Privacy

Overview

Alison Workspace is a macOS app for live captions, translation, and file transcription. It works on your Mac: it does not require an account, and it has no app-operated server, advertising, analytics or tracking SDK, or cloud synchronization. We do not receive your audio, captions, transcripts, or files.

Audio the app listens to

• System audio. Alison captures the audio your Mac is playing using Apple’s Core Audio process taps. macOS asks you to allow system audio recording the first time. Screen Recording is not requested, and no screen content is captured.
• Microphone (optional). The microphone is used only when you choose Microphone or System Audio + Microphone as the input source, or when you press Test Microphone. macOS asks for access the first time. In the default System Audio mode, the microphone is not used.

Audio from either source is processed in memory for speech recognition on your Mac. It is not saved as a recording and is never transmitted.

Files you transcribe

When you add audio or video files for transcription, Alison reads them on your Mac to create a transcript. A file is accessed only after you choose it in the standard macOS open panel, and it is not uploaded or copied into the app’s storage. So that a saved transcript can play its source file again, the app keeps a macOS security-scoped bookmark to that file.

How recognition and translation run

Speech recognition runs on your Mac, using Apple’s speech recognition (macOS 26), the bundled WhisperKit engine (macOS 15, and languages that Apple’s streaming recognition does not cover), or the optional Precise Chinese Recognition engine. Translation uses Apple’s Translation framework on your Mac. Neither sends your audio or text to us or to any other service.

Data stored on your Mac

• Caption history: recognized and translated text with timing, kept until you delete individual sessions or clear the history.
• Transcripts: text, timestamps, speaker labels, translations, and your edits, kept until you delete them or clear transcription records.
• App data: your settings, free-trial usage, and downloaded models.

This data stays in the app’s storage on your Mac. It is not synced to iCloud or uploaded to us. Exported files, such as TXT or SRT, are saved only where you choose.

Network activity

Alison connects to the internet only for the following:

• Apple language resources. macOS downloads Apple Speech and Translation language resources when a language needs them.
• Optional models you download. WhisperKit speech models from Argmax’s repository on Hugging Face; a small speaker-separation model for file transcription from FluidInference’s repository on Hugging Face; and Precise Chinese Recognition models from our public repositories on ModelScope or Hugging Face. Before a Precise Chinese Recognition download, the app fetches a small sample (about 1 MB) from each source to choose the faster one, and it checks every downloaded file against a published SHA-256 hash.
• Purchases. In-app purchases and subscriptions are handled by Apple through the App Store. We never receive your payment details. The app reads Apple-signed transaction information on your Mac to unlock Pro features and to restore purchases.
• Links you open, such as the App Store, this website, or license pages.

These providers (Apple, Hugging Face, and ModelScope) receive standard connection information, such as your IP address, and process it under their own privacy policies. Alison never includes your audio, captions, transcripts, files, or history in these requests.

Permissions

• System audio recording: required for captions of the audio your Mac plays. macOS lists it under Screen & System Audio Recording as System Audio Recording Only.
• Microphone: optional, only for microphone input.
• Accessibility: optional, used only so that your global keyboard shortcuts work while another app is active. The app reacts only to the shortcuts you set and does not record or store what you type.
• Files: only the files you choose for transcription.

Website data

This website, alisonworkspace.com, has no accounts, advertising, or cookies. It is delivered through Cloudflare and our own web server. Like most websites, the server keeps standard access logs: the page requested, the time, the referring page, the browser’s user agent, and a network address. We use them to keep the site secure and to understand which pages are useful, and they are deleted automatically after about 30 days. Cloudflare processes requests under its own privacy policy. We may also use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts page views in aggregate without cookies. Links to the App Store may include a campaign code so that Apple can report to us, in aggregate, which pages led to downloads.

Deleting data

In the app, you can delete individual caption sessions and transcripts, or clear all caption history and transcription records. Downloaded speech models can be removed in Model Management. Revoking a macOS permission stops future capture but does not delete text already saved on your Mac.

Children’s privacy

Alison Workspace is a general-purpose Mac utility and is not directed to children. It does not create user accounts or collect personal information through a service we operate.

Changes

We will update this page when the app or this website changes how data is handled. The date at the top shows the latest revision.

Contact

For product support, privacy questions, or data-related requests, contact [email protected].