Privacy Policy
DistroClaw is built so that your chats and documents never leave your computer. This policy explains the little personal data we do handle, why, and what you can ask of us.
Draft for legal review. Text in highlighted brackets still has to be decided or filled in. Have this checked by a data-protection lawyer before publishing. Open points:
- The legal entity that offers DistroClaw, its postal address and a contact email.
- Whether an EU and a UK representative are needed.
- How long server logs, model download records and support emails are kept.
- Purchases, license keys and any sign-in are added when the paid edition, DistroClaw Pro, launches.
1. Summary
- Your chats, documents, attachments, search index and settings stay on your computer. The AI runs there too. We never receive them.
- The app goes online only to download an AI model you have agreed to download, and to search the web if you turn on online search (it is off by default).
- We have no analytics, telemetry, crash reports, advertising or tracking cookies, in the app or on this website. We do not sell or rent personal data.
- We process personal data only when you visit this website, download the app or an AI model, or contact us.
2. Who is responsible
The controller responsible for the processing described here is:
[Legal entity name]
[Street and number]
[Postcode, town, country]
Email: northstarlabs@googlegroups.com
EU representative under Art. 27 GDPR: [name and address, or remove if not required].
UK representative under Art. 27 UK GDPR: [name and address, or remove if not required].
3. What stays on your computer
DistroClaw stores everything you create or open with it in its own data folder on your computer: conversations, projects, attachments, extracted text from your documents, the search index, the AI models and your settings. The AI model runs locally through a built-in engine that is reachable only from your own computer. None of this is sent to us or to anyone else, and we cannot see or recover it. Deleting the app's data folder removes it.
4. What we process and why
| When | What | Why, and on what basis |
|---|---|---|
| You visit this website | IP address, date and time, page requested, browser and operating system, referring page, recorded in our web host's server logs. | To deliver the site, keep it secure and find faults. Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). |
| You download the app | The installer is served by GitHub, which receives your IP address and browser details. | To deliver the installer you asked for. Contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) or legitimate interest. We see only total download counts. |
| The app downloads an AI model, after you agree on its setup screen | The DistroClaw model library, hosted for us by Cloudflare, Inc., receives your IP address, the app's request and which model files are downloaded. These records are kept for [retention period]. | To deliver the model you chose and keep the library running. Contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). |
| You turn on online search, and a question needs it | The app sends search terms, written by the AI from your question, to DuckDuckGo and Wikipedia, and reads the web pages in the results. These services and websites receive your IP address directly from your computer; we receive nothing. Online search is off until you turn it on in Settings. | You choose to use it; the services act under their own privacy policies. [Confirm with counsel whether DistroClaw is a controller for this step.] |
| You contact us | Your email address, name and what you write or attach. | To answer and give support. Contract, or our legitimate interest in replying. |
This website sets no cookies. It remembers your light or dark theme choice in your browser's own storage; that choice never leaves your browser. Its fonts are served from this website, not from a third party.
We make no automated decisions about you and do not build profiles. You do not have to give us any personal data to use DistroClaw.
5. Service providers
We share personal data only with providers who help us run DistroClaw, and only what each one needs:
- Cloudflare, Inc. (USA), which hosts this website and its server logs, and the DistroClaw model library that serves the AI models the app downloads with your agreement.
- GitHub, Inc. (USA), which serves the installer downloads.
- Google LLC (USA), whose Google Groups service receives the emails you send to our address.
We may also disclose data where the law requires it.
6. Data sent abroad
Some providers above process data in the United States, and possibly in other countries where they operate. Where the provider is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, the transfer relies on that framework. Otherwise we rely on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. Where neither applies, we rely on the transfer being needed to provide what you asked for (Art. 49(1)(b) GDPR). [Confirm each provider's certification, including Cloudflare's, on dataprivacyframework.gov, and whether this last basis is still needed.]
7. How long we keep data
- Server logs: [14 days], longer only while investigating a security incident.
- Support emails: [24 months] after the conversation ends.
8. Your rights
You can ask us at any time for a copy of your personal data and how we use it, and to correct or delete it. You can also object to processing based on our legitimate interests, ask us to restrict it, or receive your data in a portable format. Where you gave consent, you can withdraw it for the future. Email northstarlabs@googlegroups.com; we answer within 30 days and may ask you to confirm your identity.
If you are unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the data-protection authority where you live: in the EU, the authority in your country; in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office. We would appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.
9. Security
Our website and model library use encrypted connections. Access to support emails is limited to the people who need it. In the app, the AI engine listens only on your own computer and cannot be reached from the network.
10. Children
DistroClaw is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their personal data.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal data, we update this page and its effective date. We announce significant changes on this website. Because we do not track you across websites, "Do Not Track" browser signals do not change anything here.