Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 20, 2026

Hold to Talk ("we", "our", "the app") is a dictation application for Mac and iPhone/iPad. We take your privacy seriously and are committed to being transparent about how your data is handled.

Audio Data

When you use Hold to Talk, your voice audio is sent to our transcription server for processing. We operate a zero data retention policy. Your audio is:

We do not store, log, save, or replay your audio recordings or transcription results on our servers.

Hold to Talk does not use dictated audio or transcript text to train models.

Hold to Talk is not fully offline. The default hosted transcription path currently uses Groq Whisper Large v3. Realtime streaming uses OpenAI realtime transcription when that mode is enabled, and optional cleanup or most-accurate paths may use OpenAI. If audio can never leave your device, choose a fully local or on-device dictation app instead.

Transcription History

The app may store recent transcription text locally on your device for your convenience. On iPhone/iPad, this powers the keyboard History button. This data is not stored on our servers and can be cleared or disabled in the app's settings.

iOS Keyboard Access

The Hold to Talk iOS keyboard asks for Full Access so it can communicate with the containing Hold to Talk app, send your audio for transcription, receive the finished text, and insert that text into the field you are editing. The keyboard reads nearby text only when needed to insert the new transcript cleanly. We do not collect the contents of unrelated text fields, app names, document names, passwords, payment cards, or secure text entry fields.

Device Identifier and Usage Limits

Hold to Talk creates a random app-specific device identifier. We use it to keep the keyboard and main app in sync, enforce free usage limits, prevent abuse, and diagnose reliability issues. This identifier is not used for advertising tracking.

Account Information

If you subscribe to a paid plan through the direct Mac download, we collect your email address and payment information through our payment processor, Stripe. If you subscribe through the Mac App Store, iPhone, or iPad, purchases are handled by Apple through the App Store. We do not store your full credit card details. Stripe's and Apple's privacy policies govern payment data handled by those services.

Third-Party Services

Hold to Talk relies on the following third-party services:

Analytics & Tracking

In the Hold to Talk app, we collect limited anonymous activation and reliability events so we can diagnose setup problems and improve the product. These events may include app launch, onboarding progress, permission status, recording start/stop, recording discard reason, and transcription success or failure. They are associated with an anonymous device identifier and app/OS version. They do not include your email address, audio recordings, transcript text, active app names, document names, or anything you dictate.

Crash, performance, and diagnostic reports are used for app functionality and reliability. They are not used for advertising tracking and are not linked to your identity.

On our website (holdtotalk.com), we use the following services to understand how visitors find and use the site:

These services may set cookies in your browser. They do not have access to your audio, transcriptions, or app usage data.

Data Security

All communication between the app and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS). We follow industry-standard security practices to protect your data in transit.

Children's Privacy

Hold to Talk is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at [email protected].