Data and privacy
With default settings, audio and text don't leave your Mac. Sogon sends them to a service only when you turn on one of the conditions below.
When data leaves your Mac
| Data | Stored by default in | Sent when | Sent to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictation transcriptions | Local history | You choose a cloud LLM provider | That provider |
| Microphone and system audio | Memory, or local WAV | You choose Groq Cloud as the STT engine | Groq |
| Meeting audio | Local session folder | You turn on AWS Transcribe and start a transcription | S3 and Transcribe in your AWS account |
⌘C twice source text | Local translation history (7 days, 100 items) | Translation is on and you press the second ⌘C | Your LLM provider |
Selected text in the ⌃⇧C grid | Not stored | You press a correct, structure, translate, or template cell | Your LLM provider |
| Snippet name suggestions | Local snippets | Suggest a name is on; the first 500 characters | Your LLM provider |
| Screen region images | Local history | Never sent; pasted into the target app through the clipboard | The app you paste into |
| Dictionary | App settings | Active words are included as a glossary in LLM correction | Your LLM provider |
The LLM provider defaults to None (use raw transcript). AWS Transcribe, translation, screen region, and text correction from external tools are all off by default.
What stays on your Mac
| Item | Location | How to delete |
|---|---|---|
| Dictation history | App settings and ~/Library/Application Support/Sogon/ | Delete in Settings → History, or set a retention period |
| Recordings (when kept) | ~/Library/Application Support/Sogon/Recordings/ | Delete the history item |
| Meeting sessions | Session folders under ~/Library/Application Support/Sogon/ | Delete the meeting item, or Delete audio |
| Translation history | App settings | Deleted automatically after 7 days, or delete in History |
| API keys | macOS Keychain | Clear the field in Settings → LLM or STT |
| Debug logs | ~/Library/Application Support/Sogon/Logs/ | Turn logging off and delete the folder |
What debug logs never contain
Debug logging is off by default. Even when on, it records states and character counts, never content such as transcriptions, translations, or copied text. Sogon masks keys, tokens, home folder paths, and URL queries. Details are in Send diagnostics.