Privacy Policy
Effective October 11, 2026
What changed: The description of Privacy Mode now says only what it does: it is a setting on your device that keeps your transcripts out of Spotlight search and out of ThinkScribe's widgets. What the app collects and shares has not changed. Previous version: October 4, 2026.
The short version
- No account. Your recordings, transcripts and notes are never sent to us.
- Transcription and speaker labels run on your device and work offline.
- Optional features provided by Apple, such as Apple Intelligence, Translation and iCloud sync, are covered by Apple's privacy policy.
- The app sends us crash reports and usage counts tied only to a random install ID, never your content. You can turn this off in Settings.
- If a future feature would send your content to any service other than Apple's, it will be optional, off by default, and ask you first.
Who we are
ThinkScribe is an app for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, made by an independent developer based in Spain ("we"), who is responsible for the personal data described here (the data controller). The developer is identified as the trader on the ThinkScribe App Store page; see also the Legal notice. This policy covers the app, its keyboard, widgets and Watch app, and this website, thinkscribe.ai. Questions are welcome at support@thinkscribe.ai.
Your recordings and notes
Everything you make in ThinkScribe is stored on your device. We don't run a server that receives it, and we can't see it.
| What | Where it's kept | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Recordings (audio) | On your device. Also in your iCloud if you turn on Sync Audio to iCloud. | You |
| Transcripts, summaries, chats, mind maps and collections | On your device. Also in your iCloud if you turn on Sync Across Devices. | You |
| Saved speaker names, with the voice signature the app uses to recognize them | On your device. Also in your iCloud if sync is on. | You |
| Vocabulary, keyboard clips and settings | On your device, shared between the app, its keyboard and its widgets. | You |
| AI and speech model files | On your device, downloaded once. | Not personal data |
iCloud sync is off by default. When you turn it on, Apple stores your library in your private iCloud database, protected by your Apple Account. We have no access to it. You can turn sync off at any time in Settings.
Device backups. Your library is included in your normal device backups. To leave it out, turn on Exclude from Device Backups in ThinkScribe Settings, under Privacy (a restored device will then not include your library).
Apple Watch. Recordings made on the Watch are sent to your iPhone over Apple's Watch connection and transcribed there.
Deleting. Deleted recordings stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days, then they are gone. You can also delete only the audio and keep the text. Deleting the app removes its data from that device; synced copies in your iCloud stay until you delete them in the app.
What runs on your device, and what Apple provides
These run on your device and work offline once their files are downloaded: transcription (including Apple's on-device speech recognition), speaker labels, live text, voice typing, and ThinkScribe AI, the built-in model for summaries, Chat and Ask.
Some optional features are provided by Apple: Apple Intelligence (when you choose it for AI features or keyboard rewrites), Translation, iCloud sync, and Siri, Shortcuts and Spotlight. Apple decides how these are processed, and Apple's Privacy Policy applies. We don't receive what you send to them.
Privacy Mode is a setting on your device. When it is on, your transcripts stay out of Spotlight search and out of ThinkScribe's widgets on that device. You can also hide a single recording from its menu.
What we receive: diagnostics and usage counts
To fix crashes and learn which features are used, the app sends a small report to our own address at thinkscribe.ai, hosted by Vercel. Each report carries a random install ID created by the app, not linked to your Apple ID or to anything that identifies you. The app contains no third-party analytics or advertising SDK.
| Sent | Details |
|---|---|
| A random install ID | Created by the app. Reinstalling makes a new one. It is not your Apple Account, name, email or advertising ID. |
| Device and app details | App and system version, device model, region setting, whether Low Power Mode is on, and whether the app came from TestFlight or the App Store. |
| Crash and performance data | Crash type and technical call stack, freezes, memory and processor use, and how long things take to load. |
| Usage counts | How often features are used (for example, a recording finished), onboarding steps reached, how a purchase attempt ended, your plan, a few on/off settings such as iCloud sync, the app language and the language live text ran in, and whether the onboarding demo heard sound (a loudness level, never audio). |
| Country | Worked out by our host from the connection. We don't store your IP address with reports. |
Never included: your audio, transcripts, summaries or chats, titles, speaker names, vocabulary, file names, search text, prompts, contacts or precise location.
We use this only to fix problems and improve the app. It is not sold, not used for advertising or tracking, and not combined with other data. Reports are deleted after 12 months. Because they are not linked to your identity, we can't look them up for a specific person.
