Privacy Policy

Effective: November 1, 2026

Who We Are

Eight.ly is a product of Imogen Labs, operated by Michael Ashley. Our website is eight.ly.

Eight.ly Mobile App

The Eight.ly mobile app (iOS and Android) connects directly to your self-hosted Eight.ly OS server. The app does not send any data to Eight.ly servers, Imogen Labs servers, or any third party.

Data stored on your device

  • Server URL — stored in local app storage on your device
  • API key / authentication token — stored in the iOS Keychain (iOS) or Android EncryptedSharedPreferences (Android)

This data never leaves your device except to communicate with your own self-hosted server. We have no access to your server URL, API key, or any data on your server.

Data transmitted to third parties

None. The app communicates only with the server URL you configure. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting, no advertising SDKs.

Data shared with Eight.ly / Imogen Labs

None. We do not operate any cloud service that the app connects to. All communication is between your device and your self-hosted server on your own network.

Eight.ly OS (Self-Hosted Software)

Eight.ly OS runs on your hardware and your files stay there. It does contact our update server, updates.eight.ly, on its own. This is the complete list, read from the code, of what it sends, when, and why. If we add anything, it appears here before it ships.

What Eight.ly OS sends on its own

  • Update check — every box, at start and every six hours. It asks whether a newer version exists and sends your edition, processor type and current version. No licence key, no account. When an update is offered it also downloads that release's checksum and signature files; on an activated box those requests carry your licence token.
  • Licence check-in — activated boxes only, a few seconds after start and every 24 hours. It sends your licence token and a hardware fingerprint: one-way hashes of the system ID, the main network card's address and the boot disk's serial number, so the licence stays tied to one machine. If the boot disk has changed, it also sends the box's install ID and its old and new fingerprints. There is no setting to turn it off. If it fails, your box keeps working.
  • App catalogue — activated boxes only, at start and every 24 hours. It downloads the app and container catalogue and sends only your licence token.
  • Seat release — only after you deactivate a box while it could not reach us. It retries every 15 minutes with the licence key and install ID until the seat is released.
  • The operating system underneath — every box. It sets its clock from Debian's public time servers and checks the Debian, Docker, Cloudflare and NVIDIA package repositories daily. Only Debian security updates install automatically.

When you do something

  • Activating sends the licence key, install ID, hardware fingerprint and the box's name. Deactivating sends the licence key and install ID.
  • Features you set up talk to the services you choose: Cloudflare with your own API token, notifications to the address you enter, backups to your backup server, and app installs from container registries such as Docker Hub and GitHub. Creating a container reads the image list from linuxcontainers.org, installing the NVIDIA driver downloads it from NVIDIA, and publishing an app looks up your public address (api.ipify.org) and checks its DNS (1.1.1.1).

What it does not send

Your files or their names, which apps you run, how you use the box, crash reports or analytics. The dashboard loads no outside scripts, fonts or trackers. The one exception is the Requests page, where your browser loads film posters from TMDB.

Website (eight.ly)

Analytics

eight.ly loads no analytics today. If we add some, it will be Umami, run on our own server without cookies, and this section will say exactly what it records before it goes live.

Purchases

If you purchase an Eight.ly license, payment is processed by LemonSqueezy (our merchant of record). They collect your name, email, and payment information. We receive your email address and license details to fulfill your order. We do not store credit card numbers.

Early access

If you sign up for early access, we keep your email address for one thing: to tell you when Eight.ly OS opens and to send you the image first. We mail you once to confirm the address is yours, and every mail carries a link that removes you and deletes the address. The list lives on our own server; no mailing-list company holds it.

Cookies

We do not use cookies on eight.ly.

Community

If you join our Discord server or subreddit, those platforms' privacy policies apply.

How We Use Your Data

  • To deliver purchased software and license keys
  • To keep licences working and deliver updates to your box
  • To respond to support requests

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Third-Party Services

The Eight.ly mobile app does not use any third-party services or SDKs.

Your Rights

You can request deletion of any personal data we hold by emailing [email protected]. Since we collect minimal data, there's usually nothing to delete.

Contact

For privacy questions: [email protected]

For general inquiries: [email protected]

Eight.ly is a product of Imogen Labs, operated by Michael Ashley.