What the GIFvideo → gif, the way creatives need it
// the fine print

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-10-05 · Your videos never leave your browser.

What the GIF is a video, photo, and GIF editor 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

What we never collect or receive

The core of the tool touches none of your content. We do not collect, store, receive, or transmit:

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:

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. When you finish an export in the tool, it also sends the format you exported (GIF, MP4, animated PNG, or a zip of frames) and nothing else: never the file, its name, its size, its dimensions, or anything in it. That lets us see which pages lead people to actually make something. Our server adds the country your request came from and a coarse browser classification, and records your page views and that export tally 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 and exports out of these counts entirely, open any page here with ?optout=1 added to the address once per browser. (The homepage's "GIFs made" total below is separate and still ticks.)

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. The counter itself stores one number, not a log of events, so it holds no record of which visit produced a GIF. The separate export tally described above does note that a visit exported something, under the same anonymous daily key, and like everything else here it never includes the GIF itself. 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.

Advertising

This site is ad-supported, which is how the tool stays free. We work with third-party advertising networks (currently Google AdSense; any network we add will be listed under Third parties below). These companies and their partners may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your online behavior on this site and on other websites. They use it to serve ads, to measure whether an ad was seen or clicked, to limit how often you see the same ad and, where the law allows it, to personalize the ads you see. Blocking ads with your browser or an ad blocker does not affect the converter.

Opting out of interest-based ads

Opt-outs are stored as a cookie in your browser, so clearing your cookies clears the opt-out too. California residents can use the same links to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for advertising. For visitors in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, we will ask for your consent through a certified consent management tool before any personalized ads are shown; that tool is not yet live, and we do not show personalized ads to visitors in those regions until it is.

Third parties

Loading this site involves the following third-party services, each with its own 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:

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.