parlo

Privacy Policy

Your audio is yours. Everything else is opt-in.

Last updated: August 2026. Parlo is built local-first: speech recognition, transcription, and note generation run on your Mac. This policy describes the small number of cases where data leaves your computer, and the choices you have about each one.

What stays on your Mac

  • Audio & transcripts. Everything Parlo records or writes — meeting audio, transcripts, meeting notes, dictation history — is stored locally in your Documents and App Support folders. Nothing is uploaded by default.
  • Speaker and meeting metadata. Meeting titles, timestamps, and which app you were in stay local.
  • Settings. Your shortcuts, tone preferences, dictionary, and model choices are stored on your Mac. OAuth tokens (for example, Google Drive) are kept in your macOS Keychain, never on our servers.

What leaves your Mac, and why

The following are the only cases where data is transmitted from the app, and each one is either necessary for the app to work or an explicit opt-in:

  1. Model downloads. On first run, Parlo downloads the speech and language models it runs locally (several gigabytes). The download request includes version and platform identifiers only.
  2. Account sign-in & license check. Signing in uses a magic link sent to your email address. Once per day, Parlo checks whether your license is still valid; this sends only a license token and app version.
  3. Factual question lookups (opt-in use). When you ask Parlo a factual question, the text of the question is sent to a search provider so Parlo can answer it. Audio and transcripts are never sent.
  4. Cloud meeting notes (opt-in, your own key).If you enable it, the meeting transcript is sent to a notes provider you choose (OpenAI, Anthropic, or a custom endpoint) using an API key you provide. If it fails, Parlo falls back to the on-device model and tells you so.
  5. Google Drive sharing (opt-in). If you enable it, Parlo uploads meeting notes, transcripts, and meeting metadata to a Google Drive folder you choose. It uses Google's most limited permission (drive.file): it can only create and update its own files. Recordings never leave your Mac.
  6. "Polish" hand-off (explicit action). Clicking Polish opens the transcript in your own ChatGPT or Claude account. This is a deliberate action you take to send content to a service you control.
  7. Waitlist & alpha emails. The email address you submit on parlohub.com is stored securely and used only for your invite and occasional product updates. Never shared, unsubscribe anytime.

What we never do

  • We never sell, rent, or share your personal data.
  • We never use your audio, transcripts, or notes for training.
  • We never show ads, and we never use your data for ad targeting.
  • We have no access to your audio unless you send it to a third-party service yourself (cloud notes / Polish hand-off).

Retention & deletion

Data stored locally on your Mac is retained until you delete it — deleting a meeting from the Meetings window removes its files. Uninstalling the app and removing its folders in Documents / App Support deletes everything local. Waitlist email addresses are retained until you unsubscribe; unsubscribing removes you from future mailings.

Your choices

  • Cloud notes — turn it off anytime in Setup → Meeting Notes.
  • Google Drive sharing — disconnect anytime in Setup → Google Drive Sharing; your uploaded files can be removed from Drive manually.
  • Permissions — microphone, calendar, and other macOS permissions can be revoked in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Questions about this policy? Visit the Support page.