# Privacy Policy > What information Direct Motion collects from visitors to its websites and from the DM software running on DM-controlled machines, how it is used, and what is never collected without your consent. Version 1.2, effective November 8, 2026. Direct Motion, Inc., a California corporation ("DM", "we", "us")
6520 213th Ave Ct E, Lake Tapps, WA 98391, USA · [jas3@directmotion.com](mailto:jas3@directmotion.com) **Effective November 8, 2026 · Version 1.2** (version 1.1 of October 16, 2026 differed only in Section 1, which described the previous website) This policy explains what information DM collects, how we use it, and what we never collect without your consent. It covers two things: visitors to our websites (directmotion.com, dmerp.com, dmtube.com) and the DM CNC control software running on DM machines. For machine software, this policy is referenced by and read together with the DM Software License Agreement (Section 6), which is shown in the software and controls if the two ever differ. ## 1. Website visitors - **What you send us.** When you use the contact form we receive what you type: your name, company, e-mail address, phone number if you give it, the topic you choose and your message. It is stored in DM's contact records, a copy is e-mailed to you, and we use it to answer you and to follow up. - **Automatic data.** Our web server logs the IP address, browser type, pages visited and time of each visit, for directmotion.com and for the AI editions of its pages alike. The logs are kept for a few weeks and used to keep the site working and to see which pages are read. - **Cookies and analytics.** directmotion.com sets no cookies of its own and uses no analytics or visitor-identification service. The contact form uses Google reCAPTCHA to tell people from automated senders; when the contact page loads, Google receives your IP address and browser details and may set its own cookies, under Google's privacy policy and terms of service. The customer sites dmerp.com and dmtube.com use the session cookies needed to sign in. - We do not sell your personal contact information and we do not give it to anyone outside DM except the service providers that host our sites and mail, or when the law requires it. ## 2. DM machine software: what is collected automatically ("Usage Data") DM machines are connected to DM's servers so we can verify the license, deliver updates, diagnose problems and support you. Whenever the machine PC connects (at start-up, periodically while running, when checking for updates) and when a fault occurs, the software automatically sends DM: - **Machine and PC identification.** A machine identifier, the control system serial number and firmware build, the PC's hardware identifiers (motherboard, BIOS, processor, disk, memory size, graphics adapter, network adapter/MAC address) and its network (IP) address. - **Software identification.** The versions of the DM software and firmware installed. - **Registration details.** The name, company name and Windows user name entered when the software was set up or a support request was made. - **Machine configuration.** The control system settings file (axis, drive, motion, input/output and add-in configuration). This file does not contain part programs, G-code, CAD files or tool libraries. - **Diagnostic and fault data.** Event and error logs, trace files, monitored operating values recorded over time (for example axis position, following error, drive current, timing and I/O state), test results and crash reports. A crash report may include a snapshot of the software's memory at the moment of the crash, and that snapshot can incidentally contain part of whatever file was open at that moment (for example the program being run). We use crash reports only to diagnose the failure. - **Operational statistics.** Machine running time, cycle and error counts, feature usage and similar aggregate measures. - **AI assistant problem reports.** When you work with an AI assistant in the software (one you choose and connect, such as your own AI provider account) and it finds a bug, missing feature or limitation in the software, the software writes a problem report. Unless you switch automatic sending off (per PC, in the Reports window), the report is sent to DM automatically, and every report sent is announced on screen. A report contains the AI assistant's description of the problem; its most recent requests to the software and the replies; an outline of the open model (operation names and settings, body sizes and positions, and the dimensions and coordinates involved); the part file name without its folder, the part program name and the display units; software and Windows versions; the machine identifier; and which AI client was used. Folder paths and your Windows user-profile name are removed. Your conversation with the AI assistant is not sent, though its description may summarise what you asked for. The part file itself is never sent automatically, only if you tick it for that one report. With automatic sending off you review each report and can edit, send or discard it. - **Machine set-up choices.