Privacy Policy
Last updated:
What this covers
This policy explains what information the Utter desktop app (“the app”) and the website heyutter.com (“the website”) handle, and why. “We” means Victor, the independent developer of Utter.
No usage data
The app has no analytics, telemetry or crash reporting. It doesn’t record what you read, how long you use it or what you click. If crash reports are ever added, they will only be sent once you turn them on yourself.
API keys
The API keys you enter are kept in the system keychain (the macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager). A key is only ever sent to the provider it belongs to, never to us.
The text you read, and its audio
When you press the shortcut, the app sends the text on your clipboard from your computer straight to the official API of the provider you chose (xAI, Google Gemini or Doubao Speech), and the provider sends back the audio to play. None of this passes through our servers, and we never see the text or the audio.
The app keeps no text, audio or history of what it read. The only audio it saves is the voice preview cache, which stays on your computer and is never uploaded.
What a provider does with the text you send it is governed by its own terms and privacy policy. Some providers use content sent on their free tiers to improve their products, so check theirs before you start: the xAI Privacy Policy, the Gemini API Additional Terms and the Volcano Engine Privacy Policy (in Chinese).
When the app contacts our servers
Apart from the provider you chose, the app only contacts two addresses of ours:
- Update checks: shortly after it starts and about once a day after that, it asks dl.heyutter.com whether there is a new version. The request contains only the platform and processor architecture, such as “macOS, Apple silicon”.
- Licensing: when you activate, check or deactivate a license, it sends api.heyutter.com the license key, a randomly generated device ID and the platform. The device ID is generated at random on first activation and has nothing to do with your hardware. While you’re online, the app checks the license about once a day.
None of these requests contain your API key, the text you read, your computer’s name, its serial number or anything else that identifies the computer. As with any connection, our servers can see the IP address it comes from; our license service doesn’t record IP addresses.
The license key, device ID and the date your trial started are kept in your computer’s system keychain.
Purchases
Utter is sold through Creem, which acts as the merchant of record: it takes the payment and handles tax and invoices. The payment details you enter at checkout are processed by Creem, and we never see your card number. How Creem handles that information is set out in the Creem Privacy Notice.
Once you have paid, Creem tells us the order number, the product and the license key. Your name, email address and payment details stay with Creem; our license service doesn’t store them. For each license we keep the license key, its status (active, refunded or revoked), its order number, and the device IDs, platforms, activation times and last check times of the computers it is activated on. We use this to make the license work and to handle refunds.
Licenses are managed by Creem’s license service, which also enforces the 3-device limit. On activation we pass Creem the platform and a one-way hash of the device ID, never the device ID itself.
The website
The website is a set of static pages with no analytics, ads or third-party scripts, and it sets no cookies. Its fonts and images are served by the website itself.
The website and our servers are hosted on Cloudflare. To deliver pages and protect against attacks, Cloudflare processes technical details of each request, such as the IP address and browser type; see the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
When you open heyutter.com, the website uses the language preference your browser sends to take you to the page in your language. Nothing is recorded.
Writing to us
When you write to support@heyutter.com, we receive your email address and your message, and use them only to reply and to deal with your request, such as a refund or a lost license key.
How long we keep things
License and order records are kept for as long as the license is active. After a refund or revocation, we keep them for as long as needed to handle disputes and to meet accounting and tax requirements. Emails are kept for a while after your request is dealt with, so we have the background if you write again.
Your rights
You can write to us to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you. Once a license record is deleted, that license can no longer be activated. For the transaction records Creem holds, contact Creem as described in the Creem Privacy Notice. The law where you live may give you further rights, and we will honor them.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top. Important changes will also be mentioned in the app’s release notes.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Write to support@heyutter.com.