How Epilude handles your data
Understand how your voice, text, and API keys are handled — Epilude connects directly to your AI providers with no servers in between.
Overview
Epilude connects your Mac directly to the AI providers you configure. There are no Epilude servers sitting in the middle — your voice and text go straight from your Mac to your chosen provider and back.
Your API keys
Your API keys are stored in your Mac's Keychain — the same encrypted, hardware-backed storage macOS uses for passwords and certificates. Keys are:
- Encrypted at rest by macOS
- Never stored in plain text anywhere on disk
- Never sent to Epilude or any third party — only to the provider they belong to
Voice data
When you dictate, Epilude records your voice and sends the audio directly to your configured transcription provider:
- Deepgram — Audio is sent to Deepgram's API for real-time transcription
- OpenAI Whisper — Audio is sent to OpenAI's API for transcription
Your audio is subject to your provider's privacy policy and data handling practices. Epilude does not store, cache, or relay your audio through any other service.
Text formatting
When Auto-Edits are enabled, your transcribed text is sent to your configured AI provider (OpenAI) for formatting. The formatted text is returned directly to your Mac and inserted at your cursor.
Like voice data, your text is subject to your provider's privacy policy.
What Epilude does NOT do
- No Epilude servers receive your voice, text, or API keys
- No telemetry on dictation content — Epilude doesn't track what you say or type
- No training on your data — your dictations are never used to train models
- No analytics on speech content — no one at Epilude can see what you dictate
Local storage
Epilude stores the following data locally on your Mac:
- Settings and preferences — Stored in macOS UserDefaults
- API keys — Stored in macOS Keychain (encrypted)
- Transcripts — Stored locally on your file system
You control deletion of all local data. Uninstalling Epilude and removing its preferences clears everything.
Permissions explained
Epilude requests two macOS permissions, each for a specific reason:
| Permission | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
| Microphone | To record your voice for dictation |
| Accessibility | To insert text into any app — this is how Epilude types on your behalf |
Both permissions can be revoked at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Related
- Installation — Grant permissions during setup
- AI Providers — Configure your provider API keys
- Auto-Edits — How AI formatting works