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No ads, no account, and an anonymous usage ping you can switch off. Here is exactly what the app sends.

Last updated: 2026-10-06

VirtualZones shows no ads and needs no account. The app sends a small, anonymous daily usage ping — which you can turn off in Preferences — and otherwise talks to the internet only to check for updates, download languages and check licenses, all described below. This website uses cookieless analytics (PostHog, through our own server) that set no cookies and store no IP address.

Network activity: updates and the anonymous usage ping

At launch and about every 24 hours, the app asks virtualzones.cc whether a newer version exists. The same request carries the anonymous usage ping, unless you turn off Send usage statistics in Preferences (it's on by default).

  • What it contains: a random install ID the app creates on first run, a one-way hash of your PC's Windows machine ID (so we can tell when VirtualZones is reinstalled on the same PC; the machine ID itself never leaves your PC, and the hash can't be turned back into it or matched with other apps), the app version, your UI language, your Windows build number, your trial, free-extension or license status (with days left in a trial or extension), whether this is the Microsoft Store or the website version and, once licensed, whether the license comes from a key, the Microsoft Store or both, and — once a key is active — Lemon Squeezy's numeric customer ID.
  • What it never contains: your name, email, license key, computer name, files, window titles or how you use the app.
  • How it's handled: our server on Cloudflare reads your country and then discards your IP address before forwarding the ping to PostHog, which stores it in the United States under its data processing agreement (the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses). Pings are kept for 12 months.
  • With the ping off, the update check sends only the app version and nothing is recorded.

Network activity: languages

At launch the app downloads the list of UI languages from virtualzones.cc and, if you use a language other than English, refreshes that translation. We count downloads per language and country, with no install ID or IP address.

Network activity: crash reports

If the app crashes, it saves a short report in %AppData%\VirtualZones\crash.txt. At the next launch, after the update check, it sends the report to virtualzones.cc with the install ID and deletes it from your PC. This happens only while Send usage statistics is on; with it off, the report is deleted unsent. A report contains the app version, your Windows build, how long the app had been running, the number of crashes since the last report, the error message and where in VirtualZones' code the crash happened (a source file name and line, or code offsets). Before sending, the path to your user folder is replaced with %USERPROFILE%, other paths are cut to a file name or <path>, your Windows user name is replaced with <user> wherever it appears, and each value is limited to 300 characters. No window titles, settings, license data or log lines are included. As with the usage ping, our server reads your country and then discards your IP address before forwarding the report to PostHog.

Downloads, installation and purchases

  • Downloads from this site get a random code in the file name (VirtualZones-Setup-<code>.exe), so we can connect a download to the install it became.
  • The installer, on a new install, sends that code and the version, and saves the code for the app's first usage ping. The uninstaller sends the install ID and the version. Both are skipped when usage statistics are off.
  • Buy License opens our pricing page with the install ID, which is added to your Lemon Squeezy order. When an order is placed or refunded, our license service records the product, quantity and amount in PostHog against that install. Your email and name are not sent to PostHog.
  • In the Microsoft Store version, Buy opens Microsoft's own checkout; Microsoft handles the payment, and we never see your payment details or Microsoft account. When a purchase goes through, the app tells virtualzones.cc which add-on was bought (Lifetime or Monthly) with the install ID. As with the usage ping, our server reads your country and then discards your IP address before forwarding it to PostHog, where it is recorded without an amount. This is skipped when usage statistics are off.
  • Extend free for 7 days (shown once the trial ends) opens virtualzones.cc/extend with the install ID, which records the click and opens the extension's Lemon Squeezy checkout with the install ID on the order. As with the usage ping, our server reads your country and then discards your IP address before forwarding the click to PostHog. Lemon Squeezy asks for your email (to send the key) and name; its marketing checkbox is separate and optional. The order is recorded in PostHog like a purchase, without your email or name.

Newsletter

If you sign up for news on this website, your email address is sent through our server to Lemon Squeezy, which keeps the mailing list and sends the emails; every email has an unsubscribe link. We count sign-ups per page and country without the address. To keep bots out, the form may run a Cloudflare Turnstile check.

If you join the Mac waitlist on the pricing page, your address also joins that newsletter, and we keep it, with your country and the sign-up date, in our own database (Cloudflare D1) so we can email the waitlist when the Mac version launches. We use it for nothing else. To be removed, email [email protected].

Network activity: license activation

No license request is made during the 7-day free trial.

The Microsoft Store version also asks the Microsoft Store, on your PC, which add-ons your Microsoft account owns: at launch, after a purchase, and then about every 2 weeks (hourly while it owns none). It keeps the last answer (which add-on, and when it was checked) in settings.json, so a Store purchase stays valid offline for up to 30 days.

