WinDock Privacy Policy

Scope and contact

WinDock is a free application by AliDevLab. Contact: alidevlab10@gmail.com. This policy describes WinDock 0.3.0 for Android, Windows and supported Linux desktops. The GitHub Android APK and the separately prepared Google Play build have different transport and update settings, described below. Google Play availability is not implied.

Connections and permissions

The app uses Android's internet/network access permission, network-state access and Wi-Fi multicast permission for connections and discovery. It sends local UDP discovery probes, receives PC addresses and checks whether a host is WinDock. You can also enter a supported private or shared IPv4 address, including a PC reachable through a VPN you separately configure, such as Tailscale. WinDock does not operate that VPN. When you choose Scan computer code, WinDock requests camera permission to scan a pairing QR code on your computer. Camera frames are processed on the phone; WinDock does not save or upload them. You can paste pairing text instead without granting camera permission. The reviewed build requests no runtime permissions for location, contacts, phone calls or shared storage. It does not use an Android accessibility service, VPN service or phone-screen capture permission. USB operation uses Android USB tethering, which you enable in Android Settings; USB debugging is not required for normal use. Tethering may also share your mobile connection with the PC under your phone and carrier settings.

Pairing and PC information

For managed secure pairing, a short-lived, single-use QR invitation contains the computer’s public certificate and a random authorization. The phone sends that authorization over verified HTTPS to the selected computer. The phone stores the trusted public certificate and session token in app-private storage encrypted using Android Keystore. The computer stores only a hash of its session token. Existing PIN-based pairing remains supported; legacy browser sessions use cookies. No computer private key is sent to the phone. A discovery health check returns the PC name, platform and a persistent random host identifier before pairing. The identifier helps distinguish saved PCs when their addresses change. To show and control the dock after pairing, the PC sends installed and running application information, icons, application paths and window titles, dock configuration, media title/artist/playback information and system status. Window titles and file paths may contain personal information. The phone sends the app and control commands you choose. The reviewed Android app does not enumerate other applications installed on the phone.

Website shortcuts

When you add a website shortcut, its name and full URL are sent to the paired computer and saved in its local dock configuration. Other authorized clients can see those tiles. WinDock does not fetch website titles, favicons or page contents. Tapping a link opens it in the computer's default browser; that browser contacts the chosen website under its own privacy settings and the website's policy. URLs can contain sensitive query parameters. Removing a tile removes its saved URL from the dock configuration, but does not clear browser history or phone caches.

Folder shortcuts

When you choose a folder in the Windows picker, its name and full path are sent to the paired phone. Pinning it saves that name and path in the PC's local dock configuration. Tapping the tile asks Windows to open that directory. This feature does not read or transfer the folder's file contents. Removing its tile removes the path from WinDock's dock configuration; it does not delete the folder or clear Windows' own recent-location history. The phone may retain the displayed name/path in WebView storage or cache.

Typing and clipboard

Touchpad gestures, key commands and committed keyboard text are sent to the selected PC. Typed content can include passwords or other sensitive information. Your chosen Android keyboard handles typing according to its own settings and policy. WinDock receives PC focus, editability and password-field metadata to show the keyboard; the reviewed implementation does not read the existing text of PC input fields into the phone.

Signatures and PC screen captures

When you choose Save or Insert, signature strokes and ink color are sent to your PC and rendered into PNG files under Pictures/WinDock/Signatures. Insert also puts the image on the Windows clipboard and requests a paste into the active PC application. Screenshots and silent recordings capture the PC screen, not the Android screen, and are saved under Pictures/WinDock and Videos/WinDock. Capture status, names and paths return to the phone; the reviewed host does not serve the saved capture files to the phone. Disconnecting the phone does not necessarily stop recording. Use the stop control in the app or Windows tray.

Storage, retention and deletion

The phone stores saved PC names, addresses, host identifiers, connection timestamps, forgotten-PC markers, pairing cookies, phone display settings, per-PC appearance/performance preferences and WebView storage/cache locally. Forget removes a saved entry and its managed secure trust/session record from the phone and prevents automatic reconnection. It does not revoke the corresponding host-side authorization or immediately disconnect an already active session. Use Forget paired phones on the computer to revoke all HTTPS sessions. The app's Android configuration disables backup and device transfer of its stored data. The PC stores dock configuration, its random host identifier, its private TLS identity and hashed HTTPS session records locally, by default in its user’s windock settings directory. Private security files have user-only permissions (also SYSTEM on Windows). The reviewed app has no developer-operated cloud copy of this configuration or of remote-control content.

Keyboard voice typing

WinDock does not request microphone permission or provide its own speech recognition. If you use the microphone in your chosen Android keyboard, that keyboard and its speech provider process the audio according to their settings and policies. WinDock receives the resulting committed text through the same keyboard-input path as typing.

Files & Media

WinDock reads only files you select through Android system pickers or share from another app. Selection names, types, sizes and temporary content URI handles are held on the phone; file bytes stream through Android ContentResolver over the existing authenticated HTTPS connection directly to your selected PC. WinDock does not upload them to AliDevLab or operate a cloud relay. A cloud-backed Gallery or document provider may first retrieve your selected file using its own service and policies. No broad storage or photo-library permission is requested. Shared files wait for you to connect and explicitly choose Send to PC.

Transfers run only while WinDock remains in the foreground. Leaving the app stops the transfer; already completed files remain on the PC. WinDock does not create a second phone-side copy or persistent transfer history. Android may temporarily retain selection handles and operation identifiers to restore the activity; access can expire, requiring you to select files again. The PC temporarily stages incomplete files in its receive directory, verifies size and SHA-256 integrity, then publishes a uniquely named file without overwriting existing files. Received files are not automatically opened or executed. The default destination is Downloads/WinDock; only controls on the computer can change it or disable receiving. Any securely paired phone may send selected files while receiving is enabled.

The PC keeps bounded transfer receipts for up to 24 hours to check completion and prevent duplicate retries, including filenames, sizes, hashes, receive directory, operation identifiers and a hash identifying the authorization session. It does not log file contents. Incomplete staging files are removed after cancellation or interruption, after ten minutes of inactivity, or when the host next starts; cleanup can be delayed while a disk or directory is unavailable. Saved received files remain until you or other software delete them, independently of receipt expiry. Unpairing or uninstalling WinDock does not delete received files. PC backup or synchronization software can retain additional copies.

Transport security

Secure QR connections use verified HTTPS and do not bypass certificate errors or silently fall back to HTTP. The GitHub Android APK also supports separately selected legacy HTTP/PIN connections, which are not encrypted. Files & Media requires an authenticated HTTPS connection. The separately prepared Google Play build requires HTTPS. Scanning a code displayed on your own computer establishes trust only inside WinDock. Certificate renewal retains that computer’s identity; address changes only change network routing. An unexpected identity change requires explicit pairing again. Previously configured HTTPS using an explicitly installed Android user CA remains supported; that older system-wide trust can affect other applications. Never transfer a CA or host private key to the phone. Older preview clients and the host's legacy HTTP endpoint can still exchange data without transport encryption. Anyone authorized to a host can use its supported remote controls. WinDock does not configure internet port forwarding.

Update checks, website and support

The Windows tray checks the HTTPS update feed at windock.vercel.app/downloads.json shortly after startup and when you select Check for updates. Checking PC updates in the dock also asks the host to contact that feed. These requests include the installed WinDock version in their user-agent. The website host receives ordinary connection/request information, including the source IP address. These checks do not send pairing credentials, typed text, clipboard content, signatures or screen captures. Opening a download page makes a separate browser request to the website or GitHub.