Privacy Policy

Effective October 29, 2026

This policy explains what Mach Advisory (“we”, “us”), the maker of SealedThread, collects through the SealedThread app for Mac, this website (sealedthread.com), the download page (download.sealedthread.com) and the license server (license.sealedthread.com). Questions go to support@sealedthread.com.

1. The SealedThread app

What stays on your Mac

Everything SealedThread works with stays on your Mac: your messages, attachments, contacts, call history, snapshots, notes, the custody log and every export. The app opens the Messages database read-only and saves what it makes where you choose. Photo text and voice transcripts are made on the Mac too. We have no way to see any of it.

The app has no account, no crash reporting and no update check.

License activation

When you enter a license code, the app sends one request to license.sealedthread.com with:

• the license code;
• an anonymous ID for your Mac, made by scrambling (hashing) its hardware ID so it can't be turned back into the original or linked to other services;
• the app version.

The server checks the code, records that this Mac is activated, and sends back a signed activation that the app keeps on your Mac. From then on the app works offline. Deactivating a Mac sends the same three things so the server can free that place on your license.

The server keeps a log of activations and deactivations, with the time and the country the request came from (taken from our host, Cloudflare). It doesn't store your IP address.

Anonymous usage statistics

Unless you turn it off, the app sends a short report about once a day so we can see how many Macs use SealedThread and which features matter. Each report contains:

• a random ID made for this installation, not linked to your Mac's hardware, your license or you;
• the app version, the macOS version and whether the Mac has Apple silicon or Intel;
• whether this copy is licensed;
• how many times each feature was used that day, for example “exported a PDF: 2” or “searched all conversations: 1”.

It never contains your messages, contacts, names, phone numbers, file names, search terms or how many messages you have. Our server adds the approximate location the report came from, meaning country, state or region, and city, as estimated by our host, Cloudflare. It doesn't store your IP address.

To turn it off, choose SealedThread › Share Anonymous Usage Statistics. The app then stops counting, deletes anything not yet sent, and forgets its installation ID.

2. Your license

When you buy a license we keep your name, your email address, the license code, how many Macs it covers, which Macs are activated, and when it was issued. We use these to deliver and support your license, to stop a code being shared, and to keep the business records the law requires.

If a payment provider takes your payment, it handles your card details under its own privacy policy. We never see your full card number.

3. This website

Google Analytics

sealedthread.com uses Google Analytics, loaded through Cloudflare, to count visits and see which pages and links people use. Google Analytics may store an identifier in your browser (a cookie) and receives details such as the pages you view, your browser and device type, your approximate location and the site that sent you. Google processes this under its privacy policy. You can block it with your browser's privacy settings, a content blocker or Google's opt-out add-on, and the site still works.

Cloudflare Web Analytics also measures how quickly pages load and counts visits. It doesn't use cookies.

The pre-release sign-up

If you join the pre-release list, we receive your email address and, if you choose one, what you're mostly working on. They're stored in CloudTeams, the system we use to keep in touch with customers, along with the page you signed up from and any campaign tags in its link. We use them to send you an email when SealedThread is ready and, rarely, news about it. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

The download page

download.sealedthread.com doesn't use Google Analytics or cookies. It counts visits and downloads using the country, browser and operating system family, the referring site's name and any campaign tags. To count unique visitors it makes a code from your browser details and a random value that is replaced every day and then deleted, so a visitor can't be recognized from one day to the next. It doesn't store IP addresses.

Hosting and security

Our sites run on Cloudflare, which processes IP addresses and request details to deliver pages and protect them from attacks. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address when your browser fetches them.

4. Who we share information with

Only the service providers named above, each to do its job for us: Cloudflare (hosting, page-speed analytics, the license server and its database), Google (analytics and fonts), CloudTeams (sign-ups and customer contact) and, when you buy, the payment provider. We'll also disclose information if the law requires it. We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.

5. How long we keep it

• License and activation records: for as long as the license exists, then as long as tax and accounting law requires.
• Pre-release sign-ups: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
• Download-page counts and app usage statistics: they hold no personal information, so we keep them as statistics.
• Google Analytics: under the retention period set in our Google Analytics account.

6. Your choices and rights

You can ask us to show you, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or to stop emailing you, by writing to support@sealedthread.com. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, the UK or California), you may have further rights, such as to object to processing or to complain to your data protection authority. We'll answer within 30 days. Deleting your license record means we can no longer reactivate it for you.

7. Children

SealedThread and its websites aren't directed at children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

8. Changes

If we change this policy we'll update the date at the top. If the app ever needs to send anything beyond license activation and the usage statistics described here, we'll say so here first and in the app's release notes.