Updated: 2023-06-02
Purchasing is managed by Gumroad, and you may view their privacy policy here: https://gumroad.com/privacy
Upon purchase Gumroad sends a webhook to BroTools server and this information is stored. You can view the exact contents of this "Webhook Ping" here: https://app.gumroad.com/ping
The only identifiable information there is an email used for purchase. Card number is obfuscated and shows only last 4 digits.
After that BroTools can be installed in 2 ways - Workstation or Floating. Depending on the installation method different amount of data is exchanged with the server.
Floating installation is designed for offline installation on workstations isolated from the internet, and you can completely firewall BroTools plugin from any internet access. It relies on BroTools LimeLM TurboFloat server, which is hosted on-premise and is the only node that will require internet access. You can view their privacy policy here: https://BroTools.com/privacy.php
With this installation method you can completely block access to api.brotools.tech and no information will be sent to BroTools server from your workstations, you will only have to deal with Gumroad and BroTools.
Workstation\Regular installation uses BroTools server to handle licensing. If you use this method then the following applies:
When activating your license BroTools exchanges some information with the server: email, license information, hardware ID hash.
Upon startup BroTools will attempt to send a ping to the server with some information:
This ping information is used for gathering statistics, for example right now I'm evaluating Maya version usage to decide whether to drop support for some of the older versions. This ping can't be disabled from BroTools preferences, but with Floating licensing you can safely block access to api.brotools.tech and everything should work fine.
If you're using Regular or Workstation licenses you can also optionally use the built-in Updater. Updater works by sending information about BroTools folder contents to the server: .py, .so, .dll filenames and hashes (integrity validation), server replies with the list of files that need to be updated or removed, and BroTools then performs the required operations: downloading and removing files. This is limited to BroTools folder.
Updater does not work with Floating licenses, and version and integrity checks can be disabled from BroTools preferences.
BroTools have a built-in bug-report form, which will include a log file that includes Script Editor log. This is only done if you manually choose to send a Bug Report through the built-in bug report form. Writing log to file can also be disabled entirely.
BroTools does not gather any extra telemetry, it does not send away any information about Maya scenes, and it does not send any information about system or it's usage other than what's described above.
It's also transparent about the information it sends, all HTTP requests are shown in Script Editor log if you change "Debug Level" setting to "0" in preferences.
BroTools uses third party hosting provider to provide the necessary hardware, networking, storage, and related technology required to run BroTools Licensing Server.
BroTools Licensing Server is an in-house technology owned by BroTools.