Security and data handling

The claims

Six of them, plainly stated.

Storage

Your threads stay on your machine

Cards, screenshots, transcripts and chat history are written to a local database and local files in your user folder. We do not hold a copy of your threads and cannot read them.

Account

An account, for metering and nothing else

You sign in so usage can be counted against your plan. The account carries your usage and billing details. It does not carry your threads.

Models

No API keys to manage

Context runs the transcription and the assistant for you, so there are no provider accounts to open and no keys to paste, rotate or keep safe.

Processing

What leaves, and only when you act

Recorded audio goes out to be transcribed, and the cards you left switched on go out when you send a message. Nothing you capture is used to train models.

Backups

Backups you can open yourself

Export a thread archive as a .ctxbackup zip. Turn on daily backups, and point them at a folder you already sync, or at a hidden Google Drive folder only the app can read.

What leaves

Three things go out, and here they are.

Everything else stays where it landed. If something is not on this list, it is not leaving your machine.

While a recording runs

Audio, to be transcribed

Recorded audio is sent to be turned into text and to drive the coaching. Your microphone and the system output travel as separate streams, which is how the transcript knows who said what. The text comes back and is stored locally.

When you send a message

The cards you left switched on

The included cards for that thread go into the request. Screenshots go as images. Cards you excluded are not in the request at all, which is why the total moves when you toggle one.

Continuously, but minimally

Minutes used, for metering

So a plan can be counted against, the app reports how long it has been recording. That is a duration and an account, not the content of a call.

None of it is used to train models, ours or anyone else's.

Consent

Recording other people is not a settings question.

Context can record both sides of a call. That is the point of it, and it is also the part that carries an obligation.

Nothing records on its own. A recording starts because you started it, and the app shows plainly while one is running.
Laws on recording conversations differ by country and by state, and many require the consent of everyone involved.
Deciding whether you may record a given call, and asking the other people on it, is your responsibility rather than ours.
If you are testing on real client meetings, treat that as a call that needs consent like any other.

Backups

Copies you control, in formats you can open.

A backup is a zip file with a .ctxbackup extension. Inside it is the database and its screenshots, thumbnails and audio.

Manual export: Write an archive anywhere you like, whenever you like.
Daily automatic: Turn it on and Context keeps a rolling local backup without being asked.
A folder you already sync: Point backups at an iCloud, Dropbox or network folder and your existing sync tool moves them.
Google Drive: Connect an account and archives go into Drive's hidden application folder, so they are not visible in your Drive and readable only by Context.
Restore: Import an archive on another machine to bring the threads, transcripts and assets across.
Keeping them: Deleting a thread deletes its cards and its audio from your disk. Archives you have already written are yours to keep or remove.

For the formal version of all this, see the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.

Your threads stay on your machine.