We choose providers that protect it under contract and send each only what its task needs.
How long we keep it
- Account data, links and destination history: until you delete the link or account (and inactive ordinary links per the rules above).
- Daily counts, abuse reports, review actions and blocked-link notices: up to 30 days.
- Recovery requests: 24 hours; setup links: 30 minutes; security counters: minutes to hours.
- Cardlink short links: until Cardlink deletes them, at most 420 days.
- Gem share links: until the shared gem is deleted, normally 30 days after it was last opened.
- Retired short codes: the bare code is kept permanently so it is never reused; nothing else about the link is kept.
- Web server logs: about 7 days. Backups: DreamHost keeps nightly database backups for about 9 days and file backups for about 2 weeks; our own release snapshots are kept up to 7 days (database) or 14 days (other files).
- A minimal deletion record (an internal number, a type and a date, with no content): 35 days, so a restored backup can be erased again.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct or delete your personal information, receive a copy in a portable format, object to or restrict certain uses, or withdraw consent where we rely on it. Account holders can download all their data and delete their account in account settings after confirming with their sign-in method. Ordinary accounts can delete their active site data and sign-ins; administrators are protected against website deletion, suspension and demotion, and retiring the platform owner requires a separate hosting procedure. For anything else, email wand@4w1z.io; we may need to verify your identity, and we aim to reply within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec if you live in Quebec, or your local data protection authority if you live elsewhere (for example in the EU or UK).
Cookies and browser storage
Signing in sets one essential cookie (__Host-fourwiz) that keeps you signed in. It is HTTP-only, sent only to this site, and sessions end after 30 minutes without activity or 12 hours after sign-in. Some forms keep temporary drafts in your browser tab, as described above. Redirects set no cookies. There are no advertising or analytics cookies.
Email and advertising
Invitations, operator-approved recovery and enabled lifecycle notices are sent through DreamHost email. Messages and recipient/provider copies cannot be recalled by deleting a site account. The service is ad-free. Before any advertising is introduced, this notice will be updated and consent will be requested where the law requires it.
What these controls do not erase
Hosting access logs, backups, mailboxes, Google records and copies kept by other people are outside the active site database. Logs and backups expire on the schedules above. If we ever restore a backup, we first delete again everything that was erased after it was taken. Emails already sent and copies held by other people cannot be recalled. The account download is not a complete disclosure of those systems.
Security, children and changes
The site uses HTTPS, passwordless sign-in, encrypted database connections and hashed service keys, and limits who can reach administrative tools. No method is perfectly secure; if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected people and the authorities as the law requires. 4w1z is not intended for children under 16. When this notice changes, we update the date above, and we email account holders about significant changes.
Contact
For privacy questions, requests or reporting an abusive link, email wand@4w1z.io. Include the short link when reporting abuse; never send passwords, private keys or account-recovery tokens.