Privacy Policy

Last updated June 3, 2026

Tonal Recall is designed to be private by default. The short version: your audio and your transcripts stay on your Mac. We don't operate servers that receive your recordings, we don't require an account, and we don't track you, profile you, or sell anything about you.

This policy explains what that means in practice, the limited information involved in running the app, and your choices. It applies to the Tonal Recall macOS application ("the app," "we," "us").

The short version

Recording, storage, and transcription all happen on your device.
Your microphone audio, system audio, and transcripts are never sent to us or to any cloud service we control.
Apart from a one-time download of the on-device transcription model, the app makes no network requests on its own. After that download it works fully offline; the only other time it reaches the network is if you choose to send us a bug report.
There is no account, no sign-in, no analytics, no advertising, and no third-party tracking in the app.

Information we collect

Audio and transcripts. While recording, the app keeps a rolling buffer of microphone and system audio in a temporary location on your Mac, and — when you choose to transcribe a moment — saves the resulting audio clip and transcript inside the app's sandboxed storage on your device. This content is created and stored locally. We do not receive it and have no ability to access it.

No account data. Tonal Recall has no login. We do not collect your name, email, contacts, location, or device identifiers.

Diagnostics. The app does not send crash reports, telemetry, or usage analytics to us. If you installed from the Mac App Store and enabled Apple's diagnostic sharing at the system level, Apple may share aggregate crash data with developers under Apple's policies; you can turn this off in macOS Settings.

The main network connection: the transcription model

Transcription runs on-device. The first time you transcribe, the app downloads the machine-learning model from a third-party model host (Hugging Face) so it can run locally. That request transmits only what's needed to fetch the model files — it does not include any of your audio or transcripts. Once the model is cached on your Mac, the app does not contact the network to transcribe again.

How your data is used

Because your recordings and transcripts live only on your device, they are used solely to provide the features you invoke: buffering recent audio, transcribing the moments you select, searching your own transcript history, and — if you choose — making your transcripts available to a local AI assistant (below). We do not use your content for advertising, model training, or any purpose other than running the app on your Mac.

Connecting an AI assistant (MCP)

Tonal Recall can make your transcripts available to a compatible desktop AI assistant (such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Claude Desktop) through a local Model Context Protocol (MCP) connection. This is optional and entirely under your control:

The connection is read-only and runs locally, between the app and the AI client on your Mac.
Information is only provided when you ask your assistant something that calls for it.
When you send a transcript or excerpt to a cloud-based AI assistant, that information is handled by that provider under their privacy policy. We are not party to that exchange and do not receive it. Please review your AI provider's policy to understand how they handle what you share.

Purchases

Tonal Recall is sold through the Apple Mac App Store. Your purchase is processed by Apple, and any payment, billing, or account information involved is collected and handled by Apple under Apple's privacy policy. We do not receive your payment details. We may see anonymized, aggregate sales information that Apple provides to developers (for example, total units sold), which does not identify you.

Third parties

We don't sell, rent, or share your personal information — because we don't collect it. The only third parties involved in the app's operation are:

Apple — distributes the app and processes purchases (App Store).
The model host (Hugging Face) — serves the one-time transcription-model download.
An AI assistant you choose to connect — receives only the transcript content you direct it to, under its own policy.

Data retention

The rolling audio buffer is temporary and is automatically deleted as it ages out (older than roughly two hours, or sooner under low disk space).
Captures (saved audio and transcripts) remain on your Mac until you delete them, which you can do at any time in the app or in Finder.
We retain nothing, because none of this content reaches us.

Security

Your recordings and transcripts are stored within the app's macOS sandbox and the operating system's protections. Microphone and screen-recording access are governed by macOS permission prompts that you grant and can revoke at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security. Because the data never leaves your device, the most important safeguards are the ones built into your Mac and your own device security (such as FileVault and a strong login password).

Your privacy rights

Privacy laws such as the EU/UK GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) give you rights to access, correct, delete, or port the personal information a company holds about you, and to opt out of its sale. We hold no personal information about you to access, correct, delete, port, or sell. You already have complete, direct control over your audio and transcripts on your own device. If you believe we somehow hold information about you, contact us and we'll respond.

Children

Tonal Recall is not directed to children and is not intended for anyone under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example, if the app's functionality changes. When we do, we'll revise the "Last updated" date above and post the new version on this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your privacy? Reach us through the contact page on this site.