How SheetApps Protects Your Google Sheets Data

SheetApps never copies, stores, or sends your spreadsheet data to AI. Our AI reads only column names and types (e.g. "Revenue" as currency, "Status" as text) to generate your dashboard layout. Your actual data stays in Google Sheets, in your Google Drive, under your control. Full stop.

This post explains exactly what our AI sees, what it doesn't, and how the whole system is designed to keep your data private.

What does SheetApps AI actually see?

Only your column schema. When you connect a Google Sheet, we extract metadata like this:

Column name: "Revenue" — Detected type: currency
Column name: "Status" — Detected type: enum (Active, Closed, Pending)
Column name: "Client Name" — Detected type: text
Column name: "Date" — Detected type: date

That's it. The AI uses this schema to decide which widgets to generate. A currency column gets a KPI card and bar chart. An enum column gets a pie chart. A date column gets a timeline.

The AI never sees values like "$45,231.50", "Sarah Johnson", or "sarah@example.com". It doesn't need to. Dashboard layout decisions are based on data shape, not data content.

How does data flow through SheetApps?

Three components, one clear boundary:

Google Sheets — Your data lives here. Always.
SheetApps + AI — Receives your column schema. Generates a dashboard layout config (which widgets, which chart types, which columns to visualise). Stores only this config.
Your browser — Fetches your actual data directly from Google Sheets via the API. Renders the dashboard locally.

The key point: your browser talks to Google Sheets directly. SheetApps never sits between your browser and your data. We generate the layout, your browser does the rest.

Does SheetApps store my spreadsheet data?

No. We store three things:

Your account info (Google profile name and email, from OAuth)
Your dashboard layout configuration (widget types, chart settings, colour scheme)
The Google Sheet URL you connected

We do not store rows, cell values, formulas, or any spreadsheet content. Your data is fetched fresh from Google Sheets every time you open your dashboard.

What Google permissions does SheetApps request?

We request one scope: the Google Sheets API for read and write access to spreadsheets you connect.

We cannot access your:

Gmail or email
Google Drive files (other than the specific sheets you connect)
Google Calendar
Google Contacts
Any other Google service

You can revoke access anytime from your Google Account permissions page. Find SheetApps, click Remove Access. Your spreadsheet stays exactly as it was.

Is my data sent to a third-party AI?

Your data is never sent to AI. Only the column schema goes to Claude AI (by Anthropic) to generate your dashboard layout.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Sent to AI: "Column 'Revenue' is type currency. Column 'Status' is type enum with values Active, Closed. Column 'Date' is type date."
Never sent to AI: "$45,231.50", "Sarah Johnson", "sarah@example.com", or any cell value from your sheet.

The AI decides to show a bar chart for "Revenue" and a pie chart for "Status" without ever knowing what your revenue figures are or who your clients are.

What happens if I stop using SheetApps?

Nothing changes on your end. Your Google Sheet stays exactly as it was before you connected it. There's no data to export, no migration needed, no cleanup required.

SheetApps doesn't modify your spreadsheet structure. When you use the CRUD features (add, edit, delete rows), those changes are written directly to your Google Sheet via the API. If you stop using SheetApps, those rows are still in your sheet because that's where they were written.

Is it safe to connect Google Sheets to third-party apps?

This is a valid concern. When you install Google Sheets add-ons or connect third-party tools, you're often granting broad permissions. Some apps request full read-write access to your entire Google Workspace, including Gmail, Drive, and Calendar, even when they only need to read one spreadsheet.

Common risks with third-party Google Sheets integrations:

Excessive permissions. Some tools request access to your entire Google account when they only need one spreadsheet.
Data copying. Most dashboard and BI tools ingest your data into their own servers for processing.
Poor security practices. Not all third-party apps encrypt data at rest or follow security best practices.
Retention after disconnect. Some tools keep copies of your data even after you revoke access.

SheetApps is designed to avoid all of these. We request only the Google Sheets API scope. We never copy your data. And when you revoke access, there's nothing to delete because we never had your data in the first place.

How does SheetApps compare to other dashboard tools on privacy?

Most no-code dashboard tools (Looker Studio, AppSheet, Glide, Retool) need to read your actual data to render charts and tables. They process your spreadsheet content on their servers.

SheetApps works differently:

| | SheetApps | Most dashboard tools | |---|---|---| | Data storage | None. Data stays in Google Sheets. | Copies data to their servers | | AI access | Column names and types only | Full data access for processing | | Permissions | Google Sheets API only | Often requests Drive, Gmail, Calendar | | Lock-in | None. Your sheet is unchanged. | Data may need exporting | | Data in transit | Browser fetches directly from Google | Data passes through their servers |

This isn't just a privacy feature. It's the architecture. The system physically cannot access your data because it was never designed to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my team members see all the data in a shared dashboard?

When you share a dashboard via public link, viewers see the same data you do from that Google Sheet. Access control is handled by Google Sheets permissions. If someone doesn't have access to the underlying sheet, the dashboard won't load data for them.

Is the connection between my browser and Google Sheets encrypted?

Yes. All communication between your browser and Google's APIs uses HTTPS/TLS encryption. SheetApps itself also uses HTTPS for all connections.

Where is SheetApps hosted?

SheetApps runs on Vercel's edge network. Dashboard configurations are stored in a Turso (SQLite) database. Neither system ever receives your spreadsheet data.

Can I use SheetApps with sensitive business data?

That depends on your organisation's policies. The technical reality is that SheetApps never sees your data. But if your compliance requirements prohibit connecting third-party apps to Google Sheets at all, you should check with your IT team first.

Is SheetApps HIPAA compliant?

SheetApps does not store or process patient data, so HIPAA's data handling requirements don't apply to our system in the traditional sense. However, if you're working with protected health information in Google Sheets, check whether your Google Workspace plan meets HIPAA requirements first. SheetApps will never see that data, but the Google Sheets side needs to be compliant.

How do I know SheetApps isn't secretly reading my data?

The architecture makes it impossible. Our AI receives a schema object with column names and types. The actual data fetch happens in your browser via the Google Sheets API using your OAuth token. Our servers never receive that token for data reads. You can verify this by checking your browser's network tab: data requests go directly to sheets.googleapis.com, not to SheetApps servers.

For a visual breakdown of our data flow and security principles, see our Security page.

If you're looking to build a dashboard from your Google Sheets data, see our guide on how to create a Google Sheets dashboard without code.