The problem with most online converters
Search "heic to jpg" or "convert pdf" and you'll find dozens of free converter sites. They all work the same way: you upload your file, their server processes it, and they email or stream the result back. That's fine for vacation photos — but it's a problem when your files contain anything you wouldn't hand to a stranger.
Most converter sites are run by small operators using shared cloud hosting. Your photos sit on their disks until a cron job sweeps them, which could be minutes or weeks. Some operators monetize through ad networks that fingerprint your browser; a few have been caught harvesting metadata from uploads to build targeted advertising profiles.
You can't audit any of that. You just have to trust them.
How PrivateConvert is different
Every converter on this site is a static HTML page that loads a WebAssembly library into your browser. Once the page is loaded, all the conversion work happens locally on your CPU — the same way a desktop app would, except inside the privacy sandbox of your browser tab.
You don't have to trust us. You can verify it yourself in 30 seconds:
- Open any converter on this site.
- Open your browser's DevTools → Network tab.
- Drop a file. Watch the Network tab.
- It stays empty. Nothing is uploaded.
Alternatively: load the page, turn off your wifi, drop a file. The converter still works because everything it needs is already in your browser's memory.
What we use, what we don't
What we use
- Static HTML + CSS + vanilla JavaScript. No frameworks, no build steps, no minified blobs that hide what's happening.
- Open-source WebAssembly libraries — heic2any for HEIC decoding, JSZip for batch downloads. Both are MIT-licensed and auditable.
- Plausible Analytics for cookieless, EU-hosted, anonymous pageview counts. No personal data, no cookies, no fingerprinting. See the privacy page for the full disclosure.
- Netlify to serve the static files over a CDN with TLS. Netlify can see that someone requested the HTML page, but it never sees your file content because the file content never gets sent anywhere.
What we don't use
- No file upload endpoints.
- No cookies, no localStorage tracking, no fingerprinting.
- No Google Analytics, no Facebook Pixel, no Hotjar, no Mixpanel.
- No third-party ad networks.
- No login system, no user accounts, no email collection.
- No paywalls, no "premium tier" that unlocks bigger files.
How we make money
We don't charge for the converters and we don't run ads. Operating costs are paid through occasional affiliate links to privacy-respecting cloud storage and backup services that we'd recommend anyway — like pCloud's encrypted Swiss storage. When you click an affiliate link and decide to sign up, we earn a small commission. We never recommend a product we wouldn't use ourselves, and affiliate links are always disclosed.
If we ever can't pay the hosting bill from affiliates alone, the worst case is the site shuts down. We won't pivot to uploads, sell user data, or insert tracking. That's a hard line.
Open source roadmap
The long-term plan is to publish the source for every converter on this site as a public Git repository so anyone can audit, fork, or self-host. We're not there yet — current focus is on shipping more tools — but it's on the list.
Who runs this
PrivateConvert is built and edited by Keishin, a privacy-first developer with a sysadmin background. Every tool, guide, and email reply on this site comes from one human. No content farm, no offshore writing team, no AI-generated filler. The same person who writes the FAQ is the person who decides which library to use and the person who answers your email.
Read more about Keishin and the editorial principles behind every tool.
Get in touch
Bug reports, feature requests, security disclosures, or partnership inquiries: contact page or email contact@privateconvert.net directly.