Privacy Policy

MistBar is a menu-bar utility for macOS. This policy explains what data the app touches and what, if anything, ever leaves your Mac. The short version: MistBar keeps your data on your Mac. It has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, and no third-party trackers. On a MacBook, hiding icons does not use Screen Recording; only the optional Tight Icon Spacing setting on macOS 27 does. On a Mac without a notch, hiding on macOS 27 uses it too, as described below.

Data that stays on your Mac

MistBar stores your settings and content locally, in your user Library's Application Support folder and, for secrets, in the macOS Keychain. This includes your preferences, favorites and folder setup, clipboard history, custom icons, text-expansion snippets, the list of mail accounts you have added, and the recent recipients MistBar remembers so composing a message can auto-complete addresses. API keys you enter for AI providers are stored in the macOS Keychain. These never leave your Mac and are not sent to us or anyone else.

To do its job, MistBar uses macOS permissions. Everything they enable is processed on your device only - nothing captured through them is transmitted, uploaded, or stored off your Mac:

• Accessibility - used to find, hide, reveal, name, and search the items in your menu bar, and to run MistBar's global keyboard shortcuts. It is not used to read your documents or the contents of your screen.
• Screen Recording - used if you turn on Tight Icon Spacing (Settings › Menu Bar, macOS 27 only, off by default), and to hide icons on a Mac without a notch (an iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, or an external display set as the main screen) on macOS 27, where the bar has no notch edge to hide against. MistBar reads an image of the menu bar in memory to redraw it with the gaps between icons closed. That image is never sent anywhere. While it is in use, macOS may show its purple recording indicator when MistBar re-reads the bar. On macOS 14 through 26 MistBar never asks for Screen Recording.
• Automation (Apple Events) - requested only if you use the Notes feature, so MistBar can append to and read your notes in the Apple Notes app. macOS asks for your approval the first time.

On a MacBook, hiding never uses Screen Recording. Unlike some menu-bar utilities, MistBar hides and manages items there without capturing your screen. Screen Recording comes into play only for Tight Icon Spacing, or for hiding on a Mac without a notch, on macOS 27, as described above. You can grant or revoke each permission at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

When MistBar connects to the internet

MistBar makes network connections only in the situations below. No usage, mail or clipboard data is ever sent to us.

1. Checking for updates. MistBar uses the open-source Sparkle framework to check whether a newer version is available by requesting an update feed from mistbar.app/appcast.xml. Like loading any web page, this reveals your device's IP address and the version being checked to the server hosting the feed. MistBar does not enable Sparkle's optional system-profile reporting, and it shows a consent prompt on first run before checking automatically. You can turn automatic checks off at any time in Settings → About → Software Update.
2. Validating your license. When you enter a license key, and each time MistBar opens, it contacts our license server (api.mistbar.app) to verify your purchase and the activation on your Mac (this is how the three-device limit is enforced). This sends your license key and an activation code for your Mac: a one-way hash of your Mac's hardware ID. The hardware ID itself never leaves your Mac and cannot be recovered from the code; the code only lets the server recognize the same Mac again, for example after a reinstall. Your computer name and user name are not sent. Your license key itself is stored in your Mac's Keychain on the device where you entered it and is never written to logs. Your purchase and license records are handled by a third-party payment provider that acts as our Merchant of Record, under that provider's privacy policy. We do not receive or store your payment-card details.
3. Your mail accounts. If you add a Gmail, Outlook, or IMAP account, MistBar connects directly to that provider (Google, Microsoft, or your own mail server) using your own sign-in, to fetch and send your mail. Your messages pass between your Mac and your provider; there is no MistBar server in between, and MistBar stores nothing about your mail off your Mac. Sign-in tokens and app passwords are kept in your Mac's Keychain. You can remove any account at any time in Settings → Mail, which also revokes MistBar's access at the provider.
4. AI-usage tracking. If you track Claude, MistBar reads the logs Claude Code keeps on your Mac and, while Use Live Claude Data is on, runs your own Claude Code's usage check every few minutes; Claude Code then asks Anthropic for your current usage with your existing Claude sign-in. If you track Codex, MistBar asks ChatGPT's Codex usage service (chatgpt.com) for your current usage with the sign-in Codex already keeps on your Mac, and falls back to Codex's local files. If you connect GitHub Copilot, MistBar contacts GitHub's billing usage API (api.github.com) with a token you supply, stored in your Keychain. You choose which providers MistBar tracks, and each one can be turned off in Settings.

MistBar does not use analytics SDKs, advertising, tracking cookies, or crash-reporting services, and it does not require you to create an account.

Bug reports

If you use Report a Bug from the About screen, MistBar pre-fills an email to us that includes your app version, macOS version, device architecture, and whether Accessibility is granted - nothing else. The email is composed in your own mail app, and nothing is sent until you choose to send it.

Data retention and deletion

Because your data lives only on your Mac, you can remove it by deleting MistBar and its folder in your user Library's Application Support directory. If you added mail accounts, signing out of them (or removing them in Settings → Mail) revokes MistBar's access at Google or Microsoft; you can also delete MistBar's items from Keychain Access. We do not hold a copy of your data to delete on your behalf.

Children

MistBar is a productivity tool not directed to children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email support@mistbar.app.