PRIVACY
Your barcode values stay on your device.
Obsidian Black Ltd operates BarcodeBench. The tool checks scanned, typed, pasted and imported values, and builds its reports and backups, in your browser. There is no account, upload or remote barcode lookup, and nothing you check is sent to us.
What the browser keeps
A session is kept only in memory while the tab is open. Closing or refreshing the page loses it, and it is not written to browser storage, cookies or the page address. With Save on this device, the session is stored in this browser's site storage until you delete it or clear the site data. Anyone using the same browser profile can open it. Open saved work lists the sessions saved here, each with Open and Delete. Preparing for offline use stores the tool's own files, not your values.
Barcode values, field contents and file names never appear in page addresses or tab titles, and downloads use fixed file names that contain no values.
Reports and backups
Reports are redacted by default. They leave out observed text, field values, Digital Link hosts and capture details. They keep the declared format, the result, the profile, a count of each kind of issue, the time the report was made and fixed notes on what the checks do not cover. Choose Include exact values and capture provenance only when you want those details, and check the preview before you download. A backup file contains the original values and settings of every input in the session. Reports and backups are created in the browser and saved where you choose. Nothing is emailed, uploaded or shared automatically.
Files, scanners and the camera
A ScannerBench report or backup file you choose is read in the browser and checked before anything is replaced. From a ScannerBench report, only the complete captures you select are added; its events, device details and expected values are not imported. A keyboard scanner types into the scan field like a keyboard, and the tool reads scans only from that field.
The camera opens only when you choose the camera button, and only after your browser grants permission. Frames are decoded on your device, by the browser's own barcode reader or by a decoder loaded from this site, and are not recorded, stored or uploaded. The camera stops when you close the camera view or the page is hidden.
Network requests and links
Loading the site retrieves its own pages, scripts, styles and fonts. The barcode engine, the camera decoder and the PDF library and font are further files from this site, loaded the first time you use them; none of these requests contains your values. Hosting providers may record ordinary request details such as IP addresses and paths. BarcodeBench never opens a Digital Link or any other address found in a value. Links to other SmartFACT products open only when you select them and carry no tracking marker. No barcode value, field or report is ever placed in a link. Those sites have their own privacy notices.
Feedback and reporting an issue
BarcodeBench has no built-in feedback link or error reporting, and it never sends diagnostics automatically. To report a problem or send feedback, use the SmartFACT support form. Start with a redacted report and a synthetic example where you can, and never post operational values publicly to get help.
Optional analytics
With your consent, we use Google Analytics to understand visits to our pages and the tool. The Google tag stays off until you accept, and the tool sends nothing to Google before then, while offline or from a preview address. Rejecting analytics does not affect the tool.
Google receives page views, browser and device details, connection information and cookie identifiers. Our events use fixed names and values only. The tool records its visit with the fixed page name BarcodeBench free tool, the address /app/ and no referrer. Events never include scans, barcode values, field contents, file contents, file names, query strings or fragments. Referrers on these pages are reduced to their origins. When you follow a link to another SmartFACT product or service, one event records only this tool's name, the destination product and a fixed name for where the link appeared: suite_cta_click on these pages and suite_next_step in the tool. Advertising personalisation is disabled. Downloaded reports, backups and PDFs never contain analytics.
Your analytics choice is remembered for 180 days in a preference cookie shared across smartfact.ai and its subdomains, including product websites and apps. Use Analytics settings on these pages, or Change preference under Optional analytics in the tool, to accept or reject analytics across the suite. Google Analytics cookies remain specific to each host and last up to 180 days. Open pages check for changes; other sites remove their analytics cookies when next opened or resumed. Saving work on this device and your analytics choice are separate controls.
Google processes analytics data under its own arrangements, which may involve processing outside the UK. Contact [email protected] about your information or to exercise your data rights. You can also raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.
