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Privacy policy

The tools send nothing to us. The site keeps only what you ask it to.

Last updated 25 October 2026.

This policy explains what the Benchdog tools and the website at benchdog.dev do with personal data. Benchdog is a trading name; the responsible party is named on your invoice. It is written to be read, not skimmed, and it is short because there is little to tell.

1. The tools

The Benchdog tools have no account with us, no licence server call, no usage telemetry, no crash upload and no update check. They never contact benchdog.dev. The only connections they make are the ones you ask for: Microsoft Entra to sign you in, your Azure resources, your SQL servers, and the local Azure CLI if you use it.

2. Sign-in

You sign in with your Microsoft Entra account in your browser, or the tools use your existing Azure CLI sign-in. The tools keep your sign-in name, tenant id and account id in a file in the Benchdog folder on your machine, so they know who you are next time. Your sign-in tokens are kept in the operating system's secure store: DPAPI on Windows, the Keychain on Mac or libsecret on Linux. None of it is sent to Benchdog.

3. What stays on your machine

  • Saved lists. The servers, databases and comparisons you set up are saved in files in the Benchdog folder, or in VS Code's own storage for the extensions.
  • Remembered passwords. A SQL login password is stored only in the operating system's secure store, and only when you tick Remember. The same store holds a SQL Monitor alert channel's secret, such as an SMTP password or a webhook address. Nothing is ever written to a settings file, a project file or a log.
  • Diagnostics log. Off by default. When you turn it on it records what the tool did, with every secret, password, connection string and token scrubbed. It is written to the logs folder and never sent anywhere.
  • Crash reports. If an app hits an error it did not expect, it writes a scrubbed report to the logs folder and shows it to you. Sending it to support is your choice, through your own mail app.

4. SQL Monitor

SQL Monitor keeps its history in a SQL database you choose, on your own server. Alerts go only to the email address, Teams channel or Slack channel you configure, and an alert email names the machine that sent it. When it runs as a service, its SQL passwords are kept in the system's secure store for services.

5. The website

The site sets no cookies of its own and runs no browser analytics. Cloudflare serves the site and, as part of hosting, sees request traffic such as your IP address and the pages requested, under Cloudflare's own privacy policy. The support form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to tell browsers from bots, which may set a Cloudflare cookie for that check.

6. The support form

When you send the form we receive what you typed: the kind of message, the tool, your name if you gave it, your email address and your message. It is turned into an email and delivered to our support inbox. Your IP address is used to limit the form to a few messages a minute and is passed to Turnstile for its check; it is not kept. Nothing from the form is stored on the site. The email stays in our inbox for as long as we need it to deal with your request, and your address is used only to reply.

7. The launch list

If you ask to be told when the tools launch, we keep what you typed: your email address, your name if you gave it, the tool you picked if any, and the time you signed up. It is stored in Cloudflare Workers KV under your address, so signing up twice keeps one entry, and a one line note goes to our support inbox. The address is used for one email, the launch announcement, and the list is deleted once that email has gone. Your IP address is used only for the rate limit and the Turnstile check, as with the support form, and is not kept. To come off the list before then, write to us through the support page.

8. Buying a licence

When licences go on sale, payment is handled by a payment provider under its own privacy policy. We do not see your card details. We receive your name, email address and what you bought, so we can issue your licence and invoice, and we keep those records for as long as tax law requires.

9. Who else handles data

  • Microsoft. Entra sign-in and the Azure services the tools reach on your behalf.
  • Cloudflare. Hosting of the site, Turnstile, Email Routing for the forms, and Workers KV for the launch list.
  • Google. The mailbox the support inbox forwards to.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it with anyone else.

10. Your rights

You may ask what personal data we hold about you, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, or object to how it is used. Write to us through the support page. We act under the Protection of Personal Information Act of South Africa, and where it applies, the General Data Protection Regulation. If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa or to your local data protection authority.

11. Children

The tools and the site are for professionals and are not aimed at anyone under eighteen. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

12. Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it, and a change that matters is announced on the site before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about privacy go through the support page.