Privacy & Data Notice

ViewOwl — Last updated: 2026

⚠ Development Preview — public demo ViewOwl is an open-source project in active development, provided as a public demo for testing and evaluation only. It is not a production service and carries no guarantees of uptime, data retention, or security completeness. Do not store sensitive personal data. For transparency: we log the IP address of every request to detect, rate-limit, and block abuse and automated attacks — see What data we collect below.

What is this?

ViewOwl is an open-source tool that renders HTML pages into BGR565 bitmap frames and streams them to low-cost ESP32 + LCD displays over UDP/WiFi. The web interface lets you manage display devices, upload templates, and monitor the grab pipeline.

What data we collect

IP addresses — recorded in security logs for every HTTP request.
Request logs — HTTP method, path, status code, and timestamp.
Session data — a signed JWT token stored in your browser's localStorage to keep you logged in.
Account credentials — your login name and a bcrypt-hashed password. Plaintext passwords are never stored.

We do not use analytics, tracking pixels, advertising networks, or third-party scripts of any kind.

Why we collect it

Data	Purpose
IP address & request logs	Security — detecting abuse, blocking malicious IPs, brute-force protection
Session token (JWT)	Authentication — keeping you logged in across page loads
Login + password hash	Access control — verifying your identity

How long we keep it

Security event logs — 30 days, then automatically purged.
Session fingerprints — until you log out or 30 days of inactivity.
Account data — until you request deletion.
IP block records — up to 30 days for auto-blocks; permanent for manual blocks.

Your rights

You can request deletion of your data by emailing kirindenis1977@gmail.com. Because this is a development project operated by a small team, we may not always respond within GDPR's 30-day window, but we will make a reasonable effort to do so.

You can also delete your own account from the account settings page at any time.

Cookies

ViewOwl does not use HTTP cookies for session management. Your authentication token is stored in localStorage (browser storage, not a cookie). This means no cookie consent banner is required.

If your browser's developer tools show a cookie from ViewOwl, it is a strictly necessary technical artefact (e.g. CSRF protection) and contains no personal data.

Third-party services

The display templates may fetch live data from third-party APIs such as Open-Meteo (free weather API, no key required). When a template fetches from such a service, your browser's IP address will be visible to that service. ViewOwl itself does not proxy or log these requests.

NOT for production use

This project is in active development. The data model, authentication system, and security measures may change without notice. Do not use ViewOwl to store or process personal data of third parties, or in any regulated context. Data may be deleted or migrated without prior notice.

Contact

For privacy questions or data deletion requests, email kirindenis1977@gmail.com. You can also open an issue or discussion on GitHub or reach the maker community in the OWLOS group on Facebook.