Privacy Policy
Last updated: 28 July 2026
The short version: Dictera is designed to be private. Your speech is transcribed entirely on your Mac using on-device models - your audio recordings and the text they produce are never sent to us, and by default they are never sent to anyone else either (the only exceptions are if you deliberately connect your own cloud AI provider or enable the Claude Code engine - see Section 2). We don't run analytics or trackers inside the app, and Dictera does not require an account. The only personal data we handle is what's strictly needed to sell you a license, let you activate it, and run your free trial.
1. Who we are (Data Controller)
Dictera (the "App") and the website at https://dictera.app (the "Website", together the "Services") are operated by Zahorulko Yevhen (TIE: Z2053423B), an independent professional (Autónomo) established in Spain ("we", "us", "our"). For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable Spanish data-protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data described in this Policy.
Business address: Calle Pla de la Ramona 4, 46500 Sagunto, Valencia, Spain.
Contact: info@dictera.app.
2. Information processed on your device only
The following is processed locally on your Mac and is never transmitted to us or to any third party:
- Audio from your microphone. Speech recognition runs entirely on-device. Audio is processed in real time to produce text and is not stored as a recording or uploaded anywhere.
- Transcribed text and history. Your transcriptions, history, custom replacements, and statistics are stored only in your Mac's local application-support folder. We have no access to them.
- AI cleanup and translation. By default, optional text cleanup and translation use an on-device AI model; your text is not sent to us or to any cloud service for these features.
Because this data never leaves your device, you control it entirely - deleting the App and its data removes it.
Optional remote AI models (advanced). Dictera also lets you connect your own AI endpoint for text cleanup, translation and the AI Assistant - either a server you run yourself (on your Mac or local network, e.g. Ollama or LM Studio) or a third-party cloud provider (e.g. OpenAI, Groq, Mistral, OpenRouter) using your own API key. If you configure a cloud provider, the text you process with that model - which for the AI Assistant can include meeting transcripts and any screenshots you capture - is sent directly from your Mac to that provider, under your own account and subject to that provider's privacy policy; it never passes through our servers and we have no access to it. The App warns you before you enable any endpoint that is not on your own Mac. Nothing is ever sent to a remote model unless you set this up yourself.
Optional Claude Code engine (advanced). Dictera can also use Claude Code as an engine for the AI Assistant. This is separate from the API-key option above: it runs the Claude Code tool already installed on your Mac, signed in with your own Claude account, and you choose a folder it is allowed to read. When you use it, the text of your conversation and the contents of the files it reads in that folder are sent to Anthropic under your own account, subject to Anthropic's privacy policy; none of it passes through our servers and we have no access to it. Access is read-only - Dictera never lets it modify your files - and any connectors (MCP servers) it can reach are denied by default until you enable each tool individually. This engine is off unless you set it up.
3. Information we do process
3.1 Licensing, activation & trial data
To run your free trial, activate your subscription, and periodically confirm it is still valid, the App communicates with our own licensing service (hosted on Google Cloud in the European Union), which in turn communicates with our payment provider, Lemon Squeezy (see Section 5). For these purposes the App sends, and our licensing service processes:
- A device identifier - a one-way hash (SHA-256) derived from your Mac's hardware identifier. We use it to apply the 14-day free trial once per device (so it can't be reset simply by reinstalling) and to manage your activations. It is not reversible and does not, by itself, identify you.
- Your license key and an activation/instance identifier; by default the instance name is your Mac's name (e.g. "Yevhen's MacBook Pro"), which may include your name.
Our licensing service stores the device identifier together with the trial start and last-seen dates and, for an active subscription, your license key, subscription status, plan, renewal/expiry date, order and subscription identifiers, and the email address associated with your purchase. The license key, an activation identifier, and the date of the last successful validation are also stored locally on your Mac.
3.2 Purchase data
When you buy a subscription, the purchase is processed by Lemon Squeezy acting as the "Merchant of Record". They collect the data needed to complete the sale (such as your name, email address, billing country, and payment details) and provide us with limited order information (such as your email address, name, and country) so we can deliver your license and meet our tax and accounting obligations. We do not receive or store your full payment-card details.
3.3 Support communications
If you email info@dictera.app, we process your email address and the contents of your message solely to respond to you.
