Privacy Policy

What Spreadsheet Cleaner does

You upload an Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file. Our server reads it and looks for common problems: duplicates, dates written in different formats, phone numbers, postal codes, typos in email addresses, extra spaces, and more.

You then get a free report and the first 10 rows of the cleaned file. To get the full cleaned file, you pay once. No account is needed. We do not ask for your email.

Most fixes follow fixed rules, written ahead of time. The site can also use an artificial intelligence (AI) service for a deeper check. When it does, the page tells you.

What happens to your file

Your file is processed only in the server's memory, for the time it takes to answer your request. It is never written to a disk, never kept in a database or file storage, and it disappears once the response is sent.

The same thing happens when the file is sent a second time to prepare the download after payment.

Before payment, your browser only receives the report and the first 10 rows. The other rows are never sent to your browser before payment.

The deeper check with AI

The deeper check is on for this site. Our server then sends small pieces of your file to the Claude API from Anthropic PBC. Processing happens in the United States, so outside Quebec and Canada. We did a privacy impact assessment before turning it on.

Only these pieces are sent. Amounts, full addresses and other columns are never sent:

• Likely duplicates: for pairs of rows that look alike, only the columns that identify them (name, company, email, phone, postal code, city; for products, up to 3 text columns). At most 120 pairs. These rows are sent only after you turn on the "likely duplicates" switch (off by default). While it is off, no row is sent for this check.
• Obvious typos: for at most 4 columns of cities, provinces or short categories, the distinct values and their counts (at most 200 per column). Never names, emails, phones or amounts.
• Plain explanations: the number of problems and at most 2 short examples per problem, already shown in your report.

AI: retention and control

Anthropic states it does not use data from its API to train its models by default (privacy.claude.com/en/articles/7996868-is-my-data-used-for-model-training). It states it deletes that data within 30 days, unless it is flagged for a Usage Policy violation (up to 2 years) or the law requires longer (privacy.claude.com/en/articles/7996866-how-long-do-you-store-my-organization-s-data). We keep neither the requests sent to the AI nor its answers.

The AI findings are encrypted and handed to your browser, which cannot read them. They are used only to prepare your download and expire after 24 hours.

Every answer is checked by our rules. Likely duplicates are applied only if you turn on the "likely duplicates" switch, which is off by default. Every change is marked in the change log. The AI makes no decision about any person: the output is a spreadsheet that you review.

If you do not want part of your file sent, do not upload it, or first remove the columns you do not want to share.

If the AI does not answer in time, we use only our fixed rules and tell you part of the deeper check did not run.

What stays in your browser

When you click pay, a copy of your file is kept in your own browser's storage (IndexedDB). This lets us find your file again when you return from the payment page, so it can be cleaned.

This copy stays only on your device. It is never sent anywhere else for this purpose.

You can erase it by clicking "Erase the file from this browser" on the thank you page. It also erases itself automatically the next time you open the site, if 24 hours or more have passed. You can also clear it through your browser settings.

After a paid download, your browser also notes that we asked for your feedback, so we never ask twice. This small note stays on your device.

The logs we keep

Our application logs contain only: the event name, the file size in bytes, the number of rows, the processing time, an error code, a status word (for example the payment status or the result of an AI call), the processing type (fixed rules or AI), the chosen output format, the Stripe reference of the session or payment and, when AI is on, the AI job name and its estimated cost.

We never keep names, emails, amounts, your file contents, or requests sent to the AI or its answers in these logs.

Our hosting provider may keep its own technical logs, such as IP addresses, under its own rules.

Payment through Stripe

Payments go through Stripe Checkout (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay). We never see your card number.

We send Stripe: the price, a SHA-256 fingerprint of your file (a short code computed from the file that does not reveal its contents), a fingerprint of the sealed AI findings when AI is on, the chosen fix settings as a short code, the number of rows, the page language, the currency, the country we detected from your connection and the name of this service.

Stripe sends back the session status (paid or not), the amount, the currency and the data we sent it. Its answer also holds the payer's email and billing details: our server does not read them and does not keep them. Stripe may also collect the payer's email and billing details, under its own privacy policy (stripe.com/privacy). Stripe sends the receipt.

Our small database

To limit abuse of the free preview, of the payment and download steps, and of our feedback question, we keep a one way, salted fingerprint of your connection address and a counter, never the address itself. It expires at the end of the limit window (one day at most) and is then deleted automatically. This, and Stripe payment references, are kept in a database hosted by Neon in the United States (Virginia).

This database never receives your file, its name or its contents. Here is what it keeps, and for how long:

• The fingerprint of your connection address and its counter: one day at most.
• Stripe payment references, with a record of a file handed over or a refund made, so the same payment is never refunded or handled twice: 400 days at most, then deleted automatically.
• References of payment notices sent by Stripe: 30 days.
• The total spent on AI each day, with nothing about you: 400 days at most.
• Your feedback, if you leave some: for as long as the service exists, or until you ask us to remove it.

Your feedback after a paid download

After a paid download, we ask you once how it went. Answering is optional, and your answer changes nothing about your right to a refund.

What we keep: your rating, your comment if you write one, your first name (or initials) and your city if you give them, your answer when we ask whether we may show your review, with the date and time of that answer, the page language, the currency paid and the date of the feedback.

Your feedback is linked to your payment only by a one way, salted fingerprint of its reference, so there is only one review per payment. We never keep your email, your file or your connection address with your feedback.

Your comment, first name and city are shown only if you ticked the box, and only after we have read them. They appear in the Customer reviews section of this site's home page.

Your rating counts in the average shown, whether your review is published or not.

To remove your review, write to confidentialite@samrostudios.com. We erase your comment, first name and city, and your review is no longer shown. Your rating stays in the average, with nothing that identifies you.

Cookies and tracking

Our site sets no cookies, uses no analytics, and no advertising trackers. Our fonts are served from our own site.

Stripe's checkout page (on stripe.com) uses its own cookies, outside our control.

Your rights

This policy takes into account Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (as amended by Law 25) and, where it applies, the federal PIPEDA.

The person in charge of the protection of personal information is Sami Bdeira, Person in charge of the protection of personal information. You can write to confidentialite@samrostudios.com.

You have the right to ask for access to your information, to have it corrected, and to withdraw your consent. You can also file a complaint with the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (www.cai.gouv.qc.ca).

Since we keep no file contents, there is usually nothing to access beyond your payment records at Stripe, our minimal logs and your feedback if you left some.

Your responsibility for the data you upload

You should only upload files you have the right to use. A customer list, for example, contains personal information about other people.

You stay responsible for that data. We only process it to provide the service.

Children

The service is for businesses and adults. It is not aimed at children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, for example if we change provider or the data sent. The date at the top of this page changes when we do.