This Privacy Policy explains how the Table Compare add-in for Microsoft Excel ("the Add-in"), published by Bosau Digital LLC ("we", "us", or "our"), which operates Python & VBA at pythonandvba.com, handles your data. It applies specifically to the Add-in. Our general website Privacy Policy continues to apply to your use of our website.

1. In Short

• The Add-in reads and compares your tables locally, inside Microsoft Excel on your own device.
• Your data never leaves Excel. We do not receive, process, store, or have any access to your workbook contents, such as the cell values of the tables you compare, or the files you choose from your computer.
• Like any add-in, the Add-in loads its program code from addins.pythonandvba.com and Microsoft's office.js. Beyond that, its only network requests concern a license key: checking it, and freeing a device when you remove it. They happen only when a license key is stored or entered. If you never enter a key, no license request is ever made.
• The Add-in contains no advertising, no cookies, no telemetry, and no third-party analytics or tracking.

2. Who We Are

The Add-in is published and operated by Bosau Digital LLC, the company behind Python & VBA (pythonandvba.com), founded by Sven Bosau. For any privacy-related questions, please contact us at contact@pythonandvba.com.

3. What Data the Add-in Processes

Your Spreadsheet Data

Everything the Add-in does (reading the two tables, sheets or ranges you choose, finding the column that identifies each row, comparing them and listing the differences) happens locally, inside Excel, on your device. The Add-in reads only the tables you pick. We do not receive, process, store, or have any access to your workbook contents.

If you choose a file from your computer as a source (.xlsx, .xlsm, .xls or .csv), the Add-in reads it in a local worker inside Excel. The file is kept in memory only until you close or reload the task pane, and it is never uploaded anywhere.

The Add-in writes to your workbook only when you ask it to, and never changes the values of the tables you compare:

• Insert sample data adds a new sheet with two small sample tables;
• Create report sheet adds new sheets with the comparison result (the changed, new and missing rows and the changed cells, with their values);
• Copy these rows to a new sheet adds a new sheet with the new or missing rows you chose;
• Keep a copy in this workbook adds a new sheet with the data of the file you chose;
• Highlight in my sheets adds conditional formats to your sheets, and Remove highlights deletes exactly the ones it added.

Data Stored Inside Your Workbook

After a comparison, the Add-in remembers your setup in the workbook's own document settings, so that Compare again works. Microsoft Office stores the following in the file:

• The setup: the names of the tables, sheets or files you compared, the column names and the options you chose (for example the column rows are matched by). It contains no cell values and never a license key;
• The identifiers of the highlights the Add-in added, so it can remove them again.

This travels with your workbook like any other workbook content: anyone you send the file to receives it together with the cells themselves. It is never sent to us. Report sheets and copied rows are ordinary sheets in your workbook and contain the values they show, by design.

License Validation Data

To confirm that you hold a valid license, the Add-in sends the following to our license server (api.pythonandvba.com) over an encrypted connection. It never sends any workbook content:

• Your license key;
• A random installation identifier generated on your device. It contains no name, email, or hardware information, but it is tied to your license, so it is not anonymous. It is used only to enforce the per-installation activation limit of your license;
• The Add-in version;
• A short platform label, such as "Excel for Windows" or "Excel on the web · Chrome", so the device list in your account is readable. It never contains a user name, a computer name or the full browser identification.

The check runs when the task pane opens and a license key is stored on the device, and when you add a key. When you remove a key, the Add-in sends the key and the installation identifier once more, so the device's slot is freed. If you never enter a license key, these requests are never made. A record of your last successful check is stored on your device so licensed features keep working for a short offline grace period (currently 7 days) if the license server cannot be reached, and then re-verify once you are back online.

Like any web server, our license server also receives your IP address with each check. It appears in our server logs, which are deleted after 14 days (90 days for warnings and errors). The installation identifiers registered to your license are kept with your license record (when each was first seen and last used) for as long as the license exists. If a check fails, we keep the license key, IP address, approximate country, installation identifier and Add-in version for up to 90 days to detect misuse of keys.

Loading the Add-in

Like every Office add-in, the Add-in loads its program code when the task pane starts: the Table Compare code from our server addins.pythonandvba.com, and Microsoft's standard add-in library (office.js) from Microsoft. These are ordinary web requests for code. They carry no workbook content, and we do not use them to track you.

