Privacy

Privacy Policy

ShotScreen is built to stay out of your way, and out of your data. You don't need an account to capture, edit or run the on-device AI, and normal use of the app is never reported to us; the only network check happens for service messages, described below, and it carries no usage data. The only part that uses an account is ShotScreen Cloud, if you choose to share. This page explains, in plain language, exactly what happens to your screenshots and information.

Last updated: July 2026

The short version

·No account needed to use the app. Sharing with ShotScreen Cloud is optional and uses its own sign-in.

·No tracking and no analytics. We do not collect usage data, telemetry or advertising identifiers.

·Your captures stay on your Mac. Nothing leaves your computer unless you explicitly upload or share it.

·AI runs on-device. OCR, background removal and upscaling all happen locally. No cloud AI.

Screenshots and recordings

Every screenshot, screen recording and edit you make is stored locally on your Mac, in the folder you choose. ShotScreen never uploads your captures automatically. The image thumbnail, the stash gallery, annotations and AI file naming all work entirely on your own machine.

On-device AI

ShotScreen's AI features run on your Mac, not in the cloud. Text and QR recognition uses Apple's Vision framework. Background removal uses Apple Vision or the BiRefNet Core ML model. Upscaling uses Real-ESRGAN. These models process your image locally and send nothing anywhere.

AI file naming is on-device by default. If you deliberately configure an external provider (such as OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or a local Ollama server) for smarter file names, the relevant text or image is sent to that provider under your own API key, subject to their privacy policy. This is off unless you turn it on.

Service messages

ShotScreen checks our server for a service message, such as planned maintenance, when it starts and a few times a day. This request carries no account, no device identifier and no information about how you use the app, and we keep no record of who asked. If there is nothing to say, the server says so and the app moves on.

Optional uploads and sharing

Uploading is always something you choose to do, one file at a time.

ShotScreen Cloud. ShotScreen Cloud (in both the Gumroad and Mac App Store versions) can upload screenshots and screen recordings to our own ShotScreen Cloud server. Raw files are served from a separate domain, shotscreen-usercontent.com, kept apart from the main site. Each upload has an expiry time that you set, after which it is deleted automatically. You can optionally protect a share with a password. From Settings you can delete any individual share, see your storage usage, and use "Delete All My Data" to remove everything you have uploaded.

Your ShotScreen Cloud account

Using ShotScreen Cloud requires a free cloud account. When you create one we store your email address and a securely hashed password (we can never see the password itself). Your email is used only to sign you in, to send the one-time verification and password-reset links, and (if you ever email us) to reply. We do not send marketing email, and we never sell or share your address.

To enforce the device limit we store an anonymous, randomly generated device identifier and your Mac's name (like "Nick's MacBook Pro") so you can recognise your devices. In the Mac App Store version, your purchase is verified through Apple using signed transaction information; we never see your Apple ID or payment details. Everything is hosted on our own server in the Netherlands (EU): your uploads, your account, and nothing else.

You stay in control: delete any share, use "Delete All My Data" in Settings, or remove your entire account as described on the Delete account page. Deletion is permanent and immediate.

Licensing and updates

If you bought ShotScreen Pro on Gumroad, the app activates your license through our license server, which verifies the key with Gumroad. A Pro license can be active on up to 2 Macs at the same time; you can deactivate a Mac yourself at any time (during activation or in Settings → Your devices). During activation your purchase email is compared live against the purchase record. It is never stored or logged on our server. The only device information we keep is an anonymous device identifier and the Mac's name (like "Nick's MacBook Pro") so you can recognise your devices in the list; both are deleted when you deactivate that Mac or use "Delete All My Data". Nothing about your screenshots is ever sent. The Mac App Store version is licensed automatically through your Apple ID and needs no license check from us.

The direct-sales version checks for app updates using Sparkle, which requests a small update feed to see whether a newer version exists. The Mac App Store version updates through the App Store.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email [email protected]. To report abuse of a shared link, email [email protected].