Privacy Policy - MistBar

Who we are

MistBar is a menu-bar utility for macOS published by SKJ APPS. 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 of its own, 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 does. On a Mac without a notch, hiding uses it too, as described below.

Questions? Email support@mistbar.app.

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 and any images or files you copied, custom icons, text-expansion snippets, the list of mail accounts you have added (identifier and email address), the recent recipients MistBar remembers so composing a message can auto-complete addresses, and your local AI-usage history. Sign-in tokens, app passwords, any AI-provider API keys you enter, and your license key are stored in the macOS Keychain. These never leave your Mac and are not sent to SKJ APPS 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, 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), 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.
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, or to open Finder Get Info windows for your apps. 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, 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.

Checking for updates (direct installs). If you installed MistBar directly from our website, it 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 in Settings > About > Software Update. If you obtained MistBar through Setapp, updates are delivered by Setapp instead and this update check does not apply.
Licensing (direct installs). If you purchased directly, MistBar contacts our license server (api.mistbar.app) when you enter your license key and each time it opens, to verify your purchase and the activation on your Mac so a device limit can be enforced. This sends your license key and an activation code for your Mac: a one-way hash of your Mac's hardware ID, which never leaves your Mac itself and cannot be recovered from the code. Your computer name and user name are not sent. Your license key is stored in your Mac's Keychain and is never written to logs. If you obtained MistBar through Setapp, your entitlement is managed by your Setapp account and no separate license key or license check is used.
Your mail accounts. If you add a Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, 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.
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 the app itself does not require you to create an account.

Purchases and third parties

MistBar does not process your payment. Purchase and account data is handled by a merchant of record acting as an independent controller for that transaction:

If you obtain MistBar through Setapp, Setapp (MacPaw) and its payment provider act as merchant of record. Setapp handles your account, billing, and payment data under Setapp's own privacy policy. SKJ APPS does not receive your payment-card details from Setapp.
If you purchase directly from our website, a third-party payment provider acts as merchant of record and processes your purchase under that provider's privacy policy. We do not receive or store your payment-card details.

The Sparkle update check described above reaches the app's own domain (mistbar.app) for direct installs only. If you connect your own mail or AI accounts, those requests go directly to the respective providers under their privacy policies.

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 security

Because your MistBar data lives only on your Mac, you control its retention. You can remove it by deleting MistBar and its folder in your user Library's Application Support directory, and by deleting MistBar's items from Keychain Access. Signing out of, or removing, a mail account in Settings > Mail revokes MistBar's access at Google, Microsoft, or your server. SKJ APPS does not hold a copy of your on-device data to delete on your behalf. Secrets are protected by the macOS Keychain and, where applicable, transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) to the providers you configure. Purchase and account data held by Setapp or the direct payment provider is retained and secured under that provider's own policy.

Your rights (GDPR and CCPA)

Because MistBar does not collect or store your personal data on SKJ APPS servers, there is generally no personal data held by SKJ APPS for us to access, correct, export, or delete - your data is on your own Mac and under your control. To the extent any applicable privacy law (including the EU/UK GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA) gives you rights over personal data a business holds about you, SKJ APPS does not sell or share your personal data and does not use it for targeted advertising. For purchase and account data, exercise your rights with the applicable merchant of record: Setapp (MacPaw) for Setapp purchases, or the direct payment provider for direct purchases, each as the controller of that data. You may contact us at support@mistbar.app with any privacy question and we will help direct your request to the right party.

Children

MistBar is a productivity tool not directed to children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction).

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.

SKJ APPS - https://mistbar.app