Notch
FAQs Download for Mac

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 30, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what data Notch ("the App"), developed by Ibraheem Farooq ("we", "us"), collects when you use it, and how it's handled.

1. Summary

Notch is a local macOS utility. Nearly everything it does (reading your calendar, showing weather, transcribing dictation, playing/pausing media, managing sticky notes and files) happens entirely on your Mac and never touches our servers, because we don't run any servers that store your content. The only things that leave your device are: (a) a handful of anonymous usage counters sent to our analytics provider, and (b) your license key and device name sent to our payment/licensing provider when you activate a purchase.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Anonymous product analytics

We use PostHog (EU-hosted) to understand aggregate product usage. We only ever send these events, enforced by an allowlist in the app itself:

  • App first launch (one-time, anonymous)
  • Trial started / trial expired
  • Purchase completed
  • Aggregate dictation minutes (a number, never audio or transcript text)
  • Sticky note created (a count, never the note's content)

We do not collect: transcripts, sticky note or scratchpad content, file names or paths, calendar contents, screen recordings/replays, autocaptured clicks, or any device fingerprint beyond what PostHog's SDK needs to dedupe events (an anonymous, randomly generated install ID, not tied to your name, email, or Apple ID).

You can turn this off at any time in Notch → Settings → About → Privacy. Turning it off takes effect immediately.

2.2 License and purchase data

If you purchase Notch, checkout is handled by Polar Software, Inc., our Merchant of Record. Polar collects your payment details (card, billing address, email) directly. We never see or store that information. See Polar's Privacy Policy for how they handle it.

After purchase, when you activate your license key in the app, we send your license key and your Mac's device name (e.g. "Ibraheem's MacBook") to Polar's Customer Portal API, so you can see and manage your activated seats from Polar's portal. Your license key and Polar's activation ID are then stored locally in your Mac's Keychain, not on any server we control.

2.3 Data that never leaves your Mac

  • Calendar and Reminders: read locally (with your permission) to show today's agenda in the notch widget.
  • Location: used locally to query the weather (see §2.4); never stored or sent anywhere else.
  • Microphone / dictation: audio is transcribed entirely on-device using Apple's built-in Speech framework. Neither audio nor transcribed text is ever sent to us or to any third party by Notch.
  • Media/Now Playing info: read locally from macOS to show what's playing; never transmitted.
  • Sticky notes, scratchpad, file tray: stored locally on your Mac; never transmitted.

2.4 Third-party services we call directly

  • Open-Meteo (weather): when you enable the weather widget, your approximate coordinates are sent directly from your Mac to Open-Meteo's public, keyless API to fetch a forecast. No account, no API key, no data retained by us. See Open-Meteo's terms.
  • PostHog (analytics): see §2.1.
  • Polar (payments/licensing): see §2.2.
  • Sparkle / our update feed: checking for updates fetches appcast.xml and, if you update, a DMG from our hosting (Cloudflare Pages / R2). This is a standard HTTP request (like visiting a webpage); we don't log or use this beyond normal web server access logs.

3. How we use information

Solely to: operate and improve the app, understand trial-to-purchase conversion at an aggregate level, provide customer support, and fulfill license activation. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for advertising, and we do not use it to build advertising profiles.

4. Data retention

  • Analytics events are retained in PostHog per their standard retention policy; we don't keep a separate copy.
  • License/activation records are retained by Polar for as long as your license is active, per their policy.
  • Anything stored locally (Keychain, UserDefaults, Application Support) stays on your Mac until you delete the app or clear it yourself; uninstalling the app does not automatically wipe Keychain items (macOS Keychain items can survive app deletion). Email us if you'd like help removing them.

5. Your rights

Depending on where you live (e.g. GDPR in the EU/EEA/UK, CCPA/CPRA in California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. Because we collect so little (anonymous analytics + a license key/device name held by Polar), most requests are best directed at:

  • Analytics data: contact us at ibraheemfrq@gmail.com; because analytics events are anonymous we generally cannot tie them back to you, but we'll help however we can.
  • Purchase / license data: contact Polar directly via their Customer Portal or us at ibraheemfrq@gmail.com, and we'll coordinate with Polar on your behalf.

We do not sell or share personal information as defined by the CCPA/CPRA, so there is no "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" mechanism to offer.

6. Children's privacy

Notch is not directed at children under 13 (or the relevant age of digital consent in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

7. Security

License material is stored in the macOS Keychain, Apple's secure credential store. Network calls to Polar, PostHog, and Open-Meteo use HTTPS. No software is perfectly secure, but we don't operate a database of user content that could be breached, because we don't have one.

8. International transfers

PostHog's EU-hosted infrastructure processes analytics events; Polar (US-based) processes payment and license data. By using Notch, you understand your data may be processed in the EU and US as described above.

9. Changes to this policy

We'll update the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, note it in the app's release notes or About page.

10. Contact

Ibraheem Farooq, ibraheemfrq@gmail.com