Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 25, 2026

This policy applies to Spokn, the dictation app from SpoknLabs, on iPhone and Mac. Where the iPhone and Mac versions behave differently, that's called out explicitly. Other SpoknLabs apps, if any, have their own privacy pages.

Scope

This policy covers the Spokn iOS app and the Spokn macOS app. Both are personal dictation utilities — you press a key, you speak, the transcript lands on your clipboard. There is no SpoknLabs server involved at any point.

What Spokn processes

While you use Spokn, the app handles the following on your device:

• Audio recordings captured via your microphone while a dictation session is active.
• Transcribed text returned by the active transcription engine.
• Vocabulary hint — an optional list of names, jargon, or phrases you save in Settings. When the OpenAI engine is active, it is sent alongside your audio so the engine can spell unusual words correctly.
• Language preference — an optional ISO-639-1 language code you pick in Settings.
• Your OpenAI API key, only when the OpenAI engine is configured. The key is stored on-device in the iOS or macOS Keychain.

Where your audio goes

Spokn supports two transcription engines, accessible from the same Settings screen:

• Local engine. Audio is transcribed on your device using an open-source WhisperKit model. No audio leaves your device on this path. No network connection is required.
• OpenAI engine. Audio and any vocabulary hint / language code are sent over HTTPS directly from your device to OpenAI's /v1/audio/transcriptions endpoint, using your own OpenAI API key as the bearer token. Spokn is not in the middle of this request — it goes straight to OpenAI.

On both Spokn for iPhone and Spokn for Mac, you choose between three modes in Settings:

• Auto — OpenAI when your device is online, on-device when offline.
• Online only — always uses OpenAI.
• Local only — always on-device. No audio ever leaves your device.

The mode you pick is the only thing that decides whether audio leaves your device. There is no "phone home" channel.

What's stored on your device

• Your OpenAI API key is stored in the iOS / macOS Keychain (with the standard "after first unlock" protection). Spokn uses it only as the Authorization: Bearer … header on transcription requests, and never inspects, transmits, or logs it elsewhere.
• Your settings (transcription mode, model choice, vocabulary hint, language, UI preferences) live in UserDefaults in the app's sandbox.
• Audio recordings are temporary. While you dictate, audio is written to the app's temp directory. The file is deleted as soon as the transcript is delivered, or as soon as a failed attempt is abandoned. Audio is never written to your photo library, iCloud, the Files app, or any other persistent location.
• Transcripts live in app memory only — long enough to populate the in-app "Copy again" card. They are never archived, synced, or written to persistent storage.
• On-device transcription model. If you use the Local engine, Spokn downloads an open-source Whisper model from Hugging Face (a one-time download per chosen size). The model file lives in your app's container. You can delete it from Settings at any time.

What we don't collect

SpoknLabs does not collect, transmit, store, or have any access to:

• Your audio recordings.
• Your transcripts.
• Your OpenAI API key.
• Device or advertising identifiers (IDFA, IDFV, advertising ID).
• Usage analytics, telemetry, or product metrics.
• Crash reports or diagnostic logs (beyond Apple's standard, which you opt into device-wide in iOS / macOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements; SpoknLabs cannot read those reports).
• Contact info, location, photos, calendar, or any other personal data.

There is no SpoknLabs SDK, server, or third-party tracker bundled in the app.

Third-party processors

OpenAI is the only third party that ever receives any of your data, and only when you have configured the OpenAI engine and a transcription is routed online. In that case, your audio file, optional vocabulary hint, and optional language code are sent to OpenAI directly from your device. The connection is authenticated with your own OpenAI API key.

Because the request is made under your own OpenAI account, OpenAI's handling of that data is governed by OpenAI's policies — not ours. Specifically:

• OpenAI's terms & policies (including the US and Rest-of-World privacy policies)
• How your data is used to improve model performance — by default, OpenAI does not use API inputs or outputs to train its models.

If you only ever use the Local engine, no data is ever sent to OpenAI from Spokn.

Permissions Spokn requests

Spokn requests only the system permissions it strictly needs to do dictation. Each is explained at the moment Spokn asks for it.

• Microphone (iPhone & Mac) — required to record audio while you dictate. Spokn captures audio only while a dictation session is active (started and stopped by you, via the in-app button or your configured shortcut).
• Input Monitoring (Mac only) — required so Spokn can detect the Globe / Fn key as a global shortcut to start and stop dictation. Spokn registers a listen-only event tap and never injects key events through this channel.
• Accessibility (Mac only, optional) — used so Spokn can paste the transcript into the focused text field for you. If you decline this permission, Spokn falls back to copying the transcript to your clipboard.
• Launch at login (Mac only, optional) — registers Spokn as a Login Item if you toggle this on. Disabling it unregisters Spokn cleanly.

Spokn does not request location, contacts, photos, calendars, reminders, health data, or screen recording.

Your rights & how to delete your data

Because SpoknLabs holds no server-side data about you, there is no SpoknLabs account to close and no record on our side to request, correct, or delete. You are in full control of the data Spokn handles, and you can remove it at any time:

• Stop the OpenAI path. Delete your OpenAI API key in Spokn → Settings.
• Stop the Local path. Delete the on-device model in Spokn → Settings.
• Remove local Spokn data. First delete your OpenAI API key and any downloaded on-device model in Spokn Settings, then uninstall the app.

If you are in the EU, UK, California, or another jurisdiction with statutory rights to access, correction, deletion, or portability — those rights apply. Because SpoknLabs holds no personal data on our side, we have nothing to export or delete on your behalf, and there is no server-side record to correct. For any data processed by OpenAI when you use the OpenAI engine, those rights must be exercised against OpenAI directly, under your own OpenAI account — see OpenAI's terms & policies. SpoknLabs has no access to that data and cannot act on it. If you have a question about your rights as they relate to Spokn, email spoknlabs@gmail.com and we will respond within 30 days.

Children's privacy

Spokn is a general-audience productivity utility and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided personal data to SpoknLabs (e.g. by emailing us), please contact spoknlabs@gmail.com and we will delete the message.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when Spokn's data practices change — for example, when a new platform or transcription engine is added. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change. For material changes (anything that affects what data Spokn handles, where it goes, or who can access it), we will also note the change in the app's release notes.

Contact

SpoknLabs is a small indie studio. The fastest way to reach us is by email at spoknlabs@gmail.com. See the Support page for more details.