Trace — Privacy Policy

Effective date: 14 October 2026

Trace is a handwriting practice app. You can use the starter words without signing in. If you connect Google Drive, Trace saves your personal word boxes and pictures in your own Drive.

Who operates Trace

Trace is maintained by Phuong, the owner of the phuongm1409/trace GitHub repository. Questions about this policy or your data can be directed through the maintainer’s GitHub profile. Do not post private files, access tokens, or account details in public discussions.

Information the app accesses

• Your Google Drive account identifier, email address, and display name, when provided by Google, to identify your account and keep device copies separate.
• Words, language selection, picture uploads, and animation settings that you use in your word box.
• The contents and metadata of the Drive files used by Trace, including file identifiers, names, and modification times.
• A temporary Google access token that allows the browser to make the Drive requests you authorize.

Google Drive permission and use

Trace requests the drive.file permission. This allows it to create files and access files created by the app or explicitly made available to it; it does not request unrestricted access to your entire Drive. Trace uses this access to create a “Trace — My Word Boxes” folder, read and save English and Vietnamese word lists, and upload and display their pictures. Saving happens when you choose Save to Drive. The app may load your saved files after connection or when you choose Load from Drive.

Trace’s use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Google data is used only for the visible word-box and picture features described here. It is not sold, used for advertising, or used to develop or train AI models.

Where information is stored

Your saved word lists and uploaded pictures are stored in your Google Drive. Trace sends them directly from your browser to Google’s APIs. The app does not upload personal word boxes or pictures to the public GitHub repository and does not make your Drive files public.

Your browser also retains word-box drafts, downloaded picture copies, language preferences, account-specific cache keys, and saved-file version information in local storage. These copies remain on that browser until you clear site data. Google access tokens are held in page memory, not written to local storage by Trace. The connected account is held in page memory; cached files are associated with an account identifier.

Handwriting strokes are drawn on the browser’s canvas. The current app does not upload or permanently save those strokes.

Service providers and sharing

Google processes authentication and Drive requests under its Privacy Policy. Cloudflare hosts the website, and GitHub hosts the source code and some starter assets. These services may process technical request information such as IP addresses and browser information under their own policies. The current app does not include advertising or a separate analytics tracker.

The maintainer does not receive your Drive access token or your private files through a Trace server. Files remain subject to any permissions you set in Google Drive. Anyone with access to your unlocked device and browser may be able to view locally cached word boxes.

Retention, removal, and revoking access

• Sign out disconnects the current Trace page. It does not sign you out of Google, delete Drive files, clear device copies, or revoke the permission you granted to Google.
• To remove saved cloud data, delete the Trace folder and its contents in Google Drive, and empty Drive’s trash if you want to permanently delete them. Replaced or removed pictures may remain in this folder until you delete them.
• To remove local copies and preferences, clear this website’s data in your browser settings. If you use multiple devices or site addresses, clear each one separately.
• To revoke Google permission, visit Google Account → Third-party connections and remove Trace’s access.

Removing a word inside Trace changes the device word box. Use Save to Drive to update the saved list. It does not automatically delete previously uploaded picture files.

Children and shared devices

Trace can be used for supervised handwriting practice without Google sign-in. A parent, guardian, or teacher should manage any connected account and uploads in accordance with Google’s account rules. Avoid uploading children’s personal information, photos, or identifying details. Sign out and clear site data when using a shared device.

Changes

This page will be updated if Trace’s data handling changes. The effective date above identifies the current version.