Privacy

Last updated 19 October 2026. Applies to Tote 0.2.0 and later, and to this website.

Tote works on your laptop. Your files, what is inside them, your searches and your settings stay there. There is no account, no advertising and no analytics. The only thing Tote sends over the internet is a small check for new versions, described below.

What stays on your laptop

To find files quickly, Tote keeps an index on the laptop: file names and folders, words found inside documents, your pins and templates, the Activity history with Undo, and your settings. It is stored in Tote's own data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\com.focalstack.tote) and is never uploaded. To remove it, uninstall Tote and delete that folder.

The one thing that goes online

While Settings > Check for new versions is on (it is on when you install Tote), Tote asks totedesk.website/latest.json at most once a day whether a newer version exists. Like any request on the internet, this shows the website your laptop's IP address and that the request came from Tote's updater. No file names, file contents, searches or settings are sent.

When you click Update now, Tote downloads the new installer from the same website and installs it only if its digital signature matches the one built into Tote.

Turn the switch off and Tote does not go online at all. You can still download new versions from the Tote page.

Who handles that request

This website is hosted by Vercel Inc. To deliver and protect the site, Vercel processes request details such as the IP address, the time and the browser or app name in its logs. Lex Matondo does not use these details to identify anyone, does not sell or share them, and adds no analytics. See Vercel's privacy policy for how it handles and keeps them.

This website

The Tote pages set no cookies, run no scripts, and load nothing from other websites. There are no forms.

Your rights

Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 you may ask what personal information is held about you, and ask for it to be corrected or deleted. Because Tote itself collects nothing, such requests usually concern the hosting logs described above. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you may complain to the National Privacy Commission.

Contact

Lex Matondo, codewithlex27@gmail.com

Changes

If this notice changes, the new version is posted here with a new date.