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1. What is HostOrigin?

HostOrigin is an Android mobile application designed to analyze the external resources of any website. Its primary goal is to determine the geographic location of the servers hosting these resources and classify them as being inside the European Union (EU) or outside the EU (Non-EU).

2. How the Scanning Process Works

The application follows a specific technical workflow to ensure accuracy while maintaining privacy:

• downloads the HTML content of the URL entered by the user
• extracts external resources from the webpage
• determines the server location using a local GeoIP database
• generates a scan report

3. Privacy and Data Security

On-Device Processing

Unlike many other tools, HostOrigin uses a Serverless Mobile-First architecture. This means all processing, scanning and PDF generation happen exclusively on your device.

Limited Backend Use

Basic profile information provided by Google (such as email or account identifier) may be used only for authentication purposes.

Anonymous Usage Analytics

To improve the application's performance and user experience, HostOrigin uses a third-party analytics tool that collects limited, pseudonymized usage data.

This may include information such as interaction patterns (e.g., taps, navigation, and session behavior), device type, and general technical data. These analytics are used strictly for statistical and usability improvement purposes.

No directly identifiable personal information (such as name, email address, or user-generated content) is collected through this process. Sensitive input fields are masked to prevent accidental data capture.

4. Understanding the Reports

At the end of each scan, you can generate a PDF report containing:

• The URL of each resource.
• The server IP address and its country/region.
• A statistical pie chart showing the distribution of EU vs. Non-EU resources.

User Tiers and Watermarks

• Free Users: The generated PDF reports include a watermark.
• Paid Users: Reports are generated without any watermark.

5. Frequently Asked Questions

Is my data safe?

Absolutely. HostOrigin is built with a Privacy-First architecture to ensure your data remains secure:

• Local Processing: All scanning, resource analysis and report generation are performed exclusively on your device. Your scan results and the URLs you analyze are never sent to or stored on our servers.
• Secure Authentication via Google: We do not collect or manage your passwords. The application uses Google Sign-In, which includes Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This means your identity is protected by Google's industry-leading security infrastructure.
• Google-Managed Subscriptions: Your account status (Free vs. Paid) is managed entirely through Google Play Services. We do not manage or store your payment information or subscription status on any external database.

Why are some resources missing from the report?

The application currently downloads only the static HTML. Resources loaded dynamically via JavaScript or late rendering are not detected because JavaScript is not executed during the scan.

Why do I see different countries for the same resource?

Some websites use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). These networks may return different IP addresses and locations based on network traffic or geographic routing.

The scan failed for a specific website. Why?

Some websites have security measures that block automated requests. If a site blocks the application, the HTML cannot be fetched for analysis.

Need more help?

If you need additional assistance or have encountered an error, please contact us at:

contact@techorigin.eu