Privacy and data
usel.ink is a free early-stage link tool. No account or email address is needed.
Saved links
We store the destination URL, its chosen name, creation time, an owner identifier and a count of opens. Unprotected links are public and discoverable through Find a link. Anyone who knows a link can follow it. A memorable name is not a password, and the service does not make the destination private.
Your browser’s collection
A secure, HTTP-only cookie identifies your collection for up to one year. The database stores a hash of that identifier. A recovery key can restore the same collection in another browser. The key grants access to whoever holds it, so keep it private. Clearing the cookie removes access unless you kept the key. Self-service deletion is not available yet.
Find a link
When you open an unprotected usel.ink link, your anonymous browser collection remembers its address, your number of opens and the latest open time. Find a link combines links you created, saved and opened, and searches all public usel.ink links, ranking matches using your created, saved and opened links and familiar websites. Suggestions do not identify you as another creator or grant access to their private collection. PIN-protected links are not added to visitor history or public search results; their creator can still find them in their own browser. Your browser cookie keeps this experience separate; we do not match devices by IP address. Restoring your private recovery key connects your collection on another device.
Private folders
Folders store their three-word name, owner identifier, saved URLs, titles, public preview descriptions and thumbnail addresses, and creation times in our database. Only the browser with the owning cookie can read or add links. Folder names are not passwords and cannot recover access. You can remove individual folder links. A recovery key lets another browser open the same collection. Clearing site data loses access unless you kept the key. An anonymous cookie automatically restores the same default folder on return visits. We do not use IP addresses to identify folder owners. Shared URLs travel through the share screen and may appear in browser history until saved. Thumbnail images load from the source website without a referrer; that website receives an image request. Videos and page contents are not downloaded into folders.
Offline queue and Chrome import
Links you explicitly save while offline wait in this browser’s local storage and sync when a connection returns. You can remove queued links before sync. The optional Chrome extension can suggest links from your history, open tabs, or bookmarks after you grant access in Chrome. It ranks and filters suggestions locally; only selected URLs are sent to usel.ink for review. They are saved only when you confirm creation.
Native Android app
The Android app first stores shared URLs, titles and save times in its private local database. It uses a separate random app identifier to sync saved links to its own online folder. Sync happens when Android permits network work; it does not block local saving. The app does not import your Chrome cookie or collection. Uninstalling or clearing app data loses local links and folder access. No cross-device pairing or account recovery is available. Source website previews may be fetched during syncing as described below.
Automatic suggestions
When you enter a URL, our server may request the public page title to suggest words. It sends no account credentials or browser cookies to the destination. Public DNS checks use Cloudflare. Some addresses with authentication or signature parameters are not fetched. Page content is processed temporarily; the suggestion feature does not store a copy of the page.
Usage measurement
We count page views, started and successful link creations, copy and share actions, and Chrome extension downloads by day and broad source, such as YouTube or search. These aggregate counters do not store IP addresses, names, destination URLs, full referrers or browsing histories. They are event counts, not unique-person counts. Browser-sent counters respect the Do Not Track setting. Hosting providers may separately process technical request information to operate and secure the service.
Sharing
Sharing is optional. A share button opens your device’s share menu; you choose where to send the link. We do not post automatically to your accounts.