Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 11, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Minsky Labs, LLC (“Minsky Labs”, “we”, “us”), the company behind ZWhispr, collects when you use the ZWhispr macOS application and the zwhispr.com website (together, the “Service”), how we use it, and the choices you have. The short version: your voice recordings and transcripts are used only to produce your transcription and are never stored on our servers. Speech recognition traffic may pass through a secure ZWhispr proxy while the transcription is in progress, but it is not stored or retained there. Screenshots never leave your Mac. We do store the account information needed to run your subscription, and your dictionary if you choose to use it.

1. Information we process

Audio you dictate

When you hold the hotkey, the app records your voice and sends it over an encrypted connection to the third-party speech recognition providers that return the transcription. This traffic may pass through a secure ZWhispr proxy so we can authenticate the connection without placing our provider credentials on your device. We relay that audio only while the transcription is in progress and do not store it.

Screen context (optional)

If you enable screen context and grant the macOS permission, the app takes a screenshot of the window you are working in at the moment you start speaking and extracts distinctive words from it, such as names and technical terms. The screenshot itself never leaves your Mac and is not saved. Only those extracted words are sent as recognition hints to the same speech providers as your audio. Those words may pass through the same secure ZWhispr proxy and are not stored. They are used only for that transcription. You can turn this off at any time in the app.

Transcripts

The transcription comes back from those providers to your Mac and is typed at your cursor. The response may pass through the secure ZWhispr proxy while it is returned to your Mac. We do not store your transcripts.

Your dictionary (optional)

The personal dictionary is opt-in: it only holds words you choose to add, or corrections you make. If you use it, those words are stored so your vocabulary follows you across apps and devices. You can view, edit, and delete dictionary entries in the app at any time, and nothing is stored here if you never add a word.

Account and usage information

To run your subscription we store your email address, subscription status, and basic usage and diagnostic information: the installed app version, error reports, and how many dictations you make and how long they run. That last figure is a duration in milliseconds and nothing more — it is metered so we can see what the Service costs to run, and it never includes what you said. We do not receive or store your full payment card details; those are handled by our payment processor.

Free-plan usage and abuse prevention

The free plan includes 2,000 words per calendar month, resetting on the 1st at 00:00 UTC. The app reports the final transcript's word count and audio duration, not the transcript or recording. Unused words do not roll over. The Mac app also sends an app-specific hash of its hardware identifier to limit free access to two accounts per Mac. We do not receive the raw hardware identifier. We keep this pseudonymous device hash and hashed account claim after account deletion to prevent repeated account resets. These records are used only for free-plan eligibility, not advertising or cross-service tracking. Contact us if your device is incorrectly denied free access.

Website analytics and advertising

Our website uses one Google tag connected to Google Analytics and Google Ads to measure public website use, measure advertising performance and personalize advertising. When enabled, Google may receive public-page visit and interaction information, advertising click identifiers, IP address and browser information, and use analytics and advertising cookies or identifiers. Advertising identifiers may connect activity across websites. We also measure successful account creation, clicks on the Mac download link (not completed installations), and verified subscription purchases. Purchase events include the paid amount, currency and a pseudonymous transaction identifier; they do not include card details or our Stripe identifiers. We use pseudonymous event identifiers to prevent repeat counting, including a random first-party identifier for download clicks before sign-up. For visitors in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland, we do not load Google's tag until you choose “Accept” in the analytics-and-advertising-cookie popup. In other known regions, analytics, advertising cookies and personalization are enabled by default without a popup. If we cannot determine your region, both analytics and advertising remain disabled. Account and payment-confirmation pages have private page-view reporting and enhanced conversions disabled. Desktop sign-up completes on the account page before returning to the app. We do not install the tag on administrator pages or the token-bearing desktop callback, and we do not send email addresses, passwords, dictionary contents, audio, transcripts or screen context to it.

You can disable analytics and advertising through “Ad settings” alongside Terms, Privacy and Refunds in the footer, then choose “Reject”. This is also where you can opt out of selling or sharing information for advertising. The same settings let you change your choice later. We also honor browser Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track signals by not loading Google's tag. Your explicit choice is stored locally with its date and policy version for up to 180 days. Conversion identifiers are stored locally for up to 90 days to prevent duplicate reporting and are cleared if you reject analytics and advertising. Rejection also clears first-party Google analytics and advertising cookies that this site can access. Google applies its own retention practices to information it receives; rejecting stops future measurement and personalized advertising use by our tag but does not automatically delete information Google previously received. See Google's Privacy Policy and Google's cookie information.

The website loads externally hosted fonts and a checkout from our payment processor, which may set cookies necessary for those services to work. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs, including IP address and browser type, for security and reliability.

2. How we use information

We use information to provide the Service, including transcribing your speech and syncing your dictionary; to process payments and manage your subscription; to send you service emails such as receipts, renewal notices, and important changes; to keep the Service secure and diagnose problems; and to comply with legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your audio, screen context, or transcripts to train our own or anyone else’s models.

3. Who we share information with

• Speech recognition providers. Your audio and any screen-context words are sent to third-party speech recognition providers solely to return a transcription. This traffic may be relayed through a secure ZWhispr proxy so we can authenticate the connection; we do not retain the relayed audio, recognition hints, or transcripts. The providers and models we use may change over time. Where a provider offers the option, we configure it not to retain your data beyond what is needed to process the request.
• Payment processor. Our merchant of record processes payments, issues invoices, handles sales tax, and may set cookies necessary for checkout and account billing to work.
• Infrastructure providers. Hosting and email delivery vendors that process data on our behalf under contract.
• Analytics and advertising. When enabled as described above, Google receives public-page visit and interaction information and sign-up, download-click and verified purchase events for measurement and personalized advertising. This disclosure can constitute sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising under applicable privacy laws. See how Google uses information from partner sites. It does not include your email address, dictionary or dictation.
• Legal. Where required by law, to protect our rights, or in connection with a merger or acquisition, in which case this policy continues to apply to your information.

4. Retention

We do not store your audio, screenshots, screen-context words, or transcripts. Audio, recognition hints, and transcripts may pass through our proxy only while the transcription is in progress and are not retained. Speech providers process this information to return your transcription under their own retention practices. Your dictionary and account information are kept for as long as you have an account. If you close your account, we delete or anonymise this information within 30 days, except where we must keep records, such as invoices, to meet legal obligations.

5. Security

Data in transit is encrypted using TLS. Access to stored data is restricted to personnel who need it to operate the Service. No system is perfectly secure, and we encourage you to keep your Mac and account credentials protected.

6. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent. You can manage your dictionary directly in the app and cancel your subscription from the billing portal. For anything else, email hello@zwhispr.com and we will respond within 30 days. If you are in the EU or UK you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

7. International transfers

Our servers and providers may be located outside your country, including in the United States. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses for those transfers.

8. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If a change is material we will notify you by email or in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when this policy was last revised.

10. Contact

Minsky Labs, LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company, is the data controller for the information described in this policy. Privacy questions or requests: hello@zwhispr.com.