Guestbay by Ontiqo

Privacy Policy

Last updated 23 October 2026

1. Scope

This policy applies to the Guestbay application for Windows, macOS and Linux, in every edition (Guestbay), and the website at guestbay.app (the Website), both provided by Ontiqo Pty Ltd (ACN 701 340 418) of Daylesford, Victoria, Australia (Ontiqo, we, us).

2. The application

Guestbay does not collect personal information. It has no telemetry, analytics or update check. The only exceptions are the licence checks in (e), and what you choose to do in (f) and (g).

  1. Local data. Virtual machines, their disks and Guestbay’s settings are stored on your computer, in Guestbay’s library or in a location you choose. The library is %USERPROFILE%\Guestbay on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/Guestbay on a Mac (in the Mac App Store edition, ~/Library/Containers/app.guestbay.desktop/Data/Library/Application Support/Guestbay), and ~/.local/share/guestbay on Linux (in the Flatpak, ~/.var/app/app.guestbay.Guestbay/data/guestbay). In the library, licence.json keeps when your trial started and, in the editions from the Website, your licence key; in the Mac App Store edition, it keeps what the App Store last said about your purchase. Once you sign in, account.json keeps this computer’s key for your Ontiqo account, your account ID, your email address and how you signed in. On a Mac and on Linux, the editions from the Website also note when the trial started, in ~/Library/Preferences/app.guestbay.trial-started or ~/.config/guestbay/trial-started.
  2. Downloads. Images you choose to download are fetched directly from their publishers, such as Ubuntu, Debian or Apple. Those servers receive an ordinary download request.
  3. Installing QEMU. In the editions from the Website, when you choose Install QEMU, Guestbay installs it with your system’s own tools (the Windows Package Manager, Homebrew, MacPorts or your Linux distribution’s package manager) or, on an ARM64 Windows computer, from MSYS2’s package repository. Those sources receive an ordinary download request.
  4. LAN access. Guestbay reaches each virtual machine’s screen over your computer’s loopback connection. Access from other computers, phones and tablets on your network is off until you turn it on and set a password. It then uses HTTPS and announces the name guestbay.local on your local network.
  5. Licence (editions from the Website). The trial is kept on your computer. When you enter a licence key, Guestbay sends it to Polar (polar.sh), our merchant of record, with your computer’s name, its operating system and processor type and Guestbay’s version, to activate it, and checks the key with Polar about once a day afterwards. When you buy from within Guestbay, it asks ontiqo.com for the new key using a random code made for that purchase. Neither includes your virtual machines or files.
  6. Signing in to your Ontiqo account. Only if you choose Sign in. Section 3 says what is sent and kept.
  7. Adding a Microsoft Store purchase to your Ontiqo account (Microsoft Store edition). Only when you start it at ontiqo.com/account and choose Add in Guestbay: Guestbay asks the Microsoft Store for a Microsoft Store ID key, which identifies the Microsoft account signed in to the Microsoft Store, and sends it to ontiqo.com with the one-time code from your browser. Ontiqo uses it to ask the Microsoft Store whether that account bought Guestbay. The key is used only in the 30 days after it is made, to check for refunds, and is deleted within a day after that. It does not include your virtual machines or files.
  8. Sharing with a virtual machine. Shared folders, the shared clipboard and files you drop onto the console pass only between your computer and your virtual machines, on your computer. Guestbay serves shared folders to the virtual machine on your computer’s loopback connection (WebDAV), and Guestbay’s guest tools in the virtual machine talk to Guestbay on your computer. Files copied from a virtual machine are kept in Guestbay’s library so you can paste them, and deleted after a day. None of it is sent to Ontiqo or anyone else.

3. Your Ontiqo account

From version 1.6.0, Guestbay can sign in with your Ontiqo account, the one account for every Ontiqo app. Signing in is optional. Once you are signed in, a Guestbay purchase on your account unlocks Guestbay on that computer, wherever you bought it.

