Privacy Policy

1. 1. Who we are
2. 2. What we do not collect
3. 2.1. Limits of detection & redaction
4. 3. What we process, and why
5. 4. macOS permissions
6. 5. Sharing & processors
7. 6. International transfers
8. 7. Data retention
9. 8. Your privacy rights
10. 9. California rights (CCPA/CPRA)
11. 10. Children
12. 11. Changes
13. 12. Contact

1. Who we are

ShotBrew is a native macOS application developed and published by an independent developer based in Ukraine (“we”, “us”, the “developer”), who is responsible for the limited personal data described below. You can reach us at support [at] shotbrew [dot] app.

2. What we do not collect

We designed ShotBrew to keep your content on your machine. We do not collect, transmit, see, or store:

• your screenshots, screen recordings, or GIFs;
• the contents of your screen, windows, clipboard, or files;
• recognised text (OCR), scanned codes, or picked colors - these are computed locally;
• microphone or camera input;
• analytics, usage statistics, telemetry, crash logs, or behavioural tracking from the app - it reports nothing about how you use it (for the website's anonymous page counts, see Section 3e);
• advertising identifiers; neither the app nor this website sets advertising or tracking cookies.

2.1. Limits of detection & redaction

Sensitive-text detection, face detection, and redaction processing take place on your Mac. Keeping this processing local does not guarantee that a screenshot, recording, or other output contains no confidential information or is safe to share. Automatic detection may miss text, faces, or other details that you consider sensitive, and a result with no findings is not a privacy certification.

Cosmetic blur and pixelation may leave source information readable or recoverable. Redact replaces pixels in the covered area, but unmasked content, surrounding context, other video frames, annotations, captions, or audio may still reveal information or allow it to be inferred. These features do not provide encryption or access control for your files, and we do not guarantee protection against every method of recovery, identification, or unauthorised access.

Review the final exported content before sharing it, and check automatic results manually. Redacting a new output does not erase or recall earlier originals, clipboard-manager entries, backups, synchronised copies, or material already shared. Apps, storage providers, and recipients you choose may retain their own copies under their own policies.

Your responsibilities and the applicable limitations of liability are set out in the Terms, Section 6.1 and Section 10. These limitations do not change our commitments in this Policy about the data we collect or process, or remove our obligations under applicable data-protection law.

3. What we process, and why

The only personal data involved in using ShotBrew is the minimum needed to license the app and keep it up to date:

a. License & trial validation

To check whether your copy is in a free trial or licensed, the app sends a pseudonymous device identifier to our licensing server. This identifier is a one-way cryptographic hash (HMAC) derived from hardware and account values on your Mac; it is not derived from your name or email, cannot be reversed to reveal your hardware serial or account values, and is used solely to bind a trial/license to a device and to prevent abuse. The app does not send your screenshots, recordings, files, or screen contents during this check. The request also carries the app version, so the server can answer with the right update information. If you enter a promo code, the code and the same device identifier are sent to our server once to apply the extension to your trial; the code itself is not linked to your name or email.

b. Purchase information

Purchases are made through a third-party sales platform (currently Getly). You can pay with PayPal or with USDT / USDC stablecoins, processed by NOWPayments. When you buy, the platform’s checkout opens in a separate window; the data you enter there (such as your name, email address, PayPal account, or wallet address) is collected by the platform and the payment processor under their own privacy policies. From the sale we receive your name, email address, and an order reference, which we use to issue your license, provide support, and handle refunds. We do not receive or store your PayPal credentials, payment-card number, or wallet keys. Note that a cryptocurrency payment is recorded on a public blockchain by its nature, outside our control.

c. License activation requests

After a purchase, you submit the email address used for the purchase and your pseudonymous Machine ID through our activation page (shotbrew.app/activate). We use them solely to verify the purchase and link your license to your device. Requests are delivered to our support mailbox and recorded in an activation log, and become part of your license record.

d. Server logs

When the app contacts our licensing or update servers, those servers may automatically log standard technical data such as your IP address, the date and time, the app version, and the request made. We use these logs to operate and secure the service (for example, to prevent fraud and abuse). We do not use them to build profiles of you.

