A designer sent me a panicked Slack message. Their client's product icons had leaked onto a public PNG download site. The designer had used a free SVG-to-PNG converter to export icon sets for a developer handoff. The converter stored uploaded files on a publicly accessible CDN with predictable URLs. Nobody read the privacy policy.
I'm Jamie, a UI/UX designer. After that incident, I stopped recommending server-based converters entirely. Here's why and what I built instead.
The Server Problem Nobody Discusses
Most online SVG converters work like this: upload SVG → server renders PNG → download result. What happens to your file in between is anyone's guess. I tested six popular converters. One admitted to retaining files for 30 days. Three had privacy policies so vague I couldn't determine their retention policy. One had no privacy policy at all.
For designers, this isn't about national security. It's about client NDAs. That icon set might be for an unreleased product. That illustration might contain pre-launch branding. Uploading it to a stranger's server is a breach of trust even if nothing leaks.