  1. Which editions sign in. The editions from the Website, on Windows, macOS and Linux, and the Microsoft Store edition offer Sign in. The Mac App Store edition does not offer Sign in. It sends nothing to the Ontiqo account: it is unlocked by Apple’s in-app purchase, which Apple handles.
  2. Your account ID. The account service at account.ontiqo.com gives your account an ID, and keeps it with when the account was created.
  3. How you sign in. You sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft, or with your email address and a code we email you. For Google, Apple or Microsoft, the service keeps the user ID that service gives and the email address it gives, which your account shows. For Sign in with Apple, Guestbay also passes on the one-time code Apple issues. The service exchanges it with Apple for a token, kept only so your Apple sign-in can be revoked when you delete your account. For email, the service keeps your email address.
  4. Email codes. The service keeps a salted hash of the latest code sent to an address, when it expires (after 15 minutes), and how many tries it has had (5 at most). It also counts the codes sent to the address in the last hour (5 at most). A sign-in code is deleted when it is used, or within a day of expiring.
  5. Your computers. When you sign in, Guestbay makes a key for this computer. Its private part never leaves your computer. For each computer signed in, the service keeps an ID made from the key, the key’s public part, the app (Guestbay), the computer’s name, its operating system (Windows, macOS or Linux), and when it was added and last checked in. Guestbay checks in about once an hour while you are signed in, and stays unlocked for up to 30 days without a connection. A Guestbay purchase unlocks the first 2 computers signed in to Guestbay on your account. To use it on another, remove one in Guestbay or at ontiqo.com/account. Signing out, or removing a computer, signs it out of the account.
  6. Your purchases. For each purchase, the service keeps the product, where it was bought, the purchase’s identifier there, when it was bought, and whether it is active or refunded. A purchase reaches your account in one of three ways. A purchase through Polar, from Guestbay or ontiqo.com, joins the account you were signed in to, or the account with the same email address. A Mac App Store purchase joins when you enter the Order ID from Apple’s receipt at ontiqo.com/account and Apple confirms it. A Microsoft Store purchase joins when you start at ontiqo.com/account and choose Add in Guestbay, as in section 2(g). For a store purchase, Ontiqo also issues a licence key for the editions from the Website to your account’s email address, and keeps a record of the key with its last 6 characters and the address it went to.
  7. Deleting your account. You can delete your account at ontiqo.com/account, or in Guestbay while you are signed in (Settings › Licence › Delete account). This deletes it for every Ontiqo app. Everything above that identifies you is erased at once, including your sign-in codes and the addresses licence keys went to. Apple sign-in tokens are revoked, and every computer is signed out. A record of each purchase is kept without a link to you: the product, where it was bought, its identifier there, its dates and whether it is active. A Microsoft Store ID key stays with it until it is deleted, as in section 2(g). The record is kept so that a refund can still stop the key, and so that a store purchase can be restored to a new account with fresh proof from the store.
  8. Service providers. Cloudflare hosts the account service, stores what is listed above, and handles request data under its own privacy policy. Purelymail sends the emails with sign-in codes and licence keys, so it receives your email address and the code or key. Google, Apple and Microsoft handle a sign-in with them under their own privacy policies, and give us your user ID and email address. Polar, our merchant of record, handles purchases from Ontiqo and issues licence keys, including the key for a store purchase, so it receives your email address for it. Apple and Microsoft confirm store purchases you add.

None of this includes your virtual machines or files. The Ontiqo privacy policy also covers the account at ontiqo.com/account.

4. Buying Guestbay

In the Microsoft Store edition, purchase, download and updates are handled by the Microsoft Store under Microsoft’s privacy policy. Microsoft may provide us with anonymous install, sales and crash statistics. It does not provide your name or payment details.

In the Mac App Store edition, purchase, download and updates are handled by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy. Apple does not provide us with your name or payment details.

For the editions from the Website, purchases are made through Ontiqo’s checkout at ontiqo.com, with Polar as merchant of record, under the Ontiqo privacy policy and Polar’s privacy policy.

If you add a purchase from the Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store to your Ontiqo account, section 3 says what Ontiqo keeps.

5. The Website

The Website and its downloads are hosted on Cloudflare. Cloudflare records standard request data (IP address, page requested, date and time, and browser user agent) to deliver the Website and its downloads and to prevent abuse. Cloudflare Web Analytics records aggregate page-view statistics without cookies.

6. Support requests

Support requests made through the form at ontiqo.com/support, or by email, are handled under the Ontiqo privacy policy. Email is processed by Purelymail.

7. Access, correction and deletion

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information we hold about you by writing to [email protected]. You can also delete your Ontiqo account at ontiqo.com/account. We will respond within a reasonable period.

8. Applicable law and complaints

We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Where another law applies to you, including the GDPR or the UK GDPR, you retain the rights it gives you. Complaints may be made to us at [email protected], to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au), or to the supervisory authority where you live.

9. Changes

We may amend this policy at any time. The version published on the Website, with the date shown above, applies. Guestbay will not begin collecting personal information without first asking you.