Privacy Policy
Last updated 5 September 2026
The short version, for whoever has to approve this
- Where does data go?
- Nowhere. Notes are written to the app's own sandboxed container on the Mac. There is no Mindslip server, no account and no login.
- What about the cloud?
- iCloud sync is off until the user turns it on. When on, days sync through the user's own private CloudKit database — their Apple account, under Apple's terms, not ours. We have no access to it.
- Is audio uploaded or stored?
- No. Microphone and system audio are transcribed on the Mac by Apple's Speech framework. The audio is not written to disk and not sent anywhere. Only the text you see reaches the note.
- Does the AI send anything out?
- No. Summaries use Apple Intelligence's on-device model through Apple's Foundation Models framework. There is no API call and no third-party model to download; Mindslip uses the model macOS already provides.
- Analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, SDKs?
- None of them. There are no third-party SDKs in the app at all, so there is nothing to opt out of and no consent banner to manage.
- What permissions does it ask for, and why?
- Microphone and Speech Recognition to transcribe dictation; Audio Recording to capture what the Mac plays during a call; Calendars, read-only, to show the day's events above the note. Each is requested at the moment it is first used, and the app works without any of them.
- Payments?
- Handled entirely by Apple. Purchases are verified on the device from Apple's signed transaction; we never see a payment method and operate no licence server.
- Is it sandboxed?
- Yes. Mindslip ships through the Mac App Store with the App Sandbox enabled in every build.
The binding policy follows.
Mindslip has no accounts, no servers, and no analytics. Your notes are stored on your Mac. If you turn on iCloud sync, they are also stored in your own private iCloud database, which we cannot access. Dictation is transcribed on your Mac. We do not receive your notes, your audio, or any record of how you use the app.
Who we are
Mindslip is an independent Mac app made by one person. In this policy, “we” means the developer of Mindslip, and “the app” means the Mindslip macOS application. You can reach us at [email protected].
What the app stores, and where
Everything you write — your daily notes, to-dos, recurring to-do rules, starred days, and your settings — is stored in a database inside the app’s own container on your Mac. That file belongs to you. Deleting the app removes it.
If you turn on iCloud sync (it is off until you switch it on in Settings), the same data is also written to the private database of your Apple Account, using Apple’s CloudKit. Apple stores it under your account, subject to Apple’s Privacy Policy. We have no ability to read it: a private CloudKit database is accessible only to the signed-in Apple Account that owns it, and there is no developer view of its contents.
We operate no servers of our own. There is no Mindslip account, no sign-up, no login, and no backend for your notes to be sent to. If you never turn on iCloud sync, your notes never leave your Mac.
Dictation
Dictation uses Apple’s on-device Speech framework. Audio is captured only while a dictation session is open, is transcribed on your Mac, and is never written to disk or transmitted anywhere by the app. Only the resulting text is placed into your note. The first time you dictate, macOS asks your permission for the microphone and for speech recognition, and Apple may download an on-device speech model.
Calendar
If you grant calendar access, the app reads the events for the day you are viewing and shows them above your note. It reads only; it never creates, edits, or deletes events, and it does not copy your events into its own storage or send them anywhere. You can withdraw access at any time in System Settings, and the app continues to work without it.
What we collect
Nothing. The app contains no analytics, no crash-reporting service, no advertising, and no third-party SDKs. We do not track usage, we do not build a profile of you, and we do not have a database of users, because there are no user accounts.
If you email us for support, we receive whatever you choose to put in that email, and we keep it only as long as needed to answer you.
Notifications
If you enable the end-of-day reminder, notifications are scheduled locally by your Mac. Nothing is sent through a notification server about what is in your notes.
Apple’s role
If you obtain the app through TestFlight or the App Store, Apple collects information about that distribution — such as downloads and crash reports you choose to share — under Apple’s own policies. Any crash reports we see through Apple are anonymised and contain no note content. We do not combine that information with anything else, because we hold nothing else.
Children
Mindslip is a general-purpose notepad and is not directed at children. Because we collect no data at all, we do not knowingly collect anything from anyone, of any age.
Your control
Since your data is on your own devices and in your own iCloud account, you control it directly. You can delete individual days in the app, turn off iCloud sync in Settings, remove Mindslip’s data from iCloud in System Settings, or delete the app to remove its local database. We cannot delete your notes on your behalf, because we have no copy of them.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. If a future version of the app ever collects anything, that will be described here before the feature ships, and it will be something you turn on rather than something assumed.
Contact
Questions about this policy: [email protected].