What the GIF is a video-to-GIF converter that runs entirely in your browser. This page explains what we do and don't collect, and your rights as a visitor.
The short version
- Your videos and GIFs never leave your browser. All conversion happens locally on your device. We never see, receive, store, or transmit the videos you convert or the GIFs you make.
- We don't run accounts, signups, or logins, and we ask you for no personal information. The only measurement we do ourselves is cookieless counting that can't identify you: page views (GoatCounter and our own same-origin counter) and a running total of GIFs made, which is one number and not a log. Details below.
- The site itself is a normal web page: loading it contacts our host (Netlify), Google Fonts, Google AdSense, and our page-view counter (GoatCounter). Those can involve your IP address and, for ads, cookies. Details below.
What we never collect or receive
The core of the tool touches none of your content. We do not collect, store, receive, or transmit:
- The videos you drop in (they are decoded and processed entirely in your browser)
- Tab or screen recordings you make with the Record a Tab button (captured and handled entirely by your browser on your device, never sent to us or anyone else, and discarded when you close the page)
- The GIFs you generate
- Any name, email address, or account, because there are none
What does happen automatically, as with essentially any website, is that loading a page sends your device's IP address and browser user-agent to the servers that deliver it. We do not use that to identify you, and the only records we keep ourselves are the anonymous page-view counts described below, which contain no IP address, no user-agent, and no identifier beyond an anonymous key that changes every day.
Cookies and local storage
The site uses browser storage and cookies in these ways:
- Your cookie preference is stored in your browser's
localStorageso the banner doesn't reappear. You can clear it any time in your browser's storage settings. - Advertising cookies (Google AdSense). When ads are served, Google and its partners may set cookies to deliver and measure them. See how Google uses ad cookies. For visitors in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, ad consent is collected through Google's certified consent tool before personalized ads are shown.
We do not set any analytics or tracking cookies of our own. The page-view counting described below works without cookies and stores no identifier in your browser; the only things it keeps there are a yes/no "already counted this session" flag and, if you use it, your opt-out choice.
Page-view counting (GoatCounter)
To know which pages are useful, we count page views with GoatCounter, an open-source, privacy-first counter. For each page view it records the page URL, the referring site, your browser and operating system type, screen size, and a country code derived from your IP address. It sets no cookies, stores no unique identifier, and does not retain your IP address, so it cannot follow you across visits or across sites. We see only aggregate numbers ("this page got N views"). GoatCounter's privacy policy.
Page-view counting (our own)
We also count page views ourselves, to the same privacy standard as GoatCounter and on our own domain, so we can tell which pages real people find useful. For each page view your browser sends the page URL, the referring site, and the width of your browser window to /api/visit on this site; a short moment after the page is open, it sends one more "a person is here" ping. Our server adds the country your request came from and a coarse browser classification, and records the view under an anonymous session key. That key is a one-way hash of your IP address and browser type with a secret that changes every day, so it cannot connect today's visit to yesterday's, cannot be reversed into your address, and cannot follow you to any other site. Your IP address and full user-agent are used only in memory to build that key and are never stored. It sets no cookies. The counts are kept for at most 90 days, only we can see them, and the request goes to this site's own domain, never to a third party. To keep your visits out of the counts entirely, open any page here with ?optout=1 added to the address once per browser.
The "GIFs made" counter
The homepage shows a running total of GIFs made with this tool. When a render finishes, your browser sends a single anonymous "add one" to our own server at /api/gif-count. That request carries no filename, no dimensions, no frame data, and no identifier: there is nothing in it that could be traced to you or to what you made. We store one number, not a log of events, so there is no record that any particular visit produced a GIF. The request goes to this site's own domain, never to a third party, and the browser's own Content-Security-Policy still forbids this page from sending anything anywhere else.
Google AdSense
This site is ad-supported through the Google AdSense program, which is how the tool stays free. Google and its partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure ads, and, where permitted, to personalize them based on your prior visits to this and other sites. You can control this at My Ad Center / Google Ads Settings, and EEA/UK/Swiss visitors are asked for consent via Google's consent tool. Blocking ads (for example with an ad blocker) does not affect the converter.
Third parties
Loading this site involves the following third-party services, each with its own privacy policy:
- Netlify, hosting and content delivery; receives your IP and user-agent in standard request logs. Privacy policy.
- Google Fonts, web fonts loaded from Google's servers, which receives your IP address when a page loads. Privacy policy.
- Google AdSense, advertising. Privacy policy.
- GoatCounter, cookieless page-view counting as described above. Privacy policy.
Your rights
We hold no account or profile about you to export or delete, because we don't create one. Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR or CCPA/CPRA) you may have rights over data held by the third parties above; use their controls, or contact us and we'll help point you to the right place. You can also:
- Manage or withdraw ad-cookie consent through Google's consent tool and My Ad Center.
- Clear this site's stored cookie preference in your browser at any time.
- Block advertising with your browser or an ad blocker; the converter still works.
Children
This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy occasionally. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email hello@whatthegif.com.