How Epilude handles your data

Overview

Dictation, Narrator, and Notetaker each have their own Cloud or Local mode in Settings → Models. Changing one does not change the others.

With Dictation in Cloud mode (the default), your audio is sent to Epilude's cloud for transcription. The transcript is returned to your Mac and stored locally. If you have Cleanup set above None, the transcript also passes through a language model in the cloud for polishing before being inserted at your cursor. Your saved Vocabulary entries are part of that cleanup prompt, so in Cloud mode they are sent to the model with the transcript.

With Dictation in Local mode, transcription and Cleanup run entirely on your Mac using EP-1, the on-device model you download once. Your dictation audio never leaves your Mac, and dictation works offline. On Macs with less than 16GB of memory, on-device Cleanup isn't available, so Local mode transcribes and applies basic formatting on-device. Even then, nothing you dictate is sent to the cloud. See Local Mode to set it up.

Actions has no on-device version: it sends the text you selected plus your spoken command. Notetaker summaries use Epilude's cloud model by default, which sends the finished transcript, never the audio; on a 16GB+ Apple Silicon Mac you can choose on-device notes on the Meeting summary model card in Settings → Models, and then nothing about the meeting leaves your Mac. Dictation and Cleanup stay on your Mac when Dictation is Local; meeting audio and transcription stay on your Mac when Notetaker transcription is Local.

Narrator in Local mode reads with the EP-1 voice or a macOS voice on your Mac, and the text stays there. Putting a narration on the web is the one thing that uploads, and only when you ask for it: the narration's text and audio go to Epilude's servers so the link can play them, and Stop Sharing deletes them again. You ask for it by sharing a narration, by choosing Keep on the Web, or by turning on Keep my cloud narrations on the web, which uploads cloud-voice narrations privately as they finish and keeps the 50 most recent of them. The EP-1 voice and macOS voices are never uploaded that way. Cloud voices send the text to Epilude's cloud to be read.

For Epilude's full data-handling story, including the subprocessor list, encryption posture, retention, model-training stance, and data subject rights, see the Trust Center. The Privacy Policy is the canonical legal source.

Notetaker

Notetaker records audio only while you are recording a meeting: your microphone, plus the meeting audio your Mac plays (this needs the Screen Recording permission). With cloud transcription, the default, the audio is sent to Epilude's cloud for transcription and is not stored there. With Local transcription, the audio is transcribed on your Mac and never leaves it. Creating a summary sends the transcript text, not the audio, to Epilude's cloud. Recordings are kept on your Mac only if you turn on Save audio recordings in Notetaker settings.

Transcripts, summaries, and your typed notes stay on your Mac: a meeting library inside Epilude, plus a Markdown file per meeting in ~/Documents/Epilude Notes or a folder you choose. Deleting a meeting removes it from your Mac.

With Notetaker transcription set to Local in Settings → Models, meetings transcribe on your Mac and the audio never leaves it. The notes are a separate choice on the same page: the cloud model (the default) receives the finished transcript text to write them up, while on-device notes keep the transcript on your Mac too. Each note says which model wrote it. See How Notetaker works for the full picture.

Local storage

Epilude stores the following data on your Mac:

• Settings and preferences — Stored in macOS UserDefaults
• Transcripts — Stored locally on your file system
• Meeting notes — Meeting transcripts, summaries, and optional audio recordings, stored locally
• Activity stats — Stored locally on your file system (see below)

You control deletion of all local data. Uninstalling Epilude and removing its preferences clears everything.

Activity stats

The Home page shows local activity stats: total words, time saved, average words per minute, a 12-month heatmap, and your top apps from the last 7 days. To power these, Epilude records:

• The bundle ID and display name of the app that was frontmost when you started dictating (for example com.tinyspeck.slackmacgap and "Slack"). This is the same identifier Epilude uses to paste text into that app.
• The duration of each dictation, from press to release.
• A daily word count, so the heatmap can show 12 months of activity even after older transcripts are trimmed.

What stays out of activity stats:

• The text content of the app you dictated into. Epilude only reads the app's identifier, never its windows or contents.
• Anything that leaves your Mac. Stats are stored on disk in your user folder, the same place as your transcripts, and are never sent to Epilude or anyone else.

To turn stats off, toggle Settings → General → Track local dictation stats. To wipe stats and transcripts together, use Clear dictation history on the same page.

Performance data

Epilude sends one performance record per dictation to its servers, in both Cloud mode and Local Mode. The record holds timings and counters only. It never contains your audio, your transcript, or the text that was inserted.

Each record includes:

• How long each stage took, from the moment you press the hotkey to the moment text appears
• Whether the microphone was Bluetooth or built-in and wired, since Bluetooth microphones start more slowly
• Whether the dictation finished or failed, and which stage it failed at
• The app version, the transcription and cleanup engines the session used, and the number of words in the transcript

Records are tied to your account and are used to find failures, crashes, and slow starts. Nothing is sent while you are signed out or offline. Because your audio and your text stay out of these records, everything you dictate and everything dictation inserts stays on your Mac in Local Mode.

Permissions explained

Epilude requests three macOS permissions, each for a specific reason:

All permissions can be revoked at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Related

• Trust Center — Subprocessors, security controls, GDPR posture, and how to contact us about your data
• Privacy Policy — Canonical legal source
• Installation — Grant permissions during setup
• Cleanup — How AI polishing works