NOUS — Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 8, 2026
Developer: Daniel Carrera (Apple Team ID B9ZZ7FBM78)
Contact: [email protected]

The rest of this document explains the details.

1. Who we are

NOUS is developed and published by Daniel Carrera ("we," "us," or "the developer"), the sole developer of the app, under Apple Team ID B9ZZ7FBM78. NOUS ("the app," "NOUS") is distributed through the Apple Mac App Store and runs on macOS.

If you have any questions about this policy or your privacy, contact us at [email protected].

2. Our core principle: on-device by design

NOUS is built so that your private information stays on your Mac.

• The main AI — chat and reasoning — runs on your device using Apple's MLX framework against a language model whose weights are bundled inside the app. Your messages are processed locally; they are not sent to us or to any AI service to generate a reply.
• NOUS also bundles a Python runtime and a set of scripts used for on-device specialist features (image text recognition and description, audio transcription, text-to-speech, and math). These run locally and fully offline. Nothing is downloaded, installed, or fetched at runtime to provide these features.
• Your memories (what NOUS remembers about you across sessions), your documents, and your conversations are stored locally on your Mac and are never uploaded.

Because the processing happens on your device, we never receive your conversations, your documents, or your memories. We have no copy of them. We cannot read them, and we cannot hand them to anyone else, because they never reach us.

3. What data NOUS accesses, and what it does NOT collect

Data NOUS does NOT collect

We want to be precise, because "we don't collect data" is the whole point of NOUS. NOUS does not collect, transmit, sell, or share:

• Your conversations or chat history.
• Your documents, files, or anything you read or write in the Noetic Desk workspace.
• Your memories or anything NOUS remembers about you.
• Your name, email, or any account identifier — there is no account and no sign-in.
• Your contacts, calendar events, or microphone recordings (see Section 5).
• Any analytics, usage statistics, behavioral data, device fingerprints, advertising identifiers, or crash/telemetry data.
• Your location.

There are no third-party analytics SDKs, no advertising frameworks, and no tracking of any kind in NOUS.

Data NOUS accesses locally to do its job

To work as an assistant, NOUS reads and processes certain information on your Mac. This processing is local; the data is not transmitted to us or anyone else:

• The text you type and the content of the current conversation, so NOUS can respond.
• Documents and files you explicitly open, drop in, or point NOUS to, so it can read, summarize, or help you write.
• Information you ask NOUS to remember, stored in NOUS's local memory.
• Content from permission-gated sources (microphone, Contacts, Calendar) only when you explicitly invoke a feature that needs it — see Section 5.

All of the above stays on your device.

4. The optional Knowledge Shelf web lookup

NOUS has one optional feature that uses the internet for your content: the Knowledge Shelf web lookup.

• It is off by default and user-initiated. You choose to turn it on for a specific message when you want NOUS to consult the web. It does not run silently or in the background.
• When you use it, NOUS sends a search query derived from your request to a web search/retrieval service in order to fetch publicly available reference text. It returns that reference text to NOUS so the local AI can use it in its answer.
• NOUS sends only what is needed to perform that lookup (the query). It does not send your stored memories, your documents, your conversation history, or any account information — there is no account.
• The reference text returned by the web lookup is used locally on your Mac. Operating a web search inherently involves your Mac making a network request, which your network provider and the search/retrieval service can see in the ordinary course of serving the request (for example, your IP address and the query, as with any web search). We do not control and are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites or search providers; their handling of requests is governed by their own policies.

If you never turn on the Knowledge Shelf for a message, NOUS does not use the network for your content.

5. Permissions and how NOUS uses them

macOS requires your explicit permission before an app can use certain capabilities. NOUS requests these only when you use a feature that needs them, and each is used strictly for that purpose. None of the information these permissions reach is transmitted off your Mac.

• Microphone — Used only to transcribe audio you choose to record (for example, in the audio transcription feature). Recording happens at your request; the audio is processed on-device and is not uploaded.
• Contacts — Accessed only when you explicitly ask NOUS to look up or add a contact. NOUS reads or writes only the contact information needed for that request. Your contacts are not uploaded.
• Calendar — Accessed only when you explicitly ask NOUS to check or add a calendar event. NOUS reads or writes only what that request needs. Your calendar is not uploaded.
• Apple Events / Automation — Used only when you explicitly ask NOUS to open or reveal something in another app. NOUS automates a fixed set of well-known apps, each behind macOS's own per-app consent prompt, and meaningful actions are shown to you for approval before they run. NOUS does not silently control other apps.
• Network — Used only for the optional Knowledge Shelf web lookup you turn on per message (Section 4), and for the Mac App Store to handle subscriptions and billing (Section 7), which Apple manages.

