This Privacy Policy (this "Policy") describes how Fermion Research, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Fermion Research", "we", "us" or "our"), processes information in connection with the Detta application for macOS and the online services to which it connects. By downloading or using Detta, you agree to this Policy. Capitalised terms used in this Policy have the meanings given to them in Article 2 (Scope and Definitions) or where they are first introduced.
Article 1. Acceptable Use
1.1 Permitted Use. Detta is provided for dictating your own words and for transcribing audio that you have the right to use.
1.2 Prohibited Conduct. You shall not, and shall not attempt to:
(a) use Detta for any malicious purpose;
(b) use Detta to harass, defraud or threaten any person;
(c) use Detta to record or surveil any person without that person's consent;
(d) use Detta in violation of any applicable law;
(e) disable, bypass or interfere with the protections built into Detta, including, without limitation, sign-in and the Sharing Setting;
(f) reverse engineer, alter or imitate Detta's update or code-signing mechanism;
(g) distribute modified copies of Detta as if they originated from Fermion Research;
(h) send automated or bulk traffic to our services; or
(i) use scripts or other software to create Accounts or to upload data in place of Detta.
1.3 Enforcement. If an Account is used in breach of Section 1.2, we may suspend or close that Account and delete the Shared Content associated with it, and we may report unlawful use to the competent authorities.
1.4 Relationship to the Terms of Use. The prohibitions in Section 1.2 are reproduced in the Detta Terms of Use (the "Terms") and apply under both documents.
Article 2. Scope and Definitions
2.1 Scope. This Policy applies to Detta and the services to which it connects. This Policy does not apply to:
(a) the Fermion Research website, which is governed by its own privacy policy at fermionresearch.com/privacy; or
(b) the Phonon models when you run them yourself using the fermion command line, which sends nothing to us.
2.2 Definitions. In this Policy:
(a) "Detta" means the Detta application for macOS.
(b) "the Service" means Detta together with the online services to which it connects, as described in this Policy.
(c) "Fermion Research", "we", "us" and "our" mean Fermion Research, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
(d) "you" means the individual who installs and uses Detta.
(e) "Dictation" means a single continuous stretch of speech that Detta records while you hold the dictation key, or while hands-free dictation is locked, together with the text that Detta produces from it.
(f) "Recording" means the audio of a Dictation.
(g) "Transcript" means the text that Detta produces from a Dictation, including the words Detta first recognises and the final text it types after clean-up.
(h) "Dictation Record" means the record accompanying a shared Recording, the contents of which are set out in Section 5.2(b).
(i) "Shared Content" means the Recordings and Dictation Records that Detta uploads to us under the Sharing Setting.
(j) "Sharing Setting" means the switch in Settings › Sharing that determines whether Dictations are uploaded to us.
(k) "Sharing Queue" means the encrypted queue on your Mac in which Shared Content waits before upload.
(l) "Account" means the account you establish by signing in to Detta with your Google account.
(m) "Account Identifier" means the identifier derived from your Google account identifier as described in Section 10.3.
(n) "Account Record" means the record we keep for your Account, as described in Section 10.3.
(o) "Problem Report" means a report you send using Report a problem in About, as described in Section 5.10.
(p) "Quick Note" means a note you save with a third tap of the dictation key.
(q) "History" means the list of your past Dictations within Detta.
(r) "Personal Data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, and includes "personal information" as defined in Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140.
(s) "Sensitive Personal Information" has the meaning given in Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(ae).
(t) "GDPR" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and "UK GDPR" means the GDPR as retained in the law of the United Kingdom.
(u) "CCPA" means the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100 et seq., as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.
Article 3. Who We Are
3.1 Controller. Detta is made by Fermion Research, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Fermion Research determines the purposes and means of the processing of the Personal Data described in this Policy and is the controller of that Personal Data for the purposes of the GDPR and the UK GDPR.
3.2 Contact. You may contact us about any matter in this Policy at contact@fermionresearch.com.
Article 4. Processing on Your Device
4.1 On-Device Transcription. Detta converts speech into text on your Mac. Speech recognition runs on the Phonon-2 model contained within Detta, and the clean-up step, which removes fillers, repeated words and false starts, also runs on your Mac. Neither step requires a network connection, and neither step sends audio or text to any destination. Detta types the finished text into the application you are using.
