Privacy Policy | Deskathon

Deskathon is a Mac app made by VPO Labs. This policy explains what Deskathon measures, where it keeps it, and what (if anything) leaves your Mac.

The short version. Your statistics stay on your Mac. Deskathon has no account and no ads. It makes no network connection unless you turn on an optional feedback or diagnostics feature. Those features are off by default.

1. Who we are

Deskathon is published by VPO Labs. The person responsible for the personal information described in section 6 (the "controller") is [legal entity and postal address — owner to confirm].

Contact: support@vpolabs.com

2. What Deskathon measures on your Mac

Deskathon counts how you use your pointer and, if you choose, your keyboard. It stores these numbers per hour:

Pointer distance. How far the pointer moved, converted to metres or feet using your display size.
Clicks. How many left, right and other clicks.
Scroll. How far you scrolled, and how many scroll bursts.
Key presses (optional, off by default). One number per hour: how many keys you pressed. See section 4.
Heat maps. A coarse grid per display and per day that shows how often the pointer was in each area, and where you clicked. It is a grid of counts. It is not a recording of the path of your pointer.
Display details. The name, size and resolution of each display, so distances come out right. You can set a manual screen size.
Your settings. Units, pause state, Pro status, and similar choices.

This data is stored in Deskathon's own data folder on your Mac, in your user account. Deskathon does not store it in iCloud and does not sync it anywhere. Deskathon's widgets read the same folder on your Mac.

If you use Time Machine or another backup tool, your backup may include Deskathon's folder. That is your own backup and under your control.

3. What Deskathon never collects

Deskathon never records, stores or sends:

which keys you press, or the characters, words or text you type;
the order or timing of your key presses (the finest timing is one hour);
the content of your screen, screenshots, or the windows and documents you have open;
which app you are using, or which websites you visit;
your contacts, files, photos, location, camera or microphone;
your name, e-mail address, Apple ID or any account (there is no account);
advertising identifiers, or anything used to track you across apps or websites.

Deskathon asks for no Accessibility permission, no Screen Recording permission, and no camera or microphone access.

4. Keyboard counting

Keyboard counting is off by default. Nothing keyboard-related runs, and macOS is never asked for permission, until you turn it on.

When you turn it on:

Deskathon first shows you a screen in plain words that explains what is counted and what is not.
Only after you press "Turn On Keyboard Counting" does macOS show its own permission request for Input Monitoring.
If you say no, everything else in Deskathon keeps working.

How it works:

Deskathon listens only. It cannot change, block or send key presses.
For each key-down it adds one to a counter. It does not read which key it was, any character, any modifier, or the time. Held-down keys that repeat are ignored.
The counter is saved once per hour as a single number.
Keys typed into password fields, and anywhere macOS has turned on "Secure Input", are hidden by macOS and are not counted.

You can turn keyboard counting off at any time with "Count key presses" in Settings › Keyboard. Deskathon then asks if you want to keep or delete your key counts. You can also use "Delete Keyboard Counts…" in Settings › Keyboard, and remove Deskathon from System Settings › Privacy & Security › Input Monitoring. If you remove the permission, Deskathon stops counting keys and does not ask again by itself.

5. When Deskathon connects to the internet

With every option in section 6 turned off, Deskathon and its widgets make no network connections. There is no analytics service, no update check of our own, no remote configuration and no advertising. Updates come through the Mac App Store.

6. Optional features that send data to VPO Labs

Deskathon includes VPO Core, VPO Labs' own support service. It has four features. Each one is optional and is either off or asks you first. None of them is needed to use any part of Deskathon, and turning them on or off never changes what Deskathon can do.

You manage them in Settings › Privacy & Data, in the section Sharing with VPO Labs and the section Sent from this Mac, and in the Feedback page of the main window:

Share anonymous usage, a switch in Sharing with VPO Labs (section 6.3). Off by default. When you turn it on, Deskathon first asks you to confirm.
Auto-send crash reports, a switch in Sharing with VPO Labs (section 6.1). Off asks after each crash. On sends without asking.
Feedback, a page in the sidebar of the main window, opens the feedback form (section 6.4).
Privacy Options…, in Sent from this Mac, opens a window from VPO Core with the remaining controls, listed below under "Privacy Options window". It is in Settings only.