Turn it off at any time in ThinkScribe Settings, under Privacy: Share Anonymous Diagnostics and Usage. Organizations can also turn it off through device management.
If you share analytics with app developers in your device settings, Apple also gives us aggregated statistics that don't identify you.
Downloads
The app downloads the model files it needs from Hugging Face, a public host for open model files, and Apple may download speech and translation language files. The host sees an ordinary web request (such as your IP address and the file requested). None of your recordings or text is sent.
Permissions, and why the app asks
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Microphone | To record and transcribe. |
| Speech Recognition (iPhone, iPad) | To use Apple's on-device speech recognition for transcription. |
| System audio (Mac) | To record sound from other apps, such as a Zoom or Teams call. Audio only, no screen content. |
| Accessibility (Mac) | For hotkey voice typing: to start it from any app and type your words into the app you're using. |
| Automation (Mac) | For Shortcuts and automation. |
| Keyboard Full Access (iPhone, iPad) | Keyboards can't use the microphone, so the keyboard asks the ThinkScribe app to record and transcribe. Full Access lets it connect to the app, share your vocabulary and settings, and paste or save clips when you tap those buttons. It doesn't log what you type (only words you add to your vocabulary and corrections, kept on your device) and never sends it to us. |
| Face ID or Touch ID (optional App Lock) | Apple checks your face or fingerprint, and the app only learns whether it worked. We never receive biometric data. |
Purchases
Purchases go through Apple's App Store. We never see your payment details or your Apple Account. The app only learns from Apple whether you have Pro or a trial. If you start the free Pro trial, the app saves its start date in your iCloud so the trial counts once across your devices.
Work and school devices
If an organization manages your device, it can set some ThinkScribe options, such as turning off sync, diagnostics or sharing, keeping Privacy Mode on, limiting how long audio is kept, or unlocking Pro. The app tells the organization's device management which of these settings are in effect and the app version. It never reports your recordings or notes.
This website
The website has no accounts and no forms. It is hosted by Vercel, which handles standard request data, such as your IP address, to deliver the pages.
We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity (through Google Tag Manager) to see how visitors use the site: pages viewed, clicks and scrolling, device and browser type, and approximate location. Until you accept cookies in the banner, these tools are told not to set cookies and may only collect cookieless measurements. To change your choice, use Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.
The site keeps a few preferences in your browser, such as theme and your cookie choice. A campaign tag in the link you arrived from is kept for that visit and added to App Store links, so we can see which links lead to downloads.
If you email us, we receive your email address and message and use them only to reply.
Why we may use this data
- Diagnostics and usage counts: our legitimate interest in keeping the app stable and improving it. You can object at any time by turning off sharing in Settings.
- Website analytics: your consent in the cookie banner. You can withdraw it at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.
- Emails to support: to answer you.
Service providers
A few companies help us run the website and the app's services, and handle data only for that service: Vercel (website hosting and the diagnostics endpoint), Google (Google Analytics and Tag Manager on the website), Microsoft (Clarity on the website), ImprovMX and Resend (email), Apple (the App Store, Apple services in the app, and iCloud if you turn on sync) and Hugging Face (one-time model downloads; like any download, it receives your device's IP address). Some of them are based in the United States. Those transfers rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
How long data is kept
- Diagnostic reports and usage counts: deleted after 12 months.
- Website analytics: up to 14 months in Google Analytics, and up to 30 days for Clarity session recordings.
- Emails: as long as needed to help you.
- Your recordings and notes: on your devices (and in your iCloud if sync is on) until you delete them.
Children
ThinkScribe is not directed at children under 14 (or the minimum age in your country), and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your choices and rights
Your recordings and notes are on your devices, so you can view, export and delete them yourself at any time. You can turn off diagnostics and iCloud sync in Settings, and keep transcripts out of Spotlight with Privacy Mode.
You can ask us for access to, correction or deletion of personal data we hold about you, object to its use, or withdraw your consent, by emailing support@thinkscribe.ai. You can also complain to the Spanish Data Protection Agency (aepd.es) or to the data protection authority where you live.
Changes to this policy
We'll post any update here with a new effective date. Material changes will also be announced in the app's release notes, since we have no accounts and can't email you.
If a future version adds a feature that sends your content to any service other than Apple's, it will be optional, off by default, and ask for your permission first.