Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 17, 2026

The short version: Fieldnotes runs entirely on your Mac. We have no server. We have no account system. We do not collect, log, or transmit your recordings, transcripts, or usage. The most data we ever see about you is your name and email when you buy the app — and that runs through Gumroad, not through us.

What lives on your Mac (and only on your Mac)

• Audio recordings (.m4a files) at ~/Library/Application Support/Fieldnotes/audio/
• Transcripts (markdown) in your chosen export folder — default ~/Documents/Fieldnotes/
• Session metadata (titles, speaker names, timestamps) at ~/Library/Application Support/Fieldnotes/sessions/
• Speech and speaker-diarization models (~2 GB) downloaded once on first launch, then resident on your filesystem
• Settings and preferences in standard macOS UserDefaults

Nothing in that list ever leaves your machine through Fieldnotes.

What we collect: nothing

No analytics. No telemetry. No crash reports. No usage pings. No “anonymous diagnostics.” The app makes zero network calls during a recording.

The two times the app talks to the internet

1. Model downloads. On first launch, the app downloads its speech recognition and speaker diarization models from Apple and Hugging Face. After that, models live on your disk and don’t re-download.
2. Update checks. Fieldnotes uses Sparkle to check for new versions. About once a day, it fetches https://fieldnotes.fm/appcast.xml. Our hosting (Cloudflare) logs the IP address making that request, the same way any web server logs requests. We don’t read those logs, but they exist. You can disable update checks in app preferences if you want zero outbound traffic.

That’s it.

What Gumroad collects when you buy

We use Gumroad to handle payment. When you buy Fieldnotes:

• Gumroad collects your name, email, billing address, and payment method
• Gumroad forwards us your name and email so we can reply if you contact support
• Gumroad’s practices are governed by their privacy policy

We never see or store your payment information. We don’t share your email with anyone, and we don’t use it for marketing — only to reply if you contact us.

What we don’t do

• No Fieldnotes account — nothing to sign up for, log in to, or get locked out of
• No selling, renting, or sharing of data (we’d have to first have data, and we don’t)
• No cross-site tracking
• No advertising business
• No cookies on this site beyond what Cloudflare may set to keep itself running

Children’s privacy

Fieldnotes isn’t directed at children under 13. If you’re under 13, please don’t buy or use the app.

Changes to this policy

If we ever start collecting anything we don’t collect today, we’ll update this page and re-date it. The full history of this file lives in the project’s git history.

Contact

Privacy questions: hi@fieldnotes.fm