Legal
Privacy Policy
Short version: Pixel Dust runs entirely on your Mac. Your screenshots, OCR text, and embeddings never leave your device unless you explicitly enable a cloud-AI feature and consent to the data transfer. We don't run ad networks, sell data, or do analytics on your captured content.
1. What Pixel Dust captures
Pixel Dust captures screenshots of your screen at a configurable cadence (default: every few seconds). From each screenshot it extracts:
- A compressed JPEG thumbnail (stored locally, ~1–4 KB per moment)
- OCR text extracted from the visible screen content
- An embedding vector used for semantic search (never sent to a remote model without opt-in)
- App name and window title metadata
Full video mode (off by default) stores continuous HEVC video on top of thumbnails. This requires explicit opt-in in Settings → Storage.
2. Where your data lives
All captured data is stored in an SQLite database on your Mac, encrypted with SQLCipher using a key derived from your macOS Keychain. The default location is ~/Library/Application Support/PixelDust/. You can relocate this folder in Settings → Storage.
No captured content is sent to any server. Pixel Dust's update-check (via Sparkle) sends only your app version and macOS version — no screenshots, no OCR, no personal identifiers.
3. Optional cloud AI features
Future versions of Pixel Dust will offer an opt-in managed AI mode. When enabled, selected text snippets may be sent to a third-party language model to answer your questions. You will be shown a clear disclosure before this feature activates, including which data is transmitted and to which provider. You can disable it at any time in Settings → AI.
No cloud AI feature is active in the current pre-alpha build.
4. Privacy controls
- App exclusions — add any app to the never-record list in Settings → Privacy.
- Window exclusions — exclude specific windows (e.g. private browsing) from capture.
- Keyword redaction — matching OCR text is scrambled before storage using your master key.
- Quick delete — delete the last 15 minutes, last hour, or all data in Settings → Privacy.
- Pause capture — one click from the menu bar stops all capture immediately.
5. Retention and deletion
You control how long captured data is kept. The default is "forever" (no automatic deletion). You can set a rolling retention window (e.g. last 30 days) in Settings → Storage → Retention Policy. Data older than your window is purged by an on-device cleanup process.
6. Crash and diagnostic data
If you submit a feedback report via Settings → Feedback, the report includes your app version, macOS version, and a log snapshot covering the last few minutes of app activity. Screenshots and OCR content are never included. Submission is always manual — nothing is sent automatically.
7. Children
Pixel Dust is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
8. Changes to this policy
We will update this page when the policy changes. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect any revision. Continued use of the app after a policy update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.
9. Contact
Questions? Email privacy@pxldust.com. We'll respond within 5 business days.