Privacy Policy
Your voice stays on your machine. Period.
Last Updated: July 26, 2026
The Short Version
MurmurTone processes your voice 100% locally on your computer. We don't collect, store, or transmit your voice data, transcriptions, or usage patterns. The only network communication is a one-time license validation when you activate a Pro license.
1. Our Privacy Commitment
MurmurTone was built with privacy as a core principle, not an afterthought. We believe your voice data is deeply personal and should never leave your control. That's why:
- All speech recognition happens locally on your Windows computer
- Your voice recordings are never transmitted to any server
- Your transcriptions stay on your machine and are never uploaded
- No analytics, tracking, or telemetry is built into the desktop application
- The app works completely offline after initial setup
App vs. website. The commitments above describe the desktop application, which contains no analytics or telemetry of any kind. This marketing website (murmurtone.com) uses Cloudflare Web Analytics, a privacy-first, cookieless page-view measurement tool that sets no cookies and collects no personally identifiable information (see Section 5). Nothing you do in the app is ever measured or transmitted for analytics.
2. What Data We Collect
Data We DO NOT Collect
| Data Type | Collected? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voice recordings | Processed locally, never transmitted | |
| Transcription text | Stays on your computer | |
| Usage patterns | No analytics or telemetry | |
| Microphone audio | Only captured when hotkey is held | |
| Screen content | Application does not access screen | |
| Browsing history | Application does not access browser | |
| Personal files | Only accesses its own data folder |
Data We DO Collect (Minimal)
| Data Type | When | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| License key | Pro activation only | Validate your purchase |
| Machine ID | Pro activation only | Prevent license sharing |
| Email address | Purchase only | Deliver license key |
3. Local Data Storage
MurmurTone stores the following data locally on your computer in %APPDATA%\MurmurTone:
- Settings: Your preferences (model selection, hotkey, audio settings)
- Speech models: Downloaded AI models for transcription (~75MB-1.5GB)
- Custom vocabulary: Words you've added for improved recognition
- License file: Your Pro license activation (if purchased)
- Transcription history: The text of your most recent transcriptions (up to 50), stored in plain text so the app can show them in Settings and support the "scratch that" command. Clear them any time with Settings → Text → View History → Clear.
- Log files: Application logs for troubleshooting, capped at about 4MB in total and rolled over as they fill. In MurmurTone 1.0.3 and earlier, these include the text of transcriptions as they are typed or pasted. Starting with version 1.0.4, logs contain only timings, character counts, and error messages, never transcription text, and the first successful launch after upgrading also removes older log content automatically. You can delete log files at any time.
All of this stays on your computer. None of it is transmitted to us or to anyone else.
You can delete this data at any time by removing the %APPDATA%\MurmurTone folder. Note that uninstalling MurmurTone deliberately leaves this folder in place, so that upgrading (which uninstalls the previous version first) does not erase your settings, models, and license. For a complete removal, delete the folder manually after uninstalling.
4. Network Communications
MurmurTone makes network requests only in these specific situations:
Model Downloads (First Use)
When you first use MurmurTone, it downloads speech recognition models. Smaller models are downloaded from our downloads host (downloads.murmurtone.com, served by Cloudflare); the largest model is downloaded from Hugging Face. These are one-time downloads. After this, the app works completely offline.
Update Checks
MurmurTone checks for new versions by requesting a small update manifest from our downloads host (downloads.murmurtone.com, served by Cloudflare) approximately once every 24 hours. If you choose to install an update, the signed installer is downloaded from the same host. This request includes a generic "MurmurTone" user-agent string and your IP address (as with any network request). No personal data, usage information, or device identifiers are transmitted. You can disable auto-update checks in Settings.
License Activation (Pro Users)
When you activate a Pro license, MurmurTone contacts our license server to validate your purchase. This transmits:
- Your license key
- A machine identifier (hardware hash)
No voice data, transcriptions, or usage information is ever transmitted.
AI Text Cleanup (Optional, Coming Soon)
When the AI text cleanup feature becomes available and you enable it, that processing will also happen 100% locally on your machine, with no cloud services involved.
