Policy · macOS
Privacy for Wild Noise
Wild Noise listens through your microphone, so it is worth being exact about where that audio goes: nowhere.
Last updated July 2026
Your audio never leaves the Mac
Recording, noise filtering, and identification all run on your machine using the bundled Perch model. Wild Noise does not upload recordings, does not stream audio anywhere, and does not send your identifications to me or to anyone else. There is no account and no sync.
What is stored, and where
- The journal: species, scores, dates, and your review labels, kept in the app's Application Support container on your Mac.
- Recordings: only kept if you turn on Keep recordings. Otherwise audio is discarded after analysis.
- Settings: your language, thresholds, and preferences, stored locally.
Deleting the app and its Application Support folder removes all of it. Nothing is held anywhere else, so there is no copy for me to delete on request.
The two optional network requests
Wild Noise works fully offline. Two features, both switchable in Settings, reach the internet when you leave them on:
- Species photos and articles: a request to Wikipedia containing the scientific name of a match.
- Reference song examples: a request to Wikimedia Commons, again by species name.
These requests carry a species name and the usual technical details any web request carries, such as your IP address. They never carry your recording. Wikimedia handles them under the Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy. Turn both off in Settings → Online media and privacy and the app makes no network requests at all, apart from a model update check you start yourself.
Microphone permission
macOS asks before Wild Noise can record, and you can withdraw that permission at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. The app records only while you have asked it to: a single recording, or continuous mode until you stop it.
No analytics, no crash reporting
There is no telemetry in Wild Noise. I do not know how many species you have found, how often you open it, or whether it crashed. If something breaks, the only way I learn about it is if you tell me.
Distribution
Wild Noise is coming to the Mac App Store. If you install it there, Apple handles the download and any purchase under the Apple Privacy Policy, and may share aggregate, anonymous statistics with me as a developer. That is separate from the app itself, which stays silent.
Children
Wild Noise is suitable for all ages and collects no personal information from anyone, including children under 13.
Questions
Write to shotgames.dev@gmail.com and I will answer. If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.