Once you enter a license key, the app sends it to Lemon Squeezy's License API (api.lemonsqueezy.com) to confirm it is valid:

  • On activation — a one-time check when you click Activate. This registers your PC as an "instance" tied to the key, so you can tell your devices apart if you manage the license from your Lemon Squeezy account.
  • Periodically after that — roughly every 2 weeks, silently in the background, to confirm the license is still active (not refunded, disabled, or deactivated). If you are offline, the license stays valid for up to 30 days after the last successful check; after that the app behaves as unlicensed until it can check again, and restores the license automatically once you're online.

If this PC has already used its free extension, entering another key first asks Lemon Squeezy what kind of key it is, without activating it, so a second free extension can be refused.

What is sent: the license key, and — on activation only — your PC's computer name (e.g. DESKTOP-AB12CD3) as a human-readable label so you can identify the device later. Nothing else about you, your usage, or your files is sent.

What is received: whether the key/instance is still valid, and the customer name on the purchase, which is stored on your PC (encrypted) to show "Licensed to <name>". This data is handled by Lemon Squeezy (a Stripe company) under their own privacy policy once it reaches their servers.

Network activity: moving a license to another PC

If you activate a key that is already active on another computer, VirtualZones asks our license service at api.virtualzones.cc (run by us on Cloudflare) which computers the key is active on, so it can offer to move the license to this one.

  • What is sent: the license key, and — when you confirm a move — which activation to release.
  • What is received: the computer names and activation dates already registered for that key (the same names shown in your Lemon Squeezy order), and how many moves are left.
  • What is stored: the date and time of each move, per license, so a license can be moved once every 30 days. Nothing else is kept; requests are processed by Cloudflare and the release itself is done through Lemon Squeezy.

For team purchases, the same service sets the license's activation limit to the number of licenses bought, using the order details Lemon Squeezy sends it.

Clicking Buy License additionally opens your default browser to the purchase page — a normal link click, not a background request.

What the app stores (locally only)

  • Settings — your layouts, toggles and hotkeys, in %AppData%\VirtualZones\settings.json.
  • Usage count — the "Used N times" line in About, in %AppData%\VirtualZones\usage.dat. It is never sent anywhere.
  • Install ID — the random ID used by the usage ping, in %AppData%\VirtualZones\install.id.
  • Crash report — only after a crash, until the next launch sends or deletes it, in %AppData%\VirtualZones\crash.txt.
  • License — your license key, activation instance id, last-verified date and the buyer name from your purchase are saved to %AppData%\VirtualZones\license.dat, encrypted with Windows DPAPI so only your user account on this PC can read it.
  • Trial start date — to enforce the 7-day trial, the app records the first-run date, encrypted, in the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VirtualZones) and a small file (%AppData%\VirtualZones\trial.v2.dat). It is a functional record, not tracking.
  • Free extension marker — which extension key this PC used, encrypted, in the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VirtualZones) and a small file (%AppData%\VirtualZones\extension.dat), so each PC gets one free extension. It is a functional record, not tracking.
  • Last reminder day — TrialReminderDate and TrialDialogDate in settings.json, so the trial reminder and the trial-ended dialog each show at most once a day.
  • Language files — downloaded translations are cached in %AppData%\VirtualZones\lang\.
  • "Start with Windows" — when enabled, the app adds a value pointing to its own executable under …\CurrentVersion\Run. Disabling the option removes it. The Microsoft Store version uses Windows' own startup setting for the app instead (Settings > Apps > Startup).
  • Diagnostic log — a plain-text log at %TEMP%\virtualzones.log helps with bug reports. It never contains your license key and is never sent anywhere automatically.

The Microsoft Store version and the website version use these same places, so on one PC they share one trial, one license and one set of settings. Uninstalling either version leaves them in place; to remove everything, delete %AppData%\VirtualZones and the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VirtualZones.

System capabilities the app uses (all local)

  • Window management — it moves and resizes application windows into zones on your monitor.
  • Global mouse hook — used only to detect Shift-drag for drag-to-snap. Mouse input is not recorded, stored, or transmitted.
  • Zone sharing — the opt-in Share Zone feature captures only the specific zone(s) you toggle on, streamed locally to your meeting app. It is off unless you turn it on.

Third parties

Cloudflare (this website, downloads, update checks, and our license service at api.virtualzones.cc), PostHog (anonymous usage statistics, stored in the United States) and Lemon Squeezy (payments and license checks). This website counts page views and clicks on Download and Buy with PostHog in cookieless mode, through our own server: no cookies or local storage are used, and your IP address is used only to estimate your country and count unique daily visitors, then discarded. Cloudflare also measures page load speed with its cookieless Web Analytics. No other third-party SDKs, trackers or advertising are bundled.

Contact

Questions about this policy: email [email protected].