These sections appear only in versions of Deskathon where VPO Core is switched on. If you do not see it, that version of Deskathon cannot send anything to VPO Labs and sections 6.1 to 6.4 do not apply to it.

Privacy Options window

Settings › Privacy & Data › Sent from this Mac › Privacy Options… opens a window with these controls, and no others:

Share anonymous usage data, a switch. The same setting as the switch in Settings (section 6.3).
Send error and hang reports, a switch (section 6.2).
Crash reports, a choice of Ask each time, Send automatically or Never send (section 6.1). "Never send" is the only way to stop the crash question as well as the crash report.
See Usage Data… shows, in a window, the anonymous usage waiting to be sent, exactly as it would be sent.
Reset Identifiers… (section 6, "Identifiers").
Export My Data… saves a copy of what this Mac has sent to VPO Labs, as a file (section 9).
Delete My Data… deletes what this Mac has sent to VPO Labs, from our server and from this Mac, after you confirm (section 9).
A link to this privacy policy.

Settings › Privacy & Data also has controls for the statistics on your Mac, which are separate from VPO Core: Export CSV… and Erase All Data… (section 9).

6.1 Crash reports

Default: Deskathon asks you each time. You see what the report contains and choose Send or Don't Send. In Settings › Privacy & Data › Sharing with VPO Labs you can turn on "Auto-send crash reports" to send them without being asked; leave it off to be asked after each crash. In Privacy Options… the same choice reads "Ask each time" or "Send automatically", and "Never send" turns crash reports off completely.
When sent: after Deskathon quit unexpectedly, once you say yes (or automatically, if you chose that).
What it contains: the technical state of the crashed program: the signal, error name and reason, the code locations that were running (not your data), the list of loaded libraries, recent steps the app took, the macOS crash report with machine identifiers removed, and a note and e-mail address if you type them. It also contains the details in "Technical details sent with every message" below.

6.2 Error and hang reports

Default: off.
Where to change it: only in the Privacy Options window, as "Send error and hang reports". There is no separate switch for it in Settings.
When sent: if you turn it on, automatically and rarely (at most one per kind of problem per hour and 20 a day), when Deskathon hits an error or stops responding.
What it contains: the error type and code, how long a freeze lasted, the technical state of the app at that moment, recent steps the app took, and performance diagnostics from macOS (for example heavy CPU or disk use). Error descriptions that could contain a file name or folder name are left out, and home-folder paths are shortened to ~. It also contains the details in "Technical details sent with every message" below.

6.3 Anonymous usage

Default: off. The switch is "Share anonymous usage" in Settings › Privacy & Data › Sharing with VPO Labs, and "Share anonymous usage data" in Privacy Options…. Before it turns on, Deskathon shows what is shared and asks you to confirm. "See Usage Data…" in Privacy Options… shows the usage waiting to be sent.
When sent: if you turn it on, about once a day, and again after meaningful changes (at most every ten minutes).
What it contains:
- per day: app version and build, macOS version (major and minor), the Mac's processor type, number of app sessions, crashed sessions, hangs and minutes of activity;
- counts of a short, fixed list of actions: onboarding finished, a share card saved (which kind and format), keyboard counting turned on or off (the fact only), Pro unlocked, a widget added (which size), a CSV exported, a screen size calibrated.
What it never contains: distances, clicks, scroll or key counts, heat maps, display names, app names, file names or any text. The list of allowed items is fixed inside the app, and anything else is refused before it can be sent.

6.4 Feedback

Default: nothing is sent unless you open Feedback in the sidebar of the main window, write a message and press Send.
What it contains: the category you choose, your message, an e-mail address only if you type one (it is optional), and screenshots or files only if you attach them. If you tick "Include diagnostics", it also includes recent logs, recent crash records and recent steps the app took. Please do not put passwords or private information in a message.
Replies: if you give an e-mail address, or keep the conversation open in the app, we can reply there. If we later fix a problem you reported, the app may show you a note about it inside that conversation.