Data Stored Locally on Your Device

The following are saved only in the Add-in's local storage on your device (under keys that start with tc.): your license key, the random installation identifier, the record of your last successful license check, your appearance setting, and the options you used last (column names and settings, no cell values), so a monthly comparison starts with the same options. You can remove your license key in the Add-in at any time; the rest stays on your device until you remove the Add-in and clear its Office add-in storage.

Purchases

Licenses are bought on our own checkout at buy.pythonandvba.com (payments by Stripe or PayPal; older purchase links may use Pabbly). Your license key is sent to you by email. We receive your name, email address, billing country, and order details from the checkout, and a VAT ID if you enter one. We never see your full card details. This is covered in more detail by our general website Privacy Policy.

Data Handled by Microsoft Excel

The Add-in runs inside Microsoft Excel on Windows, Mac and the web. Microsoft's handling of your Office documents and account data is governed by Microsoft's own privacy terms. See the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

4. Third-Party Services

• Microsoft Excel / Microsoft 365: the host application in which the Add-in runs, and the source of office.js.
• Our license server (api.pythonandvba.com, operated by us): checks license keys as described in Section 3.
• Stripe and PayPal: payment processing when you buy a license (and Pabbly, for older purchase links).

No other third parties receive any data through the Add-in. We do not sell your personal data.

5. What the Add-in Does Not Do

• It does not include advertising, cookies, telemetry, or third-party analytics or tracking.
• It does not send your tables, your files or your comparison results to us or to anyone else, and it does not send them to an AI service.
• It does not send automatic error reports. Error messages are shown in the Add-in only; if you contact support, you can choose to copy the diagnostic details from the Add-in and include them yourself. Those details never contain cell contents.
• It does not change the values of the tables you compare, and it does not merge or overwrite anything.
• It does not access hardware identifiers, your contacts, Microsoft Graph, SharePoint, OneDrive, or files other than the ones you choose.

6. How We Use Data

• To validate and manage your license and enforce its device limit.
• To show your devices in your account, so you can free a device yourself.
• To let licensed features keep working during a short offline grace period after a successful license check.
• To deliver your license key and handle purchases and support requests.

That is the complete list: the Add-in's comparison features themselves require no data to be sent to us.

7. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, we process the limited license and purchase data described above under the following legal bases:

• Contract performance: Verifying your license and delivering your purchase so we can provide the licensed features.
• Legitimate interests: Enforcing license limits and preventing misuse of our software.
• Legal obligation: Keeping purchase records as tax and accounting law requires.

8. International Data Transfers

Bosau Digital LLC and our license server are located in the United States or process data there. If you use the Add-in from outside the United States, the license validation data described above is transferred to the United States. Your workbook contents are never transferred, because they never leave your device. Where personal data of EEA or UK residents is transferred internationally, we and our service providers rely on appropriate safeguards such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and/or Standard Contractual Clauses.

9. Data Retention

• License records: Retained for as long as necessary to support your license and comply with legal obligations.
• Server logs: Deleted after 14 days (90 days for warnings and errors).
• Failed license checks: Deleted after 90 days.
• Locally stored keys and settings: Remain on your device until you remove them or the Add-in.
• Setup stored in your workbook (names, options and highlight identifiers): Remains in the file until you delete the file; it is under your control like the rest of the workbook.
• Worksheet contents: Not retained, received, or seen by us at all.

10. Your Rights

If you are located in the EEA or UK, you have the following rights under GDPR in respect of the personal data we hold (essentially, your license record and your purchase details):

• Access: Request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Restriction: Request that we limit how we use your data
• Portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@pythonandvba.com. We will respond within 30 days. Because your workbook data never reaches us, there is no workbook data of yours for us to return or delete.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk); in the EEA you can find your national authority through the European Data Protection Board (edpb.europa.eu). We would welcome the chance to resolve your concern first, so please consider contacting us before you do.

11. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. The Add-in's program code and the license check are transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. Everything else stays on your device or in your workbook.

12. Children's Privacy

The Add-in is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of the Add-in after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, please contact:

Related documents: Table Compare Terms of Use · Website Privacy Policy · Refund Policy · Terms & Conditions