Privacy policy

Last updated: [DATE]

Soffio is a dictation app for the Mac. It is built so that your words stay on your Mac. This page says what the app handles, what leaves your Mac and when, and what you can do about it.

The short version

• Your recordings, your history, your dictionary and the speech model live on your Mac. We never receive them.
• There is no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. We do not sell or share personal information.
• Some optional features send data to services you choose, such as Groq with your own key. They are off until you turn them on.
• A few things always talk to the internet: the one-time speech model download, licence checks, and update checks. They send what is listed below and nothing else.
• When you buy, Polar (our reseller) handles your payment details. We see your name, email and order, never your card.

Who we are

Soffio is made and sold by Roberto Cinetto, a sole proprietor in [PROVINCE], Canada ("we", "us"). Address: [ADDRESS]. Privacy questions: privacy@getsoffio.app.

We are responsible (the "controller") only for the small amount of personal information that reaches us: purchase and licence records, emails you send us, and crash reports you choose to send. We never receive what you dictate.

What Soffio keeps on your Mac

All of this stays on your Mac, in your user account, and is never sent to us.

What macOS asks you to allow

Soffio asks for these permissions, and uses them only for the reasons given:

• Microphone: to record while you dictate: from one press of the dictation key to the next (the default), or while you hold it if you choose hold-to-talk.
• Accessibility: to paste the text into the app you are using, and to read the text you selected when you give a command.
• Input Monitoring: to notice the dictation key in any app. Soffio does not record what you type.
• Automation (Apple Events): to pause and resume Music or Spotify while you dictate, if you turn that on.
• Screen Recording: only if you ask a command to look at your screen, and Soffio asks you first each time unless you choose "Always allow".

What leaves your Mac, and when

Speech model download (always, once)

On first launch Soffio downloads its speech model from Hugging Face (huggingface.co). If you turn on dictionary boosting (off by default), Soffio downloads a second, smaller model (about 99 MB) from the same place, once. Hugging Face sees your IP address and a standard app identifier. No account or token is used. See the Hugging Face privacy policy.

Cloud transcription and command mode with Groq (optional, your own key)

Groq is a cloud AI service. Soffio uses it only if you create your own Groq account, paste your own key, and turn the feature on. New installs start with Groq off, and saving a key does not turn it on by itself: if you add the key in the setup assistant, Groq is turned on and the assistant says so; if you add it in Settings, Soffio asks "Use Groq now?" and sends nothing unless you say yes. Command mode's Groq switch follows the same rule. When it is on, depending on the features you use, Soffio sends from your Mac directly to Groq:

• Cloud transcription: the audio of each dictation, a language hint, and the words in your dictionary (and, for long dictations, the text of earlier parts). In "Background" mode this happens after the text is pasted. If you choose "Off", nothing is sent.
• AI formatting (off by default): the dictated text, some dictionary words, and the style you chose.
• Command mode: your spoken instruction as text, the text you selected, the name of the app in front, the date, time and time zone, earlier turns of the same conversation, and the results of the tools you use (for example the text of a page or a file you allowed it to read).
• Analyze image, only if you chose Groq for it: a picture of the front window, the selected image or the image file you named, after you approve it.
• Key check: your key, to confirm it works.

Groq also sees your IP address and the time of each request. Groq processes data in the United States. Groq states that it does not keep inference data by default, that it may keep logs for up to 30 days for reliability and abuse checks, and that you can turn on zero data retention in your Groq console (Groq: Your Data). Groq's Services Agreement says it does not train on your inputs or outputs unless you allow it (Services Agreement).

This data goes from your Mac to Groq under your own agreement with Groq. It never passes through us and we never see it. Groq's terms and privacy policy apply to it. Groq requires its users to be 18 or older.

Web tools in command mode (optional, off for new installs)

• Web search and Deep research: your search request goes to Groq, which runs the search on its side with the search service it uses. Soffio does not contact a search engine itself.
• Read a page: Soffio downloads the page you named, selected or have open, once, without cookies. The website sees your IP address. The page text then goes to the command model (Groq or Ollama).
• Summarize a YouTube video: your own copy of the free tool yt-dlp downloads the video's details and one caption track, never the video. YouTube sees your IP address. The captions then go to the command model.

Ollama (optional, local)

If you use Ollama for commands, the same command data goes to Ollama on your own Mac (127.0.0.1) and does not leave it. If you choose one of Ollama's cloud models, Ollama's own terms apply.

Licence activation and checks (always, once you enter a licence)

When you enter a licence key, and later to confirm it, Soffio contacts Polar's licence service (api.polar.sh). It sends:

• your licence key,
• the activation ID for this Mac,
• a random ID created on this Mac and kept in the Keychain (it is not your serial number or any hardware ID),
• the app version, and a device label: "Mac" and your Mac's model identifier, for example "Mac (Mac14,2)", the same for every Mac of that model. Never your Mac's name.

Polar also sees your IP address. After activation, Soffio checks again in the background about once every 7 days and never more than once a day, never while you dictate. A network failure never takes the licence away: if there is no network, Soffio keeps working, and after 30 days without a successful check it only shows a note asking you to connect once. If the macOS Keychain cannot be read (for example while it is locked), Soffio keeps working and reads it again later.

During the free trial nothing is sent. The trial is counted on your Mac.

