Privacy policy
Last updated 9 November 2026
This policy explains what personal data we collect when you visit lockusb.com, buy LockUSB, or use the LockUSB app, why we collect it, and your rights. We collect as little as we can.
Who we are
LockUSB is made by Winet Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10288853), 777a London Road, Westcliff-On-Sea, SS0 9SU, United Kingdom. Winet Ltd is the controller of the personal data described here. Contact us about privacy at [email protected].
The LockUSB app
LockUSB never sends files, the contents of USB devices, or what you do on the PC. Everything it does to block and unlock devices happens on the PC itself. It keeps a salted, hashed copy of your unlock password in the Windows registry, and records unlocks and wrong passwords in the PC's own Windows Event Log. That information stays on the PC.
To activate a license key, and once a day to check it, the app sends our license server:
- the license key;
- an anonymous machine ID: a one-way hash of the hardware ID in the PC's firmware, which can't be turned back into that ID;
- the PC's name (for example OFFICE-PC), so you can tell your PCs apart;
- an activation ID that our server gave the PC.
During the free trial, once a day, the app sends the same anonymous machine ID, the PC's name and the date the trial started, so each PC gets one free trial even if LockUSB or Windows is reinstalled. It may also read a small public settings file from lockusb.com.
What we collect, and why
| Data | Why | Legal basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Your name, email address, country, order number and what you bought, which our reseller Paddle passes to us | To create your license key, email it to you, and help you with your order | Performing our contract with you |
| Your license key, the number of PCs it covers, and for each PC: machine ID, PC name, activation date and last check | To run your license: limit it to the PCs you bought, let you move it, and stop refunded keys | Performing our contract with you |
| For each PC that tries LockUSB: machine ID, PC name, when the trial started, and when the PC was first and last seen | To give each PC one free trial, and to extend a trial when you ask us to | Our legitimate interest in preventing misuse of the free trial |
| Emails you send us | To answer you | Our legitimate interest in helping customers |
| Your IP address and browser details when you visit lockusb.com | To deliver the website and protect it from attacks; to work out your country so prices show in your currency (the country isn't stored) | Our legitimate interest in running a secure website |
We don't use advertising or analytics cookies, and we don't sell or rent your data. The country you choose in the pricing box is remembered in your own browser only.
Payments
Our orders are handled by our online reseller Paddle.com, the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle collects your payment and billing details and is responsible for them under its own privacy policy. We never see your card details. Paddle's checkout may use cookies when you open it.
Who else handles your data
We use these service providers, who process data only on our instructions:
- Cloudflare, Inc.: hosts this website and our license server and database.
- Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc.): sends the email with your license key.
Some of them store or process data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where they do, the transfer is protected by the UK's adequacy regulations (including the UK–US data bridge) or by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
We may also share data when the law requires it, or to protect our rights, for example against fraud.
How long we keep it
- License records (key, PCs, order): for as long as the license can be used, and then for 6 years for tax and accounting purposes.
- Trial records (machine ID, PC name, dates): up to 3 years after the PC was last seen.
- Support emails: up to 2 years after the conversation ends.
- Website logs kept by Cloudflare: for a short time, as set by Cloudflare.
When you remove a PC from your license, we keep a record that it was removed, so we can tell it apart from a PC we've never seen.
Your rights
You can ask us for a copy of your personal data, and ask us to correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or send it to you or someone else in a portable format. Write to [email protected]; we'll answer within a month. If we delete your license data, the license can no longer be checked and will stop working.
If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or to the data protection authority where you live.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we'll tell customers by email.