panic‑kit®

Skald · Privacy policy · Last updated 2026-05-13

Privacy.

Short version

Skald has no servers. We don’t run analytics, don’t log anything, don’t have your API keys, and don’t see your translations. The text you type goes from your Mac directly to whichever engine you pick.

What stays on your Mac

  • API keys for DeepL and Claude — stored in the system Keychain under com.ivshestakov.skald.v2. Never transmitted anywhere except to the relevant engine.
  • Preferences — selected engine, language pair, tone, hotkeys — stored in ~/Library/Preferences/com.ivshestakov.skald.plist.
  • Apple translation models — downloaded once by macOS on first use of the Apple engine, cached by the system framework, not by Skald.

What leaves your Mac

Only the text you ask to translate, and only to the engine you’ve selected:

  • Apple — nothing leaves your Mac. Translation runs on-device.
  • Google — text is sent to translate.googleapis.com over HTTPS via the same public endpoint used by Google’s web translator. Google’s privacy policy applies.
  • DeepL — text is sent to api-free.deepl.com (or api.deepl.com for paid keys) with your API key in the Authorization header. DeepL’s privacy policy applies.
  • Claude — text is sent to api.anthropic.com with your API key in the x-api-key header. Anthropic’s privacy policy applies. Skald sets the request flag instructing Claude not to use the content for training where the API supports it.

What Skald asks for

  • Accessibility — required to simulate ⌘V and paste the translation into the focused app. macOS prompts on first launch.
  • Network — required for non-Apple engines.
  • That’s all. No camera, no microphone (unless you opted into dictation), no contacts, no location.

Updates

Skald polls panic-kit.com/skald/appcast.xml once a day to check for new versions. The check is an unauthenticated HTTPS GET; no identifying information is sent.

Contact

Privacy questions, takedown requests, or any other policy question: hello@panic-kit.com.