Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 16, 2026

CueScribe is built to transcribe audio on your iPhone. The defining choice behind the product is that your recordings never leave the device for processing. This policy describes exactly what data CueScribe handles, and where it lives.

If anything below is unclear, email privacy@cuescribe.net.

TL;DR

• Transcription and speaker labeling run entirely on your device. Your audio is never uploaded to CueScribe or to any third-party service for processing.
• CueScribe has no account, no login, no analytics SDK, no advertising, and no tracking. We don't operate servers that receive your data.
• If you turn on iCloud Sync, transcript text and metadata sync between your own devices via your private iCloud database. Audio recordings never sync through iCloud Sync.
• Audio you record in CueScribe is kept on the device so you can play it back or re-transcribe it. You can delete a single recording or all recordings at any time from Settings → Storage.
• iCloud Backup, if you have it enabled in iOS, will include your CueScribe recordings as part of your normal device backup. That backup is between you and Apple - we never see it.
• Subscription payments are handled by Apple. CueScribe never sees your payment details. We receive only an entitlement signal from StoreKit.

Who we are

CueScribe is the iOS transcription app published at cuescribe.net. The data controller for the purposes of UK and EU data-protection law is the publisher of CueScribe listed on the App Store page.

What CueScribe handles, and where

Audio

• In-app recordings. When you tap Record, audio is captured to an AAC .m4a file in the app's sandboxed storage on the device. After transcription, the file is stored on the device so you can play it back or re-transcribe it later. It stays on the device until you delete it.
• Imported audio (Voice Memos handoff, Files picker, share extension). The file is copied into CueScribe's sandboxed storage, and transcribed. After transcription, the file is stored on the device so you can play it back or re-transcribe it later. It stays on the device until you delete it.
• Failed transcriptions. If the pipeline fails on an in-app recording, the staged audio file is deleted.
• Audio is never sent off-device for transcription. Transcription is performed by on-device speech and speaker analyzers.

Transcripts

• The transcript text, segment timings, speaker IDs, speaker names you've assigned, tags, title, and timestamps are stored on the device in a local SwiftData database.
• If you turn iCloud Sync on in Settings, the transcript and its metadata sync to your other devices through your private iCloud database under your own Apple ID. This is end-to-end between your devices via Apple's CloudKit; CueScribe has no access to it.
• Audio is never part of this sync. Inspecting the CloudKit container will show only text and date fields - no audio files.

People

• When you rename a speaker, CueScribe remembers that name locally so it can suggest it on future transcripts. This list - the "People" entry in Settings - lives in the same local database as your transcripts and is included in iCloud Sync when sync is enabled.

App settings

• Preferences such as your chosen library sort order, whether you've completed onboarding, and the iCloud Sync toggle are stored in UserDefaults on the device. They never leave the device.

Subscription state

• CueScribe offers a paid "Plus" subscription. Apple is the merchant. Payments are processed by Apple via StoreKit and the App Store. CueScribe never sees your name, billing address, card, or Apple ID.
• The app receives an entitlement signal from StoreKit indicating whether you have an active subscription. A copy of that entitlement is cached in the iOS Keychain on the device so the app knows your subscription status immediately at launch without waiting for the network. The cached entitlement is device-local (it is not synced to iCloud Keychain).
• For billing, refund, and renewal queries, please use Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions on your device, or contact Apple. We don't have access to your purchase history.

Microphone permission

• CueScribe requests microphone access during app onboarding. Recording is signaled by the iOS orange microphone indicator at the top of the screen. If you deny access, recording is disabled but every other feature - including importing audio - continues to work.

Logs and diagnostics

• The app writes operational log lines using Apple's os.Logger. These are stored on the device and visible only to you (via Console.app or sysdiagnose). They are not transmitted to CueScribe.
• We do not embed any third-party analytics, attribution, or crash-reporting SDK. We don't use Firebase, Sentry, Crashlytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, RevenueCat, or comparable services.
• CueScribe relies on Apple's own aggregated, anonymized reporting available to all iOS developers:
  • App Store Connect Analytics - opt-in by users in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements → Share with App Developers. Apple aggregates impressions, sessions, and active devices across roughly 20–30 % of users who have opted in. Apple does not share individual device identifiers with us.
  • Crash reports via MetricKit / Xcode Organizer - symbolicated stack traces from devices on which "Share with App Developers" is enabled, delivered by Apple in batched form. No personal data, no transcript content.
  • Subscription analytics via App Store Connect - Apple shares aggregate trial-start, conversion, retention, and refund counts for the subscription. Again, no individual identifiers.
• We can configure these Apple reports but we cannot pierce them. They are the only telemetry we have, and they reach us only through Apple's privacy-preserving aggregation.

What we never collect

• Your name, email address, phone number, postal address, or any account credentials. CueScribe has no account system.
• Your contacts, calendar, photos, or location.
• Tracking identifiers (IDFA / IDFV). The app declares NSPrivacyTracking = false in its privacy manifest and does not call the App Tracking Transparency API.
• Any transcript content, audio, or filename. None of this reaches CueScribe in any form.

The app's App Store privacy label is "Data Not Collected" because everything described above either stays on your device, lives in your own iCloud, or is exchanged directly between you and Apple.

Third parties

CueScribe has no advertising, no marketing, and no growth SDKs of any kind. We do not load remote scripts, fonts, or tracking pixels from third parties at runtime.

Where the data lives, and how long

Uninstalling CueScribe removes all on-device data (recordings, transcripts, people, settings, keychain entries). Transcripts you previously synced through iCloud Sync remain in your private iCloud container until you delete them on another signed-in device or remove the app's iCloud data via iOS Settings → Apple Account → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.

Your choices

• Turn iCloud Sync on or off at any time in Settings → iCloud Sync. Turning it off keeps existing transcripts on the device and stops new ones from leaving.
• Delete a single recording from the "waveform" button inside any transcript. The transcript stays; the audio file is removed.
• Delete all recorded audio at once in Settings → Storage → Delete all recorded audio. Transcripts stay; the audio files are removed.
• Delete a transcript by swiping it in the library. The transcript and any associated recording are both removed.
• Revoke microphone permission at any time in iOS Settings → CueScribe → Microphone. Recording becomes unavailable; everything else still works.
• Cancel your subscription in Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions, or via Settings → Subscription → Manage Subscription inside the app.
• Stop sharing analytics with Apple in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements. Apple's aggregated reports to us will exclude your device.

Your rights under UK GDPR / EU GDPR

Because CueScribe processes your content entirely on your device and we don't operate servers that receive it, in practice the right of access, the right to rectification, and the right to erasure are all exercised by you directly through the app and iOS Settings - there is no copy of your data on our side to query, correct, or delete.

If you believe a request nonetheless applies, or you want to raise a concern, please email privacy@cuescribe.net. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or your local supervisory authority in the EEA.

Children

CueScribe is rated 13+ on the App Store and contains no objectionable content. The app has no account, no advertising, no in-app messaging, and no profile of any kind, and does not handle personal data about anyone under the age of 13 beyond what is described above (which is on-device only and never transmitted to us). If you are a parent or guardian and have a concern, please contact privacy@cuescribe.net.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in a way that affects how data is handled, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and, where the change is material, surface a notice in the app. Continued use of CueScribe after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

privacy@cuescribe.net

CueScribe - cuescribe.net