Privacy policy
Last updated: 2026-08-09
Blade Instruments makes software instruments. This policy explains what data we collect, why, and what choices you have. It covers Scratch and the bladeinstruments.com website.
The short version: Scratch is local-only. Your buffers stay on your machine, and we do not have access to them. Scratch does not run analytics and does not send crash reports. The only time anything leaves your device is when Scratch checks for updates.
What Scratch collects
By default, nothing leaves your device. Scratch is a local-only application:
- Your buffers are stored as plain Markdown files in the operating system’s per-application user data directory on your machine.
- Your settings are stored alongside your buffers, on your machine.
- Blade Instruments does not run a sync service, does not have an account system, and does not have a server-side copy of your buffers.
The one exception is described below: automatic update checks, which you can turn off in the application’s Settings panel.
Automatic update checks
Scratch checks for new releases on launch and on a periodic timer. These checks are HTTP requests to downloads.bladeinstruments.com, hosted on Cloudflare R2, which is where we distribute builds from.
When Scratch contacts GitHub, GitHub receives standard HTTP request metadata: your IP address, your user-agent string, and the version of Scratch making the request. GitHub’s handling of that data is governed by GitHub’s privacy statement: https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement.
We do not receive a copy of these requests. If you disable automatic updates in Settings, Scratch stops contacting GitHub on its own.
Diagnostic logs
Scratch writes diagnostic logs to your machine to help you and us understand problems when they happen. These logs stay on your device. They are never transmitted on their own.
- Logs are stored as rotating files in the operating system’s per-application user data directory.
- Logs are kept for a number of days you can configure in Settings (default 7), after which old files are deleted automatically.
- Errors are recorded as the error type, message, and stack trace only.
- Logs never include your buffer content. Home-directory paths and email addresses are redacted before anything is written.
Nothing in these logs leaves your machine. Scratch has no mechanism for transmitting them.
Marketing site
bladeinstruments.com does not set advertising cookies, does not use third-party trackers, and does not run analytics. Standard server logs (kept by our hosting provider) record HTTP request metadata such as IP address and user-agent for operational purposes; we do not consult or analyze these logs for marketing.
If you contact us at [email protected], we receive your email address and the contents of your message, and we keep them for as long as needed to answer you and maintain a support history.
Your rights
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with similar laws, you have the right to access, correct, delete, or export the personal data we hold about you, and to object to or restrict certain processing. If you are a California resident, you have the rights described in the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the right to know what personal information we hold and the right to request deletion. We do not sell personal information.
To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected] from the address you corresponded with us from. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and, for material changes, post a notice on the marketing site.
Contact
Blade Instruments Austin Blade [email protected]