3.4 Enterprise customers
If your organization is interested in, or purchases, an Enterprise plan, we process the business contact details of the people who deal with us (such as name, work email address, company, and role) to prepare quotes and manage the relationship. Where an Enterprise purchase is invoiced directly by us rather than processed through Lemon Squeezy, we also process the organization's billing details (such as its legal name, address, and VAT/tax number) to issue invoices and meet our tax and accounting obligations. To issue and manage team licenses, we process the names and/or work email addresses of the team members the organization designates; this information is provided to us by the organization, which is responsible for informing its team members about this processing. (Legal bases: performance of a contract or steps prior to a contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests in managing our business relationships.)
3.5 Website & update technical data
When you visit the Website or the App checks for updates, our hosting provider automatically logs standard technical data (such as IP address, browser/user-agent, and timestamps) for security and to operate the service. When the App downloads an on-device AI model, the download is served by Hugging Face (see Section 5), which likewise receives standard technical data such as your IP address; no audio or text is sent with these requests. The Website does not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.
4. How we use this information and our legal bases
- To provide the Services - activating and validating your license, delivering updates (legal basis: performance of a contract).
- To run and protect the free trial - using a hashed device identifier so the trial applies once per device (legal basis: legitimate interests in preventing abuse of the free trial).
- To process payments and meet legal obligations - billing, tax, and accounting (legal bases: contract; legal obligation).
- To respond to support requests (legal basis: legitimate interests in assisting our users).
- To secure and maintain the Services (legal basis: legitimate interests in keeping the Services safe and reliable).
5. Third parties and sub-processors
We keep third parties to a minimum:
- Lemon Squeezy - payments (as Merchant of Record) and license activation/validation. See their privacy policy.
- Google Cloud (Cloud Run & Cloud SQL, EU region) - hosts our licensing service and stores the licensing, trial, and activation data described in Section 3.1. See Google's privacy policy.
- Google Firebase Hosting - hosts the Website, the app download, and the update feed; processes server logs. See Google's privacy policy.
- Hugging Face - hosts the on-device AI model files the App downloads; receives standard technical data (such as your IP address) when a model is downloaded. See their privacy policy.
- Apple - provides the operating system and on-device intelligence features used by the App; on-device processing is not transmitted to us.
If you connect your own third-party AI provider, or enable the Claude Code engine (Anthropic), as described in Section 2, that provider is not our sub-processor: you choose it, you contract with it directly, and its own privacy policy applies to the text you send it.
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for advertising.
6. International transfers
We are established in Spain. Some providers above (e.g. Lemon Squeezy, Google) may process data outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where this happens, such transfers are covered by appropriate safeguards (such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses). You may contact us for more information.
7. Data retention
- On-device data (audio, transcripts, history) - retained on your Mac under your control until you delete it; we never receive it.
- Licensing/activation data - retained for as long as your license is active and as needed to provide the Service, then deleted or anonymized within twelve (12) months after your license expires or is deactivated (except where we must keep records longer to meet legal obligations).
- Trial data (the hashed device identifier and trial dates) - retained for up to thirty-six (36) months from the start of the trial, to operate the free-trial period and prevent it from being reset.
- Purchase and tax records - retained by us and/or Lemon Squeezy for the periods required by applicable tax and accounting law.
- Support emails - retained for as long as needed to handle your request and a reasonable period afterwards.
8. Your rights
Subject to applicable law, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to the processing of your personal data, and to data portability. To exercise these rights, email info@dictera.app. We will respond within one month, as required by the GDPR; if a request is particularly complex we may extend this period as the GDPR allows, and we will tell you if so.
If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you may also lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority - in Spain, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD, www.aepd.es). If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know and to delete; we do not sell your personal information.
9. Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data. Because your voice and transcripts are processed on-device, they benefit from your Mac's own security. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children
The Services are not directed to children. If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland you must be at least 16 (or the minimum age in your country) to use the Services. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact info@dictera.app.
11. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. We will revise the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Continued use of the Services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.
12. Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints about this Policy or our data practices:
Email: info@dictera.app
Zahorulko Yevhen (Autónomo) · Calle Pla de la Ramona 4, 46500 Sagunto, Valencia, Spain.