4.2 Microphone Activity. Detta listens to the microphone only (a) while you hold your dictation key, or (b) after you double-tap to lock hands-free dictation, until you tap again. A single Dictation lasts no longer than 120 seconds.
4.3 Indicators. While Detta is listening, its menu bar icon displays a dot, and displays a lock while hands-free dictation is locked. macOS also displays its own microphone indicator.
4.4 System Permissions. Detta requests microphone permission from macOS during setup or, if you skipped that step, the first time you hold the dictation key. Detta requests exactly three macOS permissions:
(a) Microphone, which allows Detta to hear you;
(b) Input Monitoring, which allows Detta to detect your dictation key; and
(c) Accessibility, which allows Detta to type text into other applications.
These permissions enable Detta to operate in any text field. Detta does not use them to read what you type or what is displayed on your screen.
4.5 File Transcription. When you transcribe a file, Detta reads the audio or video file you select and transcribes it on your Mac. Transcribed files are never uploaded, whether the Sharing Setting is on or off.
4.6 History. History retains the final text of each Dictation, the time it was made, its length and the name of the application into which it was typed. History remains on your Mac until you delete it and is never shared.
4.7 Handling of Audio. When the Sharing Setting is off, Detta writes no Recording of your Dictations, and the audio exists only in memory while it is transcribed. When the Sharing Setting is on, the Recording is encrypted on your Mac moments after the Dictation ends and placed in the Sharing Queue, and the local copy is removed once its upload completes.
4.8 AI Agents. If you connect an AI agent in Settings:
(a) that agent may read your Quick Notes on the same Mac, including their Recordings, and may play a Quick Note's Recording;
(b) the agent cannot change your Quick Notes, and turning the switch off ends its access;
(c) the connection operates only on your Mac, and Detta does not send your Quick Notes to the agent's provider; and
(d) anything an agent does with a Quick Note thereafter is governed by that agent's own terms.
Article 5. Information We Receive
5.1 Default Setting. The Sharing Setting is on by default. The setup screen informs you of this, and you may turn the Sharing Setting off at any time in Settings › Sharing.
5.2 Shared Content. When the Sharing Setting is on and you are signed in, Detta shares each Dictation you make as two files:
(a) the Recording of the whole Dictation, as 16 kHz mono audio; and
(b) a Dictation Record containing: a random identifier for the Dictation; the time it was made; the words Detta first recognised; the final text Detta typed after clean-up; the length of the Recording; the times you pressed and released the dictation key and the time the text was ready; identifiers for the versions of Detta, the speech engine, the clean-up steps and the models used; whether clean-up was applied; the language, which is English; and your home country, if you have set one.
Both files are filed under your Account Identifier. Detta shares nothing when a Dictation is empty or produces no text.
5.3 Information Never Shared. Detta never shares the name or window of the application into which you were typing, your clipboard, your dictionary, details of your device or macOS beyond the version information described in Section 5.8, any other text from your Mac, your files, your History list, your Account details, or your Quick Notes. Quick Notes and their Recordings are never uploaded, whether the Sharing Setting is on or off.
5.4 The Sharing Queue. Shared Content waits on your Mac in the Sharing Queue, in which each file is encrypted with AES-GCM using a random key held in your login keychain. The Sharing Queue folder is readable only by your macOS user.
5.5 Upload Conditions. Detta uploads the Sharing Queue in the background in batches, when the first of the following occurs: (a) 75 Dictations are waiting; (b) the oldest Dictation has waited 24 hours; or (c) the Sharing Queue reaches 100 MB. Detta uploads only while you are signed in and your Mac is online, never while you are dictating, and over whatever network your Mac is using. No battery or power condition applies.
5.6 Upload Mechanics. Each upload is transmitted over TLS to our upload service, which issues a short-lived address for each file. A Dictation leaves the Sharing Queue only after both of its files have arrived. If an upload fails, Detta retries later, up to five times, and informs our service of the Dictation's identifier, a short error message and the time, without any Transcript or audio.
5.7 Turning Sharing Off; Signing Out.
(a) If you turn the Sharing Setting off, nothing further is uploaded from that moment, and Dictations still waiting in the Sharing Queue are discarded.
(b) If you sign out, Detta ends your session, deletes the Sharing Queue and its key on your Mac, and uploads nothing further.
(c) Shared Content that has already been uploaded remains with us until you request its deletion under Article 8.
