← ears.elf.dance

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 10, 2026

What ElfEars Does

ElfEars is a macOS application for dictation and meeting transcription. It uses on-device machine learning models (CoreML / Apple Neural Engine) to convert speech to text entirely on your Mac.

Data That Stays on Your Device

The following data is created and stored locally on your Mac. It is never transmitted to any external server:

• Audio recordings — microphone and system audio captured during dictation and meetings
• Transcripts and meeting notes — stored in a local SQLite database
• Configuration and preferences — stored in a local JSON file
• Speech-to-text models — downloaded once from public model repositories (HuggingFace) and cached locally

Optional Cloud Services

ElfEars offers optional integrations that connect to external services. These are opt-in and require explicit user action:

• Meeting summarization (OpenAI API / OpenRouter) — if configured, meeting transcripts are sent to the selected API provider to generate summaries. This is governed by the respective provider's privacy policy.
• Meeting summarization (ChatGPT subscription) — if you sign in with your ChatGPT account, transcripts are sent to OpenAI's API for summarization using your existing subscription.
• Sparkle update checks — ElfEars checks the product release feed for new versions. No personal data is transmitted.

Google Calendar Integration

ElfEars can optionally connect to your Google Calendar to display upcoming meetings in the status bar and auto-detect meeting start times. When you connect Google Calendar:

• ElfEars requests read-only access to your calendar events (event titles, times, and durations)
• Calendar data is fetched directly from Google's API to your Mac — it does not pass through any intermediary server
• Calendar data is used only for displaying upcoming meetings and is not stored persistently
• OAuth tokens are stored in your macOS Keychain, protected by the operating system
• You can revoke access at any time from your Google Account permissions page

macOS Permissions

ElfEars requests the following macOS permissions, each for a specific purpose:

• Microphone — to capture your voice for dictation and meeting transcription
• Screen Recording — to capture system audio during meetings (via ScreenCaptureKit)
• Accessibility — to paste transcribed text into other applications
• Input Monitoring — to detect the global dictation hotkey
• Calendar — to read upcoming events from your local macOS calendar (EventKit)

Anonymous Usage Analytics

ElfEars uses TelemetryDeck to collect minimal, anonymized usage signals (e.g., which features are used and app launch counts). When ElfEars detects a hard failure, it may also send an allowlisted diagnostic category, workflow stage, selected on-device transcription backend/model, app version and build, operating system and device model, and a random incident ID. These diagnostics never include raw error messages, audio, transcripts, meeting or calendar titles, clipboard or screen contents, API keys, auth tokens, local file paths, raw logs, database contents, or other personal content. TelemetryDeck does not store IP addresses, and identifiers used for anonymous user and session counts cannot be traced back to a person. You can learn more about TelemetryDeck's privacy practices on their privacy page.

No Personal Data Collection

ElfEars does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data on external servers. Apart from the anonymous usage signals described above, no data leaves your device. The application is fully functional without an internet connection (except for optional cloud summarization and calendar sync).

Open Source

ElfEars's source code is available in the CH5 source repository under the MIT license. You can inspect exactly what the application does with your data.

Children's Privacy

ElfEars is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

Changes to This Policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a revised date. ElfEars does not have a mechanism to notify users of policy changes since we do not collect contact information.

Contact

For questions about this privacy policy, open an issue in the CH5 source repository.