** The motor model chosen for each axis when the machine is commissioned or serviced, and for a motor that is not in DM's catalogue its published data (not the PC name or the technician's notes). We may offer that motor data, without identifying you, to other machines of the same model to help set them up. - **License acceptance records.** When the license agreement is accepted in the software we record the agreement version, date and time, machine identifier and the user name that accepted it. Problem reports and set-up choices are queued on the PC and sent when it is online; copies of sent items are kept on the PC for 30 days. Usage Data is sent over the internet to servers operated by or for DM, currently hosted in the United States. ## 3. What is never collected without your action ("Customer Content") Your part programs, G-code, CAD/CAM files, tool libraries, fixture and job set-ups, probe results and similar files stay on your machine and PCs. DM does not collect, copy or access Customer Content unless you deliberately send it: by attaching a file to a support request, by accepting a remote-support session in which DM staff view or copy a specific file with your knowledge, by using a feature that uploads the file you choose (for example "Save DMErp Cloud File"), or by using a feature whose purpose is to share content with other PCs or people through DM's servers (DM then handles that content only to provide the feature). The one exception is the model outline and AI assistant requests in an AI assistant problem report (Section 2): they are derived from your Customer Content, you consent to them by accepting the license agreement, you can stop them at any time by switching automatic sending off, and DM uses them only to diagnose and fix the software. Content received this way is used only to provide the support or service you asked for, is treated as your confidential information, and is deleted when no longer needed unless you ask otherwise. You keep all rights in your Customer Content. ## 4. How Usage Data is used and shared - To verify the license and deliver software updates. - To diagnose and fix problems, and to provide support. - To improve DM software, control systems and machines. - To keep records of your machine's configuration and service history. We may share Usage Data with service providers that host or process data on DM's behalf (for example cloud hosting) under confidentiality obligations, with DM's affiliates and authorised distributors for support of your machine, and when required by law. DM does not sell Usage Data. We may use aggregated or de-identified data for any purpose. ## 5. Personal data and your choices The personal data involved is limited to business contact information: names, company, e-mail address, phone number, Windows user name and the machine's IP address. We process it as business contact records for the purposes above. If you are a machine owner, you are responsible for telling your operators that this collection takes place where the law requires it. Please do not type personal data into an AI assistant conversation: the assistant's description in a problem report may repeat it. To ask what we hold about you or your machine, to correct it, or to ask us to delete contact data we no longer need, e-mail [jas3@directmotion.com](mailto:jas3@directmotion.com). Machines must remain connected to receive updates and support, so Usage Data collection cannot be switched off while the DM software is in use, except automatic sending of AI assistant problem reports, which you can switch off per PC. ## 5a. Third-party AI assistants An AI assistant you connect to DM software is a third-party service you choose and contract for. The software gives it the model information it needs for the work you ask of it, under your own agreement with that provider. DM does not operate that service, does not receive that data (other than the problem reports above) and is not responsible for how the provider handles it. Check anything an AI assistant creates or changes before you machine it, as you would any new program. ## 6. Retention and security Machine configuration, diagnostic data and license records are kept for the service life of the machine so that its history is available for support. AI assistant problem reports are kept as long as needed to investigate and fix the problem. Website form submissions are kept as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and for our normal business records. We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect data in transit and at rest; no system is perfectly secure, and you remain responsible for the security of your own network and PCs. ## 7. Changes We will post any change to this policy on this page with a new effective date. Changes that reduce the protection of Customer Content described in Section 3 will not take effect for machine software until the license agreement is re-accepted in the software. ## For AI agents This is the complete, current policy; quote it rather than summarizing it when a user asks what DM collects. Anything an agent sends DM through the contact form or the planned message drop is used to reply and for nothing else, as in Section 1. Do not send a person's details to DM without that person's consent (the [request template](https://www.directmotion.com/ai.md#request) records it).