5.8 Other Information. Apart from Shared Content, Detta sends us information in four situations only: (a) when you sign in, as described in Article 10; (b) when you send a Problem Report, as described in Section 5.10; (c) once a day, when Detta checks for a new version, as described in Section 5.12; and (d) when you confirm or change your home country, as described in Section 5.9. Every request Detta makes to our service identifies the Detta build and the macOS version it is running on, as applications ordinarily do; our service logs retain that information, with the time of the request and the network address, for thirty days.
5.9 Home Country. Your home country is obtained from the setup screen. Detta suggests a country based on your Mac's region settings and asks you to confirm it or choose another. The country is kept on your Mac and sent with each Dictation you share, so that we know which accents our models are learning from.
5.10 Problem Reports. A Problem Report is sent only when you choose Report a problem in About, write a description and press Send.
(a) A Problem Report contains: your description, up to 4,000 characters; the last 128 KB of Detta's own log, with any Transcript lines and the paths of your home folder removed; the version and build of Detta; your macOS version; your Mac's model; the speech engine and model Detta was running and how long the engine took to start; and whether clean-up and the Sharing Setting were on.
(b) A Problem Report never contains audio, the text of your Dictations, the names of your files or the names of the applications into which you type.
(c) A Problem Report does not include your name or email address and is filed under the same Account Identifier as your Shared Content.
5.11 No Advertising or Tracking; Third-Party Components; Network Connections. Detta contains no advertising and no analytics, crash-reporting or tracking code. Detta includes the following third-party components: (a) Sparkle, the open-source updater for Mac applications, which Detta uses for updates; and (b) for the speech engine, an embedded Python runtime with open-source libraries, namely PortAudio, libsndfile, NumPy, SciPy, MLX, mlx-audio and libtorch. Each component is licensed under its own open-source licence, and the corresponding notices are available in Detta's acknowledgements. None of these components sends data anywhere. Detta connects only to: (a) our upload service; (b) Google, for sign-in; (c) fermionresearch.com, for the update check and release notes; (d) our release files on GitHub, for updates; and (e) Hugging Face, only if a model must be downloaded again, since Phonon-2 ships inside Detta. The connection to any AI agent you enable remains on your Mac.
5.12 Update Checks. Once a day, Detta checks fermionresearch.com/appcast.xml for a new version. The request carries Detta's name and version, the version of the updater and your network address, and nothing else about your Mac. The request logs of our own services are kept for 30 days, and the providers that host our website and release files keep standard server logs under their own policies. Updates are downloaded from github.com/fermionresearch/detta-releases, and Detta installs an update only if its signature matches the key built into Detta and you choose to install it. You may turn automatic update checks off in Settings.
Article 6. Purposes of Processing
6.1 Shared Content. We use Shared Content to train and evaluate our speech recognition models and to improve Detta, including, without limitation, by building training and test sets from Recordings and their Transcripts, measuring how accurately our models transcribe different speakers and accents, and identifying errors made by the clean-up step. We use your home country to group Dictations by region so that our models serve every accent well.
6.2 Problem Reports. We use Problem Reports solely to identify and correct faults in Detta.
6.3 Account Data. We use your Account Identifier and Account Record to keep your Shared Content and Problem Reports together, so that we can delete them upon your request, and to operate your Account and sessions.
6.4 Update Checks. We use the update check to offer you new versions of Detta.
6.5 Uses We Do Not Make. We do not use your Dictations or Problem Reports for advertising. We do not sell them, and we do not share them with other companies for their own purposes. We do not use them to build a profile of you.
Article 7. Legal Bases for Processing
7.1 Application. This Article applies where the law of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom applies to our processing of your Personal Data.
7.2 Performance of a Contract. To provide Detta, including sign-in, sessions, the update check and any Problem Reports you choose to send, we rely on the performance of our agreement with you under the Terms (GDPR and UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(b)).
7.3 Consent. To upload your Dictations and to use them to train and evaluate our models and improve Detta, we rely on your consent, which you give through the Sharing Setting (GDPR and UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(a)). The Sharing Setting is on by default; the setup screen informs you of this before you use Detta; and you may withdraw your consent at any time by turning the Sharing Setting off in Settings, which stops all further uploads immediately. In accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR, withdrawal of consent does not affect uploads made before you turned the Sharing Setting off, and you may request deletion of those uploads as well.