Update checks

Soffio uses Sparkle to check for updates. On the second launch it asks whether to check automatically; you can change this in Settings. A check downloads a small file (the "appcast") from getsoffio.app; an update downloads the new version from GitHub Releases. These hosts see your IP address, and the app version and macOS version in the request. System profiling is off, so no other information about your Mac is sent.

Crash reports and diagnostics (only if you choose)

When Soffio crashes, macOS writes a crash report on your Mac. On the next launch Soffio may offer to send it. Nothing is sent unless you click "Send report". You can read the report first; your home folder path is replaced with ~. "Send report" opens an email to support@getsoffio.app with the file attached, which you send from your own mail app. "Copy Diagnostics" copies a similar summary for you to paste where you choose.

A crash report holds technical data: app and macOS version, Mac model, and what the app was doing when it stopped. It should not hold your dictations, but please read it before you send it.

Agents you connect (optional, off by default)

Soffio has a soffio command line tool and an MCP server so that apps such as AI coding agents can read your dictionary, snippets and stats, and (only if you allow it) your history. They talk to Soffio through a private connection that only your Mac user can open. Once an agent reads that data, what happens to it depends on that agent and its provider, not on us.

What we never receive

We never receive your audio, your dictated text, your history, your key presses, your screen, or your Groq key.

When you buy

Soffio is sold through Polar (Polar Software, Inc.), which acts as the merchant of record and reseller. Polar collects your payment details, billing address and tax information, charges you, and sends receipts. Polar is responsible for that data under its own privacy policy and buyer terms. Card details are handled by Polar's payment processor; we never see them.

Polar shares with us what we need to give you your licence and support: your name, email address, country, what you bought, the price, your licence key and its activations, and any refund. We use it to provide the licence, answer you, handle refunds, prevent fraud and keep tax and business records.

We do not send marketing email unless you sign up for it.

When you write to us

If you email support@getsoffio.app, security@getsoffio.app or privacy@getsoffio.app, we receive your email address and what you write, including any attachments such as crash reports. We use it only to answer and fix the problem. Our email is hosted by [EMAIL PROVIDER].

This website

getsoffio.app has no cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts. It is hosted by Cloudflare Pages, which keeps standard technical logs (IP address, page, time, browser) for security and operation under its own policy. The Buy button takes you to Polar's checkout, where Polar's privacy policy applies.

Why we use your information (legal bases)

For people in the EU, the UK and similar places:

• Purchase, licence and support records: to perform our contract with you.
• Tax and business records: to meet our legal obligations.
• Fraud prevention and licence checks: our legitimate interest in stopping misuse, kept to the minimum above.
• Crash reports and emails you send: your choice to send them, and our legitimate interest in fixing the app.

We do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similar effects.

How long we keep it

• Purchase and licence records: as long as your licence is active, then as long as tax law requires (in Canada, generally 6 years).
• Support emails and crash reports: up to 2 years after the issue is closed, then deleted, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.
• Data on your Mac: as long as you keep it. See "Delete everything" below.

Delete everything

• In the app: History > Delete All removes your history; Settings controls how long recordings are kept; Settings > Cloud & AI removes your Groq key; Settings > Licence > Deactivate this Mac frees the licence slot.
• To remove everything from your Mac, quit Soffio and delete ~/Library/Application Support/Soffio/, ~/Library/Preferences/com.robertocinetto.soffio.plist, the app, and the com.robertocinetto.soffio items in Keychain Access. The Help page has step-by-step uninstall instructions.
• To have us delete your emails or crash reports, write to privacy@getsoffio.app. Purchase records we must keep for tax are kept only for that.
• To delete data that Groq, Polar or Hugging Face hold, contact them, since you deal with them directly.

Where data is processed

We are in Canada. Polar and Groq process data in the United States, and their providers may use other countries. When data moves across borders, it may be accessible to authorities there under local law. For transfers from the EU or UK, Polar and Groq state their own transfer safeguards in their policies.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, get a copy, object to or restrict its use, or withdraw consent. Write to privacy@getsoffio.app. We answer within 30 days. We may need to confirm it is you, for example by asking you to write from the email you bought with. We will not treat you differently for using these rights.

• Canada (PIPEDA and provincial laws, including Quebec's Law 25): you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or your provincial commissioner. The person responsible for privacy is Roberto Cinetto, privacy@getsoffio.app.
• EU and UK (GDPR): you can complain to your local data protection authority.
• California and other US states: we do not sell or share personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising or profiling. The categories we receive are listed above (identifiers such as name, email and licence key; commercial information such as orders; and the content of messages you send us).

Children

Soffio is not made for children and is not directed at children under 13, or under 16 in the EU and the UK. We do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you think a child has sent us personal information, write to privacy@getsoffio.app and we will delete it. Groq requires its users to be 18 or older.

Security

Your Groq key and licence are kept in the macOS Keychain. The app is signed and notarized by Apple, and updates are signed and checked before they install. The command line tool and MCP server are off by default. Your data on the Mac is protected by your Mac's login and, if it is on, FileVault. See our security page for how to report a problem.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and, for important changes, say so in the release notes or on the website before they apply.

Contact

Roberto Cinetto, [ADDRESS], [PROVINCE], Canada. privacy@getsoffio.app.