e. Website analytics

On this website (not in the app) we use Cloudflare Web Analytics, a privacy-preserving, cookieless measurement tool, to understand which pages are useful and where visitors come from. It records aggregate data only: page views, the referring site, the country, and the browser and device type. It does not set cookies, does not fingerprint your device, does not build a profile of you, and cannot follow you to other websites. Your IP address is processed momentarily to derive the country and is not stored by the analytics tool. The app itself sends no analytics of any kind - this measurement applies only to pages you open in your browser at shotbrew.app. See the Cloudflare Web Analytics description for details.

f. Downloads from Apple

Some on-device features rely on system components that macOS fetches from Apple the first time you use them: language packs for Translate and on-device speech models for Transcribe (macOS installs them when you enable a language under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation). Those downloads happen between your Mac and Apple’s servers under Apple’s privacy policy; our servers are not involved and we receive nothing about them. The translation and transcription themselves then run on your device.

4. macOS permissions

macOS asks for your permission before the app can use certain capabilities. Each is used only on your device, for the feature it enables:

• Screen Recording - required to take screenshots and record your screen.
• Microphone - only if you record audio with a screen recording.
• Camera - only if you add a webcam overlay to a recording.
• Speech Recognition - only when you transcribe a recording; recognition runs on your device using the macOS speech model for that language, and no audio is sent to us.
• Files & Folders - only to save captures to the location you choose.

The app does not use Accessibility or Input Monitoring and has no keylogger; its keyboard shortcuts go through the system hotkey API, which only delivers the combinations you assigned. You can review or revoke these permissions at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

5. Sharing & processors

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data, and we do not share it for advertising. We use a small number of service providers (processors) strictly to run the service:

• a sales platform (currently Getly) that operates our checkout and order delivery;
• a payment processor - PayPal for PayPal payments, NOWPayments for stablecoin payments - that processes purchases and refunds;
• a hosting provider that serves the licensing endpoint, update files, and this website;
• a content-delivery and analytics provider (Cloudflare) that delivers this website, protects it from abuse, and produces the cookieless, aggregate visit statistics described in Section 3e;
• an email provider that hosts the support and activation mailbox.

These providers process data only to provide their service to us, or as required by law - except that the sales platform and the payment processor collect the data you enter directly in their checkout themselves, under their own privacy policies (PayPal Privacy Statement, NOWPayments Privacy Policy), and are responsible for that data.

6. International transfers

Our servers and providers may be located outside your country - in particular, PayPal is a U.S. company, the cryptocurrency processor operates internationally, and the developer is based in Ukraine. Wherever your data is processed, it receives the protections described in this Policy.

7. Data retention

• License & purchase records (name, email, device identifier, purchase reference, activation requests) - kept for as long as your license is active and as needed for support, accounting, and legal obligations.
• Trial records - the pseudonymous device identifier of a trial install is retained so the one-time free trial cannot simply be reset and reused. It is kept for up to 24 months and is not used for any other purpose.
• Server logs - kept for a short period (typically up to 90 days) for security and troubleshooting, then deleted or anonymised.
• Temporary files on your Mac - some features keep short-lived working files in your user account’s private temporary folder on your own Mac: the optional Retro Buffer holds the last 30-120 seconds of your screen there while it is on and deletes them when you stop it or quit, and exports use scratch files that are removed when the export finishes. A diagnostic log at ~/Library/Logs/ShotBrew.log records file names you save (which may include a window title if your filename template uses one) but never captured content, recognised text, or clipboard data. None of this is sent to us.
• Website statistics - retained by our analytics provider only in aggregate form (counts per page, source and country) for up to 6 months. They contain nothing that identifies you and cannot be traced back to an individual visit.

8. Your privacy rights

Subject to the law of your place of residence, you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data. To make a request, email support [at] shotbrew [dot] app - we honour reasonable requests regardless of where you live.

9. California rights (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the categories of personal information we may process are identifiers (name, email, pseudonymous device identifier) and internet/network activity (IP address, request logs, and the aggregate website statistics in Section 3e), as described in Section 3. We collect these to provide and secure the Software. We do not use cross-context behavioural advertising and we do not track you across other websites, so there is nothing to opt out of.

We do not “sell” or “share” your personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA, and we have not done so in the preceding 12 months. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics. You have the right to know, access, correct, and delete your personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. To make a request, email support [at] shotbrew [dot] app.

10. Children

ShotBrew is a general-purpose productivity tool and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the app or the law. The “Last updated” date shows the current version; material changes will be posted on this page.

12. Contact

Privacy questions or requests: support [at] shotbrew [dot] app
Responsible for your data: ShotBrew.