5. Third-Party Services
Cloudflare Web Analytics (This Website Only)
This marketing website uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to understand aggregate traffic (which pages are visited, roughly how many people visit). It is privacy-first and cookieless: it sets no cookies, uses no client-side state or fingerprinting, and does not collect any personally identifiable information. There is no cross-site tracking and no data is sold or shared. This applies to the website only: the MurmurTone desktop application contains no analytics or telemetry whatsoever. See: Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
Cloudflare (App Downloads & Update Manifest)
The desktop app connects to downloads.murmurtone.com, hosted on Cloudflare R2, to check for updates (a small manifest) and, if you install one, download the signed installer; to download the smaller speech recognition models on first use; and to download the optional GPU support libraries. Cloudflare's privacy policy applies to these requests. See: Cloudflare Privacy Policy
Hugging Face (Large Model Downloads)
The largest speech recognition model is downloaded from Hugging Face. Their privacy policy applies to the download process. See: huggingface.co/privacy
Formspree (Contact Form)
Our contact form uses Formspree to process submissions. When you submit the form, your name, email address, and message are transmitted to Formspree's servers for delivery to our support team. Formspree retains submission data for 30 days. See: formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy
Payment Processing (Polar)
If you purchase a Pro license, payment is processed by Polar, our merchant of record (powered by Stripe). Your payment information is handled entirely by Polar's hosted checkout page.
What Polar receives: your email address, payment card details, and billing address.
What we receive: your email address, order ID, and transaction amount only.
What we NEVER receive or store: credit card numbers, CVV codes, or full payment card details. All payment data is processed by Polar/Stripe and never touches our systems.
Data processing agreement. As our merchant of record, Polar acts as a data processor for the limited purchaser data it handles on our behalf (such as your email and billing details). That processing is governed by Polar's Data Processing Addendum, and the parties it may use to deliver the service are listed in Polar's Sub-processors list.
6. Children's Privacy
MurmurTone is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children.
7. Data Security
Since we don't collect or transmit your voice data or transcriptions, there's no risk of this data being breached from our servers. Your data security depends on your local computer's security.
For Pro license activation, we use industry-standard HTTPS encryption with SSL certificate verification for the license validation request. Your license key is stored locally using Windows DPAPI encryption (tied to your Windows user account) and is never stored in plain text on disk.
Payment webhook communications are verified using HMAC-SHA256 signatures to prevent forged requests.
8. Your Rights
Because MurmurTone doesn't collect personal data beyond license activation, traditional data rights (access, correction, deletion) apply primarily to:
- Email address: Contact us to update or delete your email from our license records
- Local data: You can delete all local data by removing
%APPDATA%\MurmurTone - License deactivation: Contact us to deactivate your license from a machine
9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)
This section applies to California residents and is provided under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, the "CCPA"). It supplements the rest of this policy.
Categories of personal information we collect
MurmurTone is a local-first desktop app, so we collect very little. In the past 12 months we have collected only the following CCPA categories, and only for the purposes stated:
- Identifiers (email address, and a machine identifier, meaning your device name and operating system, used for license activation): collected when you purchase or activate a Pro license, to deliver your license key and prevent license sharing.
- Commercial information (order ID and transaction amount): received from our merchant of record when you make a purchase, to maintain purchase records and provide support.
We do not collect your voice recordings, transcriptions, biometric information, geolocation, browsing history, or any sensitive personal information. Speech is processed 100% locally on your device and never transmitted (see Sections 1 through 4).
We do not sell or share your personal information
We have not sold or shared personal information in the past 12 months, and we do not sell or share it. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for any purpose beyond what is necessary to provide the product. Because we do not sell or share personal information, no "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" opt-out is required, but you may still contact us with any request.
Your California rights
Subject to the CCPA's exceptions, California residents have the right to:
- Know what personal information we have collected about you and how it is used.
- Delete personal information we have collected from you.
- Correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do not sell or share it).
- Non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights.
How to exercise your rights
Email support@murmurtone.com and we will respond as required by law. We will verify your request using the email address associated with your license or purchase. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to a verifiable request unless it is excessive or repetitive.
10. Changes to This Policy
If we make changes to this privacy policy, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top. For significant changes, we will provide notice through the application or via email (for Pro users).
Our commitment to local processing and not collecting voice data will not change.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions about this privacy policy or MurmurTone's privacy practices:
- Email: support@murmurtone.com
Privacy by Design
MurmurTone's architecture makes privacy violations technically impossible. Your voice is processed by AI models running on YOUR computer. There's no server to hack, no cloud to breach, no data to leak. That's not just a policy - it's how the software works.