Privacy Architecture
How AI Chat Importer Protects Your Privacy
"100% local. Zero cloud upload." isn't a marketing tagline — it's a description of the technical architecture. Here's exactly how it works.
"When you import a conversation into AI Chat Importer, all processing occurs entirely within your browser using JavaScript. No conversation text is transmitted to our servers. We never see your messages."
AI Chat Importer has two products that share the same privacy guarantee: your conversation data never leaves your device. This page explains how each achieves that. Jump to: Web App Architecture · Desktop App Architecture
What Happens When You Import
When you open the AI Chat Importer web app and select your export file from ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, or Grok, here is the complete sequence of events:
- File selection. Your browser's native file picker opens. The file is accessed locally — it is not uploaded to any server.
- In-browser parsing. The export file is processed entirely using JavaScript running in your browser tab. The conversation data is parsed in memory on your device.
- Local storage. Parsed conversations are written to your browser's IndexedDB — a local, persistent database that lives on your device. This is the same storage mechanism used by apps like Google Docs Offline.
- Search indexing. A full-text search index is built locally in the browser. Every word in every message is indexed without any server round-trips.
- Display. Conversations are read from IndexedDB and rendered in your browser.
At no point in this process does any conversation data leave your device.
What Our Server Receives
When you use the AI Chat Importer web app, our server does two things:
- Serves the static application files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
- Logs standard web server access logs (IP address, timestamp, URL requested).
That's it. Our server never receives your conversation content, never receives your import file, and never receives any query you run inside the app. The application is served once — after that, everything runs locally.
Where Your Data Is Stored
Your imported conversations are stored in IndexedDB — a browser-native database that is:
- Stored entirely on your local device.
- Accessible only to the originating website (same-origin policy enforced by the browser).
- Not accessible to other websites or browser extensions.
- Persistent between sessions — your archive is available the next time you open the app.
Clearing your browser data for app.ai-chat-importer.com will remove your local archive. We recommend keeping your original export files as a backup.
No Analytics, No Tracking
There are no third-party analytics scripts on the AI Chat Importer web app. We do not use Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Segment, or any equivalent service inside the app. We do not track which conversations you view, what you search for, or how you use the archive.
This marketing site ( ai-chat-importer.com ) uses Google Analytics to measure page views and navigation only. No conversation data passes through this site.
Desktop App Architecture
The Desktop App for Windows and Linux applies the same privacy-first principle as the web app — but runs natively on your operating system rather than in a browser.
How it works:
- Your export files are parsed natively by the app on your device.
- Conversations are stored as individual files in your local application data folder — not in a browser or cloud database.
- All search indexing runs locally; no queries are sent to any server.
- The AI Auto-Sort feature can use a local Ollama model (fully offline) or a cloud AI provider of your choice — your conversations are sent only to the provider you explicitly configure, not to us.
- No telemetry, no analytics on your conversation data, no background uploads.
The Desktop App never transmits your conversation content to our servers under any circumstances.
Frequently Asked Privacy Questions
Can AI Chat Importer read my conversations?
No. Your conversations are processed and stored locally on your device — in your browser's IndexedDB with the web app, or as files on your filesystem with the Desktop App. They are never transmitted to our servers. We have no technical ability to access them.
What if I use the app on a shared computer?
With the web app, your archive is stored in your browser's IndexedDB under your browser profile — signing out or using a private browsing session keeps your data separate. With the Desktop App, your archive is stored as files in your local application data folder. In both cases, other users on the same computer using different accounts cannot access it.
Does the app need an internet connection?
Only to load the app initially. After the application files are loaded, all importing, searching, and browsing works offline. Your data never requires a network connection.
Ready to back up your conversations privately?
No account required. Free. Your data stays in your browser.