You can review and change these permissions at any time in System Settings › Privacy & Security on your Mac.

6. Where your data is stored, and that it stays local

Your NOUS data — including your memories — is stored locally on your Mac, in your user Library/Application Support folder. It is your data, kept on your device, and it is never uploaded to us or to any third party.

NOUS's memory is designed to persist across sessions and across future model ("brain") upgrades so that NOUS continues to remember you over time. That memory lives on your Mac.

7. Billing and subscriptions

NOUS is offered as an auto-renewable subscription: $8.99 per month or $69.99 per year, with a 14-day free trial.

All billing is handled by Apple through the Mac App Store. When you subscribe:

• Apple processes your payment. NOUS never sees your payment details — no card numbers, no billing address, nothing of that kind reaches the app or the developer.
• Apple provides us only with the aggregate, non-identifying sales and subscription reporting that the App Store provides to all developers. This does not include your name, your payment information, or the contents of anything you do in NOUS.
• Your subscription auto-renews until canceled. You can view, manage, or cancel it in System Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions, or via Apple's subscription management tools.

Apple's handling of your purchase and payment information is governed by Apple's privacy policy, not this one.

8. Children's privacy

NOUS does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. Because all processing is on-device and we operate no servers that receive user content, we do not knowingly collect data from children or anyone else.

NOUS is a general-purpose AI assistant whose generated content is not directed at children, and it carries an age rating in the App Store consistent with that. The app is intended for users who meet the App Store's minimum age requirements and any age requirement shown on the app's store listing. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has used the app, note that no data is collected or transmitted; any local data can be removed by deleting the app and its data as described in Section 9.

9. How to delete all of your data

Because everything is stored locally, you are in full control of deleting it.

To remove all NOUS data from your Mac:

1. Delete the NOUS app.
2. Delete NOUS's folder inside your user Library/Application Support directory.

Removing the app and that Application Support folder removes your conversations, documents stored by the app, and memories. There is nothing for us to delete on our side, because we never held a copy.

(Canceling your subscription is separate and is done through Apple — see Section 7.)

10. Data security

Your NOUS data stays on your Mac and is protected by macOS's standard security and the app's sandbox. Keeping your data on-device, rather than on a server, removes entire categories of risk associated with cloud storage and data transmission. We recommend protecting your Mac with a strong login password and macOS's built-in disk encryption (FileVault) to safeguard your local data.

No method of local storage is perfectly secure, but because NOUS does not transmit your content, your privacy does not depend on us securing a remote server — there isn't one.

11. Third parties

• We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise share your personal information with third parties.
• We do not use third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking services.
• The only third parties inherently involved are: Apple, which distributes the app and handles billing through the Mac App Store (subject to Apple's privacy policy); and, only if you use the optional Knowledge Shelf, the web search/retrieval service that returns reference text for that lookup (subject to its own policy). See Sections 4 and 7.

12. Your rights

Because NOUS collects no personal data and we hold no copy of your information, there is generally nothing for us to access, correct, export, or delete on your behalf — your data is in your hands, on your Mac, and you can delete it at any time (Section 9).

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under privacy laws such as the GDPR or the CCPA. To the extent those rights apply, note that we do not collect, store, sell, or share your personal information. If you have questions about your rights or this policy, contact us at [email protected].

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time — for example, if we add a feature or to clarify our practices. When we make a material change, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this document and post the revised policy at this page. Significant changes may also be noted in the app's update notes. Your continued use of NOUS after an updated policy takes effect constitutes acceptance of the changes.

14. Contact us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your privacy:

• Email: [email protected]
• Developer: Daniel Carrera (Apple Team ID B9ZZ7FBM78)

15. Governing law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. This policy should be read together with NOUS's Terms of Use — Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement.

NOUS is a local-first application. Your conversations, documents, and memories stay on your Mac. We designed it that way on purpose.