Privacy

Local processing

braw.repair runs entirely in your browser. Your .braw file and the repaired video are read and written on your machine. We do not upload your media to our servers as part of the repair.

Anonymous usage stats

We keep an anonymous count of how often previews and repairs run and whether they succeed, so we know what's working and which cameras to support next. For each step we record the outcome and how long it took, plus technical facts about the recording (its codec, resolution, frame rate, frame count, audio tracks, container format, and the size of the repaired file), the camera model, and the country the request came from (the two-letter code our host adds, so we can see where a camera or a failure is common, never a finer location). With each step we also record your browser and operating system family (for example Edge on Windows, never a version), so we can see whether a repair works as well in every browser. If you arrived from one of our ads, we record which campaign and ad it was, never anything about you. We never record the camera serial number, the recording timecode, your file name, your IP address, or any video/audio content. Events for one file are grouped by an anonymous hash of the file (truncated, so it can't be traced back to the exact file or to you), not by any identifier for you or your device. braw.repair sets no cookies of its own and stores nothing on your device. Because these stats are anonymous and aren't tied to you, there's nothing to opt in or out of.

If the repair engine itself crashes in your browser, that one event also sends us a short technical report so the bug can be found: the internal error text and the code location it came from, whether it happened while building the preview or while saving, how much memory the engine had in use, and your file's extension and size plus your browser version. No file name, no content, and nothing that identifies you.

Page views

Page views are counted with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which uses no cookies and does not follow you across sites.

Sharing a sample (optional)

If a file can't be recovered, you may choose to upload a small sample so we can add support for your camera. This is strictly opt-in: nothing is uploaded unless you press the upload button. There are two versions of this offer, and they send different amounts: the sample below, and the whole-file analysis further down.

When you do, we upload:

  • the first 64 MB of your .braw: enough to study the file's structure, and it includes the opening few seconds of footage;
  • a short details file (file names and sizes, the detected camera/codec/resolution, the error, and an optional email if you leave one).

There is one tick-box next to that upload: send the files in full instead of those slices, which uploads every file the recovery used, whole. Some faults only appear late in a long recording, where the first 64 MB shows nothing. It is off by default, it is the same strictly opt-in upload, and you can cancel it while it runs.

Sending a file we couldn't read

Some files aren't recordings we can read yet, and some look complete to us while you can see that they're broken. We can't repair either one today, so instead of turning you away we offer to study the file: the formats we don't support yet get built from exactly these. It is the same strictly opt-in upload: nothing leaves your machine until you press the button, and we never offer you a recovery we can't deliver.

This offer differs from the sample above in three ways:

  • it sends the file whole, always, with no slice option and no tick-box. We don't know the format yet, so we can't know which part of it matters, and a slice we can't rebuild from is one we'd have to ask you for twice;
  • the file need not be a .braw. It is whatever you dropped: an MP4, a MOV, or a format we don't recognise at all. If you add a reference clip that recorded correctly, that goes whole too;
  • it includes a short description you write yourself, saying what's wrong with the file. On a file we couldn't read, or one that looks fine to us, that sentence is the only account of the fault we have. It is free text, so please don't put anything in it you wouldn't want us to read.

An email is required here, because this is a help request rather than a background donation, and we use it to tell you what we found.

We use these uploads only to add support for the camera or file variant and to reply to you if you left an email. When one arrives, a notice with the file's name, the details above and your email (if you left one) goes to our team's chat so that someone looks at it. Uploaded files are deleted after 7 days, unless we are still working on your case or keep the file to add support for your camera. Don't upload a sample if your footage is confidential. For removal, contact support@ottomatic.io.

Leaving a note (optional)

After a repair you can leave a note for others. It is read by a person before it appears on the site, and it is shown with the clip's length, size, camera model and codec, and the name you give, if any.

Live support sessions

When a file won't recover and the reason isn't in its first 64 MB, we may send you a link that opens a live support session instead of asking you to upload the whole file. It is only ever offered by a person you are already talking to, and nothing happens until you press Start.

While the session runs, your browser tab keeps the file open and answers our requests for specific parts of it. Two kinds of request exist:

  • a read of a byte range, which sends exactly those bytes to us;
  • a check that runs in your tab, such as finding which regions of the file are empty, where a byte pattern occurs, or running our recovery over the file to see where it stops. Only the answer is sent, not the footage it was computed from, and such a run saves nothing: no recovered file is written, on your computer or anywhere else.

The tab shows a running count of the parts read and the amount sent, so you can see what has left your machine. We cannot change, move or delete the file: the browser gives the page read access to the file you chose and nothing else on your computer.

The bytes we read pass through our server on their way to us and are not stored there. What the server keeps for the session is the file's name and size, your country as Cloudflare reports it, the read counters, and the answers to the checks, and it deletes all of it an hour after the session ends. We may keep the parts we read for as long as we are working on your case, under the same terms as a sample above.

A session ends when you press Stop or close the tab, and ends by itself after six hours. The parts we read can include footage, so don't start one if your footage is confidential.

Support chat (optional)

If you use Intercom support chat, that service may process messages and technical data under their policies. It loads only after you agree to it, and you can withdraw that at any time from the chat button.

Trademarks

braw.repair is made by OTTOMATIC and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Blackmagic Design. Blackmagic RAW and product names such as Pocket Cinema Camera, Cinema Camera and URSA are trademarks of Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd., used here only to describe file compatibility.

Questions

braw.repair is run by OTTOMATIC GmbH; our address is in the footer. For privacy questions, contact support@ottomatic.io.