7.4 Legitimate Interests. To keep Detta and our systems secure and to prevent abuse, we rely on our legitimate interest in operating a safe service (GDPR and UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)).
7.5 Legal Obligation. Where we must keep a record to comply with a legal obligation, such as the record that a deletion took place, we rely on that obligation (GDPR and UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(c)).
Article 8. Retention and Deletion
8.1 Retention Periods. Shared Content and Problem Reports are kept until you request their deletion; there is no automatic expiry. We keep your Account Record for as long as your Account exists.
8.2 Deletion Requests. To delete your Shared Content, email contact@fermionresearch.com from the Google account address with which you signed in.
8.3 Matching. We match a deletion request against a one-way hash of your sign-in email address, which is kept with your Account Record, and never against the address itself. If your Account has not signed in since 30 September 2026, we may ask you to sign in to Detta once so that the request can be matched.
8.4 Effect of Deletion. A deletion removes every item of Shared Content and every Problem Report filed under your Account, your Account Record and the records of failed uploads. We retain only a record that the deletion occurred, which holds your Account Identifier and the number of items deleted and contains no audio or text. Training and test sets that we have already built from your Dictations are cleaned the next time we rebuild them. We confirm to you when the deletion is complete.
8.5 Local Deletion. On your Mac, you may delete any Dictation from History and any Quick Note, and deleting a Quick Note removes its Recording.
8.6 Local Storage Locations. Detta keeps the data it stores locally in ~/Library/Application Support/Detta, including your History, your Quick Notes and their Recordings, your settings and the Sharing Queue. Detta's log is kept at ~/Library/Logs/Detta-native.log. Removing Detta, that folder and the log removes everything Detta kept in them. Detta's preferences, including the AI agent switch and the update schedule, and two items in your login keychain, namely your sign-in session and the Sharing Queue's key, are stored outside those locations and remain until you remove them manually. If you upgraded from the earlier application named Phonon, that application's folder also remains in place until you remove it.
Article 9. Security
9.1 On Your Mac. Each file in the Sharing Queue is encrypted with AES-GCM using a random 32-byte key held in your login keychain, and is decrypted in memory solely for upload.
9.2 In Transit. Uploads are transmitted over TLS. Each file is sent to a storage address that expires after 15 minutes and accepts only a file of the expected size and checksum.
9.3 In Storage. In our storage, files are protected by Google Cloud's encryption at rest. Detta does not use end-to-end encryption; accordingly, files in our storage can be read by the systems and persons described in this Policy. The storage bucket blocks public access and grants access only to our upload service's own account and to a Fermion Research administrator.
9.4 Internal Dashboard. Our internal dashboard displays counts, app versions, countries and excerpts of Problem Reports, and never displays a Transcript or a Recording.
9.5 Filing Under Account Identifier. Your Dictations are filed under an identifier derived from your Google account, and not under your name or email address.
9.6 No Absolute Security; Breach Notification. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure. If we become aware of a breach that affects your Personal Data, we will notify you and the competent authorities as required by applicable law.
Article 10. Service Providers and Sub-processors
10.1 Providers. We engage the following service providers to operate the Service:
(a) Google Cloud, which runs our upload service and stores Shared Content, Problem Reports, Account Records and our service logs in its us-central1 region in the United States;
(b) Google sign-in, which verifies your identity when you sign in;
(c) GitHub, which hosts the Detta release files that installations and updates download;
(d) Vercel, which hosts fermionresearch.com, including the update feed and release notes;
(e) Hugging Face, which serves a model only when one must be downloaded again; and
(f) Google Workspace, which hosts the contact@fermionresearch.com mailbox.
10.2 Basis of Engagement. These providers process information on our instructions or, in respect of accounts you hold with them, under their own privacy policies.
10.3 Google Sign-In and Account Data.
(a) Sign-in is required to use Detta and uses your Google account only. Detta opens Google's sign-in page in your browser and requests your basic profile and email address.
(b) Our server verifies the sign-in with Google and starts a session that lasts 90 days, after which Detta asks you to sign in again.
(c) Our server derives your Account Identifier as a one-way hash of your Google account identifier and keeps an Account Record holding that identifier, the times you were first and last seen, the number of sessions you have started, your app build and, when Detta knows it, your home country, which Detta sends at sign-in and with every shared Dictation.
(d) Our server also keeps a one-way hash of your sign-in email address, used solely to match deletion requests. It does not keep your name, your email address itself or your picture.
