SpamBlaster is published by Wilburn Pacific Company. This policy covers three separate things: the SpamBlaster app that runs on your computer, this website (spamblaster.org), and Vortex, the optional sync service. They are different, and they handle data differently, so we describe each on its own below.
One distinction runs through all three, and it is worth stating plainly because it is easy to blur. The app sends us nothing about your mail. That is true for every user, paid or not, and nothing on this page qualifies it. Vortex is not an exception to it: Vortex moves your own data, to your own devices, because you asked it to, in a form we cannot read. Data we collect about you is one thing; data of yours that you move using our service is another, and we do not intend to let the second quietly become the first.
The SpamBlaster app
SpamBlaster is local-first. It filters your mail on your own machine. The following are properties of the software itself, verified in how it is built:
- Local-first. Everything runs on your computer. The background service listens only on 127.0.0.1 (loopback). It is not reachable from the web.
- Encrypted at rest. Your rules and the block events live in an encrypted local database. The key is held in your operating system keychain, never on disk.
- Credentials stay in the OS keychain.Mailbox sign-in tokens and the dashboard's API token live only in the OS keychain (Windows Credential Manager), never in plaintext on disk.
- Minimal data. Block logs record only the sender name, the sender address domain, and the matched rule pattern. They never store message subjects or bodies.
- No product telemetry. No analytics, no tracking, no usage pings. Nothing about your mail leaves your machine.
What leaves your machine
The app connects out only for these, all of which you control:
- Connections to your mail provider(s) and their sign-in (OAuth).
- The current version of SpamBlaster, only when you trigger a check for updates. If an automatic update check is ever offered, it is optional and sends only a version string, never your mail or any telemetry.
- spamblaster.org links, only if you choose to open them.
Vortex, the sync service
Vortex is optional, requires a paid plan, and is off unless you turn it on. It copies your rules, safelist and blocked-mail history between your own devices. Its terms are the Vortex Service Agreement.
Your data is encrypted on your device before it reaches us and is decrypted only on your devices. We cannot read it. We cannot see your rules, your safelist, who has written to you, what any message said, or anything else inside it.
What we can see anyway. Encryption hides contents, not the shape of them, and we would rather say so than let you assume otherwise:
- How much you store, and how often it changes. That gives us a rough idea of how much mail is being blocked for you, and roughly when. It does not tell us what was blocked, or by whom, or from whom.
- The names you give your devices.You choose these, and they do not have to be the computer's real name. We hold the name so that you can tell your devices apart when you manage them.
- Identifiers your devices generate for themselves, and the account your plan belongs to.
- Ordinary server records, including IP addresses and request times, which any service on the internet receives. We use them to run and protect the service.
Your recovery code. It is generated on your device and never sent to us. We do not have it, we cannot display it again, and we cannot reset it. If you lose access to every connected device and the recovery code as well, the data stored in Vortex cannot be recovered by anyone, including us. That is the cost of the encryption being real.
Where it lives. Vortex runs on Microsoft Azure in the United States. Microsoft hosts the encrypted data on our behalf and cannot read it either.
When it goes. When your plan ends, or when you delete your Vortex, we delete the stored data within 30 days, along with the redundant copies our hosting keeps of it. Your own devices keep their copies; ending Vortex stops them being kept in step, and deletes nothing from your computers.
We do not sell it, we do not advertise against it, and we do not use it to train anything. We could not do any of those with it even if we wanted to, which is the point of the design.
This website
This website is a normal website, separate from the local-first app. It is where you read about SpamBlaster, download it, and contact us. It uses the following:
- Anonymous analytics. We use privacy-friendly, aggregate analytics (Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights) to understand how the site is used and to keep it fast. This is anonymous and not tied to an identified person. We do not sell it.
- Accounts (optional). You can use SpamBlaster without an account. If you choose to create one, our authentication provider, Clerk, processes your email address and sign-in details on our behalf so we can sign you in.
- The contact form. When you contact us, we collect the name, email, and message you submit so we can reply. We use it to respond to you. We do not sell it or use it for unrelated marketing.
- Cookies. The site uses only the cookies needed for the features above (for example, keeping you signed in). There are no third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
What we do not do
- We do not sell your personal information.
- The SpamBlaster app does not phone home about your mail. There is no product telemetry. Using Vortex does not change this: it moves your data where you told it to, and reports nothing about you to us.
- We do not track you across other websites.
Your choices
You can run the SpamBlaster app without creating a website account. Your rules and block data stay on your machine and are yours. If you created an account, you can ask us to delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will post the updated version here and revise the date above.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Contact us.