Privacy policy

This page is a user-facing summary. For data paths, see BYOK & data flow and Local Only Mode.

Summary

• No mandatory VoiceHotkey cloud account for core features
• API keys, licenses, and history stay on your Mac by default (Keychain / local storage)
• Cloud processing only via third-party ASR / LLM providers you configure (BYOK)
• No third-party analytics or crash telemetry by default
• Pro checkout is processed by Polar (their privacy policy covers payment data)
• Optional Local Only Mode blocks non-loopback traffic and pauses update checks

Data on your Mac

Data	Where
API / license keys	Keychain
Preferences	UserDefaults
History	On device (count / age limits in History settings)
Microphone audio	Memory / temporary buffers, discarded after processing

Third parties

Only when demo mode is off and a cloud engine is selected:

1. ASR — audio (or derived files) → the speech provider you chose
2. LLM — transcript text (and optional context) → the polish / intent / translation model you chose

Retention is governed by each provider’s own policy. VoiceHotkey does not upload transcripts for product analytics by default.

Permissions

• Microphone — real speech recognition
• Accessibility — global hotkeys and typing into other apps
• Speech Recognition — when using Apple Speech
• Shell commands (Trial/Pro, off by default, confirmable) — local zsh only

Your choices

• Stay in Demo mode to avoid live mic capture
• Prefer the local command dictionary to reduce intent LLM calls
• Enable Local Only Mode with Apple / built-in on-device engines for fully local typing
• Clear keys and history in Settings; uninstalling removes local preferences (standard macOS)

Contact

Privacy questions: use the public channels under Contact (installer-repo Issues / Releases discussion).

The product site and in-app Privacy entries also point to this manual.