WaxroseApp privacy
Last updated: [date]
Waxrose is designed so that your recordings stay on your Mac. This page explains exactly what data it uses, where it goes, and what is sent over the network.
In short
- Audio files you drop into Waxrose are transcribed on your Mac. The audio is never sent to the author or to any external service.
- The author of Waxrose never receives your recordings, transcripts or usage data: no account, no usage statistics, no crash reports, no tracking. The only exception is the update check in the version downloaded from our website, which reaches our server (see below).
- The only network traffic is the one-time download of the transcription models, the update check in the version downloaded from our website, and, only if you choose OpenAI for summaries, the transcript text sent to OpenAI with your own API key.
Who is responsible for the data
The author of Waxrose, Klaus Lanzarini, does not receive or store your recordings, transcripts or any other data the app processes, and is not a data controller for that data. The author is the controller only for the technical data of update checks (IP address and app version in our website's server logs), as described in the Website privacy policy. The data stays under your control: on your Mac and, if you choose, with OpenAI, which has its own privacy policy.
If you use Waxrose for work, for example to record meetings, clients or patients, you or your organisation are the data controller for those recordings. It is up to you to inform the people recorded and to have an appropriate legal basis.
What happens when you drop a file
- Reading the file. Waxrose reads the audio file from your Mac. It does not copy it elsewhere, except for a temporary copy for decoding if needed, which is deleted when the job ends.
- Transcription on your Mac. Speech recognition and speaker recognition run on your Mac, using models installed on your computer.
- Summary.
- With Apple Intelligence, the summary is generated on your Mac.
- With OpenAI, which you choose in the settings, the transcript text (not the audio) is sent to OpenAI using your API key and under your OpenAI account. OpenAI's terms and privacy policy then apply, any costs are yours, and the data may be processed outside the European Union.
- Results. Transcripts and summaries stay on your Mac, in the app and in the files you choose to export. [To confirm: where the app stores them and for how long.]
- Notification. When a job finishes, macOS may show a notification. It is generated on your Mac.
Free version and unlock
- Daily limit. The free version's transcription count is kept only on your Mac. No data is sent to check it.
- Website version. The licence you receive by email is checked on your Mac, without contacting any server. [To confirm with Extension: offline verification of a signed licence.]
- Mac App Store version. Purchases and restores go through Apple's purchase system (StoreKit), under Apple's privacy policy. The author does not receive your personal data.
What stays on your Mac
- The transcription models (about 1 GB) in
~/Library/Application Support/[app folder]/. - The app settings, including your OpenAI key if you set one [to confirm: stored in the macOS Keychain].
- [To confirm:] the history of transcripts and summaries, if the app keeps one.
- A technical log in
~/Library/Logs/[app folder]/with metadata only: duration, processing times, number of words and speakers, language, errors. It does not contain the text of transcripts or summaries. [To confirm with Extension: the log must not contain file names, which may include personal data, or this must be stated here.]
You can delete everything with Uninstall… in the app window.
Network connections
| Destination | When | What is sent |
|---|---|---|
Hugging Face (huggingface.co) | When you download the models, once | A standard download request (the server sees your IP address) |
OpenAI (api.openai.com) | Only if you choose OpenAI for summaries | The transcript text and the summary instructions, with your key |
| Apple (StoreKit), Mac App Store version only | When you buy or restore the unlock | Handled by Apple's purchase system |
| Our website ([domain], update feed "appcast"), website version only | Periodically, to check for a new version (Sparkle); you can turn this off in the settings [to confirm] | A standard web request: the server sees your IP address, the app name and version, and the macOS version. No system profile is sent [to confirm: Sparkle system profiling disabled] |
There are no other connections. Waxrose contains no analytics, tracking, advertising or automatic crash reporting. The Mac App Store version is updated through the Mac App Store.
AI-generated summaries
Summaries are generated automatically and may contain errors or omissions. Review them before using or sharing them, especially in medical, legal, financial or employment matters.
People you record
Recordings may contain the voices and data of other people. Follow the laws that apply to recording and using conversations, inform participants, and do not use Waxrose to transcribe people recorded without their knowledge where this is not allowed.
Changes
If a future version changes how data is handled, we will update this page before release, with the date at the top and a note in the release notes.
Contact
Questions about this policy: [contact email].