How Your Data is Protected

Yapper is designed with privacy as a core principle. Your voice data stays on your Mac, and you have full control over what (if anything) leaves your computer.

The Privacy Promise

Your voice never leaves your Mac for transcription. Speech-to-text processing happens entirely on your device using on-device engines (NVIDIA Parakeet and OpenAI Whisper). No audio is uploaded to any server.

How Data Flows

Local Processing (Default)

When you use Yapper without AI features:

1. Your microphone captures audio
2. The audio is processed on your Mac by your selected engine (Parakeet or Whisper)
3. Text is typed into your application
4. Audio is immediately discarded (not saved)

With AI Features (Optional)

When you use AI Transform or AI Q&A:

1. Audio is captured and transcribed locally (voice never leaves)
2. Text only is sent to your chosen AI provider (Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, or xAI)
   • For AI Transform: your voice instruction + the selected text are sent
   • For AI Q&A: your question is sent
3. The AI response is streamed back and displayed or typed locally

Important: Only transcribed text is sent, never your audio recording.

What Stays on Your Mac

Data Type	Stored Locally	Sent Externally
Audio recordings	Temporary (processing only)	Never
Transcribed text	Yes (in history)	Only when using AI Transform or AI Q&A
API keys	Yes	Never
Settings	Yes	Never
Usage patterns	No	Never
Crash logs	Local only	Never

What Gets Sent Externally (Only When You Use AI)

AI Transform and AI Q&A

When you use AI features:

• AI Transform: Your voice instruction and the selected text are sent to your chosen provider
• AI Q&A: Your question (minus the “Hey Yapper” prefix) is sent to your chosen provider
• The provider’s privacy policy applies to any text sent
• AI features are user-initiated — nothing is sent automatically

To keep everything local: Simply don’t use AI Transform or AI Q&A. Basic transcription works fully offline.

License Activation

During license activation:

• Your license key is verified with the licensing server
• No voice data, transcriptions, or personal information is sent
• This is a one-time verification (occasional re-verification may occur)

Where Local Data Is Stored

Yapper stores data in standard macOS locations:

Data	Location
Transcript history	~/Library/Application Support/Yapper/
Preferences	~/Library/Preferences/com.yapper.app.plist
Models	~/Library/Application Support/Yapper/Models/

This data is:

• Stored only on your Mac
• Not synced to iCloud or any cloud service
• Included in Time Machine backups if you use them
• Deletable at any time

Permissions Explained

Microphone Access

What it’s used for: Capturing your voice when you record

What it’s NOT used for:

• Background listening
• Recording without your knowledge
• Storing audio permanently

Yapper only accesses the microphone when you press the recording shortcut. The audio is processed and immediately discarded.

Accessibility Access

What it’s used for:

• Typing transcribed text into applications by simulating keyboard input
• Reading selected text in the active app when you use AI Transform

What it’s NOT used for:

• Reading your screen beyond the selected text for AI Transform
• Monitoring your activity
• Accessing other applications’ data
• Logging your keystrokes

The Accessibility permission works the same way text expanders and keyboard automation tools use it. Selected text is only read when you actively initiate an AI Transform by pressing the recording shortcut with text selected.

Third-Party Services

AI Providers

If you use AI features, your transcribed text is processed by your chosen provider:

Provider	Privacy Policy
Google (Gemini)	ai.google.dev/terms
OpenAI	openai.com/privacy
Anthropic	anthropic.com/privacy
xAI	x.ai/privacy

Review your provider’s policy to understand how they handle your text.

Speech Recognition Engines

Yapper uses two on-device speech recognition engines:

Parakeet (NVIDIA):

• Runs entirely on your Mac
• No data is sent externally
• Models are downloaded once, then run locally

Whisper (OpenAI):

• Runs entirely on your Mac
• No data is sent externally
• Models are downloaded once, then run locally

Licensing (Polar)

License activation uses Polar:

• Only your license key is verified
• No personal data is stored beyond what’s needed for licensing
• Polar privacy policy

Data Retention

Transcript History

• Stored locally in JSON format
• Automatically deleted after 90 days (default)
• You can delete entries manually at any time
• Deleting Yapper removes all history

Audio Recordings

Audio is never stored. It exists only in memory during processing and is immediately discarded.

Settings

Settings persist until you:

• Change them
• Uninstall Yapper
• Delete the preferences file

Your Control

You have complete control over your data:

Action	How
Stop using AI features	Simply don’t use AI Transform or Q&A — no toggle needed
Delete history	History → Select entry → Delete
Delete all data	Remove ~/Library/Application Support/Yapper/
Revoke microphone access	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone
Revoke accessibility	System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility

Security Measures

API Key Storage

Your API keys are:

• Stored locally in your preferences
• Never transmitted to Yapper or third parties (except the AI provider you chose)
• Used only for authenticating with your chosen AI provider

No Telemetry

Yapper does not collect:

• Usage analytics
• Crash reports sent to us
• Performance metrics
• Any form of telemetry

Summary

Concern	Yapper’s Approach
Voice data	Processed locally, never uploaded
Transcriptions	Stored locally, sent to AI provider only when you use AI features
No accounts	No Yapper account required
No tracking	No analytics or telemetry
Full control	Delete your data anytime

Questions?

If you have privacy questions or concerns, contact us at hello@yapper.to.