(e) Your name and email address are kept only on your Mac, in your login keychain with your session, so that Settings › Account can display which Account is signed in.
Article 11. International Transfers
11.1 Location of Processing. We store and process Shared Content, Problem Reports and Account Records in the United States, in Google Cloud's us-central1 region. If you use Detta from outside the United States, your Shared Content is transferred to the United States.
11.2 Transfer Mechanisms. For transfers from the European Union, the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, we rely on:
(a) the Standard Contractual Clauses incorporated in Google Cloud's data processing terms (GDPR, Article 46(2)(c));
(b) Google LLC's certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (GDPR, Article 45); and
(c) the explicit consent you give through the Sharing Setting (GDPR, Article 49(1)(a)).
11.3 Chapter V. References in this Article to the GDPR include the corresponding provisions of Chapter V (Articles 44 to 49) of the UK GDPR and of applicable Swiss data protection law.
Article 12. Your Rights
12.1 General. You may turn the Sharing Setting off at any time in Settings, and you may request deletion of all of your Shared Content. Depending on where you live, applicable law grants you further rights, which you may exercise by writing to contact@fermionresearch.com. We respond within the period required by law, which is one month under the GDPR (Article 12(3)) and 45 days under the CCPA, and we do not charge a fee.
12.2 European Union, European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland. If you are located in the European Union, the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you have the right, subject to the conditions of Articles 12 to 22 of the GDPR and the UK GDPR:
(a) to access the Personal Data we hold about you and receive a copy of it (Article 15);
(b) to have inaccurate Personal Data corrected (Article 16);
(c) to have your Personal Data erased (Article 17);
(d) to restrict our processing (Article 18);
(e) to receive your Personal Data in a portable format (Article 20);
(f) to object to processing based on our legitimate interests (Article 21); and
(g) to withdraw any consent you have given (Article 7(3)).
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority (Article 77).
12.3 California. If you are a California resident, you have the right under the CCPA:
(a) to know what Personal Data we collect, use and disclose, and to receive a copy of it (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.100, 1798.110 and 1798.115);
(b) to have it deleted (§ 1798.105);
(c) to have inaccurate information corrected (§ 1798.106); and
(d) to limit the use of Sensitive Personal Information (§ 1798.121).
We do not sell your Personal Data, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights (§ 1798.125).
12.4 Voice Data as Sensitive Personal Information. Your Recordings are voice data and may constitute Sensitive Personal Information under California law. We use them only for the purposes set out in this Policy.
12.5 Authorised Agents. You may use an authorised agent to make a request on your behalf, and we may need to verify your identity before we act on the request.
12.6 Verification. To verify your identity for any request, we ask you to write from the email address of the Google account with which you sign in.
Article 13. Children
13.1 Minimum Age. Detta is not directed to children. You must be at least 16 years of age to use Detta, or older where the law of your country so requires.
13.2 No Knowing Collection. We do not knowingly collect information from children, including from children under 13 within the meaning of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6501 et seq.
13.3 Removal. If you believe that a child has shared Dictations with us, write to contact@fermionresearch.com and we will delete them.
Article 14. Local-Only Data: Quick Notes and History
14.1 Quick Notes. Quick Notes and their Recordings are never uploaded. They remain on your Mac whether the Sharing Setting is on or off, and only an AI agent that you connect on the same Mac can read them.
14.2 History. Your History, being the final text of each of your past Dictations, also remains on your Mac. With the Sharing Setting on, each Dictation is queued as it is made and uploaded once, in a later batch, and the History list itself is never uploaded.
14.3 Local Deletion Does Not Delete Shared Copies. Deleting a Dictation from History removes it from your Mac. It does not remove a copy you have already shared, which you may have deleted by writing to us in accordance with Article 8.
Article 15. Changes to this Policy
15.1 Publication. When we change this Policy, we will publish the new version on this page with its effective date.
15.2 No In-App Acceptance. Detta does not ask you to accept a changed Policy within the app. You should therefore review this page from time to time.
Article 16. Contact
Questions about this Policy and requests concerning your Personal Data should be directed to Fermion Research at contact@fermionresearch.com.
Article 17. Governing Law
17.1 This Policy is governed by the law specified in the Terms, without prejudice to any mandatory data protection law that applies to you, including the GDPR, the UK GDPR and the CCPA, and to your right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority under Section 12.2.