EmberType Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Commitment

EmberType is built on a simple principle: your voice data belongs to you. We designed EmberType to work fully offline with on-device models, and that is the default. Here's exactly what that means, including the optional features that use third-party providers:

What We Don't Collect

• Voice recordings -With local models (the default), your audio is processed entirely on your Mac and never uploaded anywhere. It is never sent to us under any setting
• Transcriptions -The text generated from your voice is stored only on your device and is never sent to us
• Usage analytics -We don't track how often you use the app or what features you use
• Personal information -We don't collect names, emails, or any identifying information through the app itself
• Device fingerprints -We don't create unique identifiers to track your device

Information We Do Collect

License Activation

When you activate a license key, the following is sent to our licensing provider (Polar.sh):

• Your license key
• A device identifier (to track activation count)

This is necessary to verify your license and enforce the 3-device activation limit. Polar.sh's privacy policy governs how they handle this data: polar.sh/legal/privacy

Update Checks

When EmberType checks for updates (via Sparkle), a request is made to our server. This request contains:

• Your current app version
• Your macOS version
• Your IP address (standard for any web request)

We don't store or process this information beyond serving the update.

Announcements

EmberType fetches a small announcements file from our website every few hours (for example, to tell you about a new version). This is an ordinary web request that reveals your IP address and app version to our server, like the update check. It contains no voice data or transcriptions.

Model Downloads

When you download a local speech model, EmberType fetches it from the model's public host (for example, Hugging Face). As with any download, that host sees your IP address. No voice data or text is sent.

Purchase Information

When you purchase EmberType, your payment is processed by Polar.sh. They collect standard payment information (email, payment method, billing address). We receive only:

• Your email address (for license delivery)
• Purchase confirmation (no payment details)

Third-Party Services

EmberType uses the following third-party services:

Polar.sh (Payments & Licensing)

Handles purchases and license key management. See their Privacy Policy.

Sparkle (Updates)

Open-source framework for app updates. Checks our server for new versions. No personal data is collected.

On-Device Models (Default)

By default, speech recognition runs locally on your Mac using on-device models (OpenAI's open-source Whisper models, NVIDIA Parakeet, or Apple's built-in speech recognition). With these models no audio or text is sent to OpenAI, NVIDIA, Apple, us, or any cloud service. Learn more about the available models.

Optional Cloud Transcription (Off by Default)

You can choose a cloud transcription model from Groq, ElevenLabs, Deepgram, Mistral, Google (Gemini), Soniox, or a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint. These run only after you add your own API key for that provider. When you use one, your audio is sent directly from your Mac to that provider under your account and is handled according to that provider's terms and privacy policy. It does not pass through our servers, and we never see it.

Optional AI Enhancement (Off by Default)

AI enhancement (cleanup and rewriting of your transcript) is off by default. If you turn it on, you choose the model: Ollama running locally on your Mac (nothing leaves your device), or a cloud provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google (Gemini), Groq, Cerebras, OpenRouter, or Mistral using your own API key. With a cloud provider, the transcript is sent to that provider together with context that helps it: any text you currently have selected, your custom dictionary words, and, only if you switch them on, your clipboard contents and on-screen text (both off by default). This data goes directly from your Mac to the provider you chose, never to us.

This Website (embertype.com)

The app and the website are separate. On embertype.com we measure visits with Plausible Analytics, which we host ourselves; it uses no cookies and records aggregate page views, referrers, country and device type. We also use Microsoft Clarity to understand how visitors use pages (clicks, scrolling and session replays, with form input masked), which uses cookies and is governed by the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Neither tool receives anything from the EmberType app.

Data Storage and Security

All EmberType data is stored locally on your Mac:

• Transcription history -Stored in your local app data folder
• Dictation audio -Recordings of your dictations are saved locally so you can replay or re-transcribe them. They stay on your Mac until you delete them; you can turn on automatic cleanup of audio and transcripts in Settings
• AI enhancement context -If you use AI enhancement, the context it used (selected text, and clipboard or on-screen text if you turned those options on) is saved with that transcription in your local history
• API keys -If you add a key for an optional cloud provider, it is stored in your Mac's Keychain
• Settings -Stored in macOS preferences
• AI models -Downloaded to your local machine
• License information -Stored in your Mac's Keychain

You can delete all EmberType data by removing the app and its associated files from your Mac.

Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Since we don't collect your personal data through the app, there's nothing for us to delete. If you used an optional cloud provider, requests about that data go to the provider. You can also:

• Delete local data -Uninstall EmberType and remove its data folder. See our documentation for details.
• Manage your license -Contact us at contact@embertype.com to deactivate devices
• Request purchase data deletion -Contact Polar.sh directly for payment-related data

Children's Privacy Policy

EmberType is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We'll post any changes on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use of EmberType after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. Please also review our Terms of Service.

Contact Us About Privacy

Questions about this privacy policy? Contact us at contact@embertype.com