I stopped uploading my files to random websites and built my own tools instead

May 23, 2026 · 11:41 PM UTC ·2 min read · 0 reactions · 0 comments · 29 views

#webdev #javascript #opensource #privacy #tools

TL;DR · WeSearch summary

The article discusses the author's decision to stop using online file compression tools and instead create their own browser-based utilities. This led to the development of PureTools, a suite of 54 free tools that operate entirely client-side, ensuring user privacy. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping files local and avoiding the risks associated with uploading to unknown websites.

Key facts

▪The author stopped using random online tools after reading a privacy policy that raised concerns.
▪PureTools consists of 54 utilities for various tasks, all running in the browser without file uploads.
▪The tools are built using simple technologies like HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript, focusing on user privacy.

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DEV.to (Top) files mainly under programming. We currently carry 4,924 of its stories.

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Source · retrieval · rights · ranking — open for full record

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Record

Original publisher	DEV.to (Top)
Canonical URL	https://dev.to/puretools/i-stopped-uploading-my-files-to-random-websites-and-built-my-own-tools-instead-1h5l
Publication time	Sat, 23 May 2026 23:41:35 +0000
Retrieval time	2026-05-24T00:07:28.624Z
Last seen	2026-05-24T00:07:28.624Z
Headline source	Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite)
Excerpt source	publisher body
Excerpt method	First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited.
Summary	WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer)
Summary source text	contentText
Citation coverage	Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL.
Cluster	txk3Sx7wWi5X
Cluster logic	Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison.
Ranking reason	Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking.
Publisher visit	Yes — open original
Substitutes article?	No — link-out required for full text

Rights status (four layers)

Publisher-declared

No publisher-confirmed rights record for this source yet.

Machine-readable

No source-specific machine-readable restriction detected beyond the public feed.

WeSearch interpretation

WeSearch declared handling (basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed). This is WeSearch policy, not a legal grant on the publisher's behalf.

Unknown

Retrieval and training permissions are not asserted unless the publisher confirms them.

WeSearch handling by dimension

Indexing	May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)?	Allowed
Snippet	May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown?	Allowed
AI summary	May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article?	Limited
Retrieval / RAG	May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation?	Not asserted
Model training	May the content be used to train AI models?	Not asserted
Commercial reuse	May the content be reused commercially?	Not permitted

Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.

Open original publisher → Source rights JSON → Machine-readable provenance → Rights framework → WESEARCH-STORY-PROVENANCE-V1

Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand

try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 3948342) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } PureTools Posted on May 23 I stopped uploading my files to random websites and built my own tools instead #webdev #javascript #opensource #privacy Every week I'd find myself doing the same thing. Googling "compress PDF Every week I'd find myself doing the same thing. Googling "compress PDF online free", clicking the first result, uploading my file to some website I'd never heard of, and hoping for the best. One day I actually read the privacy policy of one of these tools.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at DEV.to (Top).

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