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Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

TL;DR

  • Everything you copy stays on your Mac. We have no servers, so there is nowhere to send it.
  • We collect nothing: no accounts, no tracking, no telemetry. We couldn't peek at your clips if we wanted to.
  • Protected clips are encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Touch ID is the bouncer.
  • iCloud sync is coming soon: opt-in, off by default, through your own Apple account. Still no servers of ours.
  • Intelligence sends only the one clip you act on, to the AI you picked, with your own key.
  • Link previews are fetched by your Mac, straight from the site you copied. Nothing routes through us.
  • This website counts page views anonymously. The app counts nothing at all.

The long version below is the binding one. It says the same thing, just in more words.

Overview

PasteMate is built with privacy as a core principle. We do not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. Your clipboard history stays entirely on your device, and PasteMate has no servers of its own.

Data Collection

PasteMate does not collect any personal information. All clipboard data is stored locally on your Mac using Core Data and is never sent to PasteMate or anyone else. There are no analytics, no tracking pixels, no cookies, and no telemetry of any kind.

Local Storage & Encryption

All clipboard items, tags, and preferences are stored locally on your device. Items carrying a protected tag are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, using a key that lives in your Mac's system Keychain and never leaves it. Access to protected items requires Touch ID or your macOS password. Items without a protected tag are stored locally in plaintext so they can be shown instantly.

iCloud Sync (Coming Soon)

An upcoming release will add optional iCloud sync across your devices. It will be opt-in and off by default. When you enable it, your clips sync through your own private iCloud account on Apple's infrastructure, protected by your Apple ID and Apple's iCloud security. No third-party service or server is involved, PasteMate still operates none, and turning sync off keeps everything strictly on-device, as it is today.

Link Previews

When you copy a web address, PasteMate can display a rich preview of that page. To build the preview, your Mac fetches the page's title and preview image directly from the website you copied, using Apple's LinkPresentation framework. This request goes to that website only; nothing is routed through PasteMate.

Intelligence

Intelligence actions (Cmd+I) transform the text of a clip you choose: fixing grammar, changing tone, translating, or summarizing. By default they run with Apple Intelligence, entirely on your Mac, and nothing leaves your device. If you configure a cloud engine (such as Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google Gemini), the text of the single clip you act on is sent directly to that provider, only when you run an action, authenticated with your own API key. Your key is stored in the system Keychain. PasteMate never sees the request, adds no middleman, and sends nothing on its own.

App Store Purchases

PasteMate is a single one-time purchase handled entirely through the Mac App Store. Apple processes the transaction; PasteMate never has access to your payment information. There are no subscriptions and no recurring charges. Apple's privacy policy applies to all App Store transactions.

Third-Party Services

PasteMate does not integrate with analytics platforms or advertising networks. The only outside parties ever involved are the Mac App Store (distribution and purchase), websites you copied (link previews, see above), and an AI provider you explicitly configure (Intelligence, see above).

This Website

pastemate.app uses Vercel Web Analytics to count visits and page views. It is cookieless and does not identify you: no cookies, no cross-site tracking, no fingerprinting, and nothing tied to your identity. None of this involves the PasteMate app, which sends no analytics of any kind.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at support@pastemate.app.