Privacy Policy

This policy explains how CopyKat handles information in two places: the CopyKat app for macOS, and our website, copykat.xyz.

CopyKat is an independent project. When we say “CopyKat”, “we” or “us”, that’s who we mean. CopyKat is in open beta, and this policy describes the beta builds and the website as they work today.

Everything the CopyKat app saves stays on your Mac. There’s no account and no sign-in, and the app makes no network connections at all: no analytics, no crash reports, no automatic update checks.

The app saves three kinds of things:

• Items you capture. Whatever you copy into a slot with your copy trigger, or pin with “Pin current clipboard”. That can be text, rich text, links, images or file paths (just the path, never the file itself).
• Your history. Up to 1,000 captured items by default, or 100, 500 or 5,000 if you change it in Settings. Pinned items stay until you unpin them.
• Your settings. Your triggers, slot keys, overlay position and whether CopyKat opens at login.

CopyKat doesn’t read your clipboard in the background. A regular ⌘C goes to macOS as usual and isn’t saved by CopyKat.

All of it lives in one file on your Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/CopyKat/copy-cat-data.json. CopyKat doesn’t encrypt this file itself. It’s protected by your macOS user account, and by FileVault if you have it turned on.

CopyKat needs macOS Accessibility access to work. It uses it to notice its own shortcuts and to press ⌘C and ⌘V for you. It never records what you type.

Accessibility access lets an app see keyboard events across your Mac, so here’s exactly what CopyKat does with it:

• It watches for your copy and paste triggers and, right after one, for the slot key you press (1 to 9 by default). Every other key is ignored, and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
• To capture or paste, it presses ⌘C or ⌘V on your behalf and briefly uses the system clipboard. After a paste, it puts back whatever was on your clipboard before.
• While you type into a password field, macOS Secure Input hides your keystrokes from CopyKat, so its shortcuts don’t work there.

CopyKat doesn’t use your camera, microphone, location or screen recording.

CopyKat doesn’t filter out passwords or other sensitive content yet, so treat your slots like anywhere else you paste things.

If you capture or pin a password, a card number or a private note, CopyKat saves it in its data file like any other item. It never leaves your Mac, but anyone who can use your Mac account could see it.

Beta version 0.0.4 keeps a small diagnostic log on your Mac to help us fix shortcut problems. It never contains what you copied or typed, and it isn’t sent anywhere.

The log lives at ~/Library/Logs/CopyKat/copykat-diag.log. Each time you use a shortcut, it notes the time, the key codes of CopyKat’s own shortcuts, the name of the app you were in, whether the Accessibility permission is on, and the type and length of the item copied or pasted, with a short fingerprint (a hash) that tells items apart.

We only see this log if you choose to send it to us. You can delete it at any time, and we’re removing it in the next beta release.

Our website collects one thing on purpose: the email address you enter to download CopyKat or join the waitlist.

When you submit the form, we store:

Email address

To reserve your beta seat or waitlist spot, and to contact you about the beta.

Platform

Mac, Windows, Android or iOS, so we know which version you’re waiting for. Your browser suggests it, or you pick it.

Beta status

Whether you got a download link or joined the waitlist, and when you signed up.

We don’t use cookies, analytics, advertising or tracking scripts, and we don’t store your IP address. Our fonts and videos are served from our own site, so loading a page doesn’t contact Google or anyone else.

Like any web host, Vercel keeps standard server logs (such as IP address, browser type and the page requested) to keep the site running and secure. Downloads come from our releases page on GitHub (opens in a new tab), which handles that request under GitHub’s own privacy statement.

We use your email only to run the beta. We never sell it, rent it, or use it for advertising.

• To give you a download link and keep track of the 100 Mac beta seats.
• To tell you when a seat opens up or when CopyKat arrives on your platform.
• To send the occasional note about the beta, like a major update or a request for feedback. No newsletters and no marketing lists.

You give us your email by choice, and you can take it back at any time. See Your choices and rights.

A few trusted services help run the website and the beta. They handle data only on our behalf, and only as needed to do their job.

Supabase

Stores the beta signup list.

Vercel

Hosts copykat.xyz.

GitHub

Hosts the app downloads.

UserJot

Runs our feedback board at copykat.userjot.com (opens in a new tab). Anything you post there is handled under UserJot’s privacy policy.

These services may process data outside your country, including in the United States. We don’t sell or share your personal information with anyone else, unless the law requires it.

We keep your beta email only while the beta and its waitlist are running, or until you ask us to delete it, whichever comes first.

• Beta signups: deleted when the beta and waitlist end, or sooner if you ask.
• App data: stays on your Mac until you delete it. We never have a copy.
• Server logs: kept briefly by Vercel under its own policy.

You’re in control of your data, in the app and on the website.

In the app

• Clear one slot or all of them from the app or its menu bar icon.
• Clear your history in Settings, and unpin items one at a time.
• To remove everything, quit CopyKat, move it to the Trash, then delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/CopyKat (and ~/Library/Logs/CopyKat if it exists). Moving the app to the Trash on its own leaves that folder behind.

On the website

You can ask for a copy of the details we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete them, or ask us to stop emailing you. Send your request through our feedback board at copykat.userjot.com (opens in a new tab). Sign in with the email you used for the beta so we can find it; there’s no need to write your address in the post. We’ll act on it within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, including India, the EU, the UK and California, the law may give you further rights. If you’re unhappy with how we handled a request, you can complain to your data protection authority, which in India is the Data Protection Board of India. We don’t sell or share personal information as California law defines those terms.

The less we collect, the less there is to protect, so we keep things simple on purpose.

The website is served over HTTPS, and only CopyKat can access the beta signup list. No system is perfectly secure, so if we ever learn of a breach that affects your data, we’ll tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

On your Mac, CopyKat’s data is as safe as your user account. A login password and FileVault keep it protected.

CopyKat isn’t meant for children.

You need to be at least 18, or have a parent’s or guardian’s permission, to join the beta. We don’t knowingly collect data from children. If you think a child has signed up, let us know and we’ll delete their details.

If CopyKat changes how it handles data, this page changes first.

We’ll update the date at the top for every change. If a change is significant, for example if the app ever starts reading your clipboard automatically or sending anything off your Mac, we’ll say so on this page and in the release notes before that version ships.

Questions about this policy, or a request about your data? We’re happy to help.