Technical details sent with every message

Every crash, error, hang, usage and feedback message also carries:

Deskathon's bundle identifier, version, build and release channel;
the macOS version and build, the processor type and the Mac model identifier (for example Mac16,5);
your language and region setting;
a random identifier made on your Mac (see "Identifiers" below);
the public key that identifies the app to our service.

Identifiers

VPO Core uses two random numbers made on your Mac. They are not made from your hardware, your Apple ID, your purchase or you.

Support ID. Sent with crash, error, hang and feedback reports, so that we can tell reports from the same Mac apart and, if you ask, delete them.
Install ID. Sent with anonymous usage only.

The two are never sent together, so reports and usage cannot be joined. You can reset both in Settings › Privacy & Data › Sent from this Mac › Privacy Options… › Reset Identifiers….

What the server does with it

Your IP address is used briefly in memory to limit abuse and is not stored.
We do not collect your name, your Mac's name or serial number, licence or purchase details, location, or time zone.
Usage data holds no times finer than a day.
Test and live data are kept apart.

Not switched on in Deskathon

VPO Core can also fetch remote settings and in-app messages. Deskathon turns both off. It does not make those requests.

Where it is processed, and who processes it

VPO Labs runs VPO Core on its own hosting. The hosting provider is Hostinger, which supplies the servers and may process data in countries other than yours. We do not use advertising services, data brokers or other analytics services, and we do not sell your data or share it for advertising. We may disclose information if the law requires it, or to investigate abuse.

How long we keep it

Crash reports, error and hang reports, and feedback: up to 18 months.
Anonymous usage: up to 400 days.
Daily totals with no identifiers (for example "sessions per version") may be kept longer.
Server back-ups can hold deleted data for a short time until they are replaced.

Why we use it, and our legal basis

We use this information only to find and fix problems, to understand which features are used, and to answer you. Under the GDPR we do this with your consent, which you give by turning a feature on or pressing Send, and which you can withdraw at any time by turning the feature off. Withdrawing does not affect what happened before. When we answer your e-mail, we rely on our legitimate interest in replying.

7. Purchases

Deskathon is free to download. Deskathon Pro is a one-time purchase through the Mac App Store.

Apple takes the payment and keeps the payment details. We never see your card, billing address, Apple ID, name or e-mail address.
Deskathon asks Apple's StoreKit on your Mac whether Pro is unlocked, and remembers the answer on your Mac so that widgets work offline.
We may see sales and download totals in App Store Connect. They are aggregated and not about you. If you chose to share app analytics with developers in your Apple settings, we may also see aggregated usage and crash statistics from Apple. See Apple's own privacy policy for that.
With Family Sharing, Apple decides who in your family group gets Pro.

8. Children

Deskathon is a general-purpose utility. It is not directed at children, and it has no account. It collects nothing about anyone unless that person turns on an optional feature in section 6. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, tell us and we will delete it.

9. Your rights

Data on your Mac

Everything in section 2 stays on your Mac. We do not hold it, so we cannot see it, give it to you or delete it for you. You are in control of it:

See and export it. Settings › Privacy & Data › Export CSV… saves your numbers as a spreadsheet file, one row per hour.
Delete it. Settings › Privacy & Data › Erase All Data… removes your statistics and the app's backup copies of them, and restarts your lifetime totals. It cannot be undone.
Delete only key counts. Settings › Keyboard › Delete Keyboard Counts….
Uninstall. Moving Deskathon to the Trash removes the app. macOS may keep its data folder and preferences in your user Library. Use "Erase All Data…" before you uninstall if you want the statistics gone. You can also delete the folder by hand.

Data you sent to VPO Labs

If you turned on the features in section 6, you may have rights under the GDPR (EU and UK), the CCPA/CPRA (California) and similar laws. They include the right to access, correct, delete and receive a copy of your personal information, to restrict or object to its use, to withdraw consent, and to complain to your data-protection authority. We do not sell or share personal information, and we do not treat you differently for using these rights.

Reports use random identifiers and carry no name, so only your Mac knows which reports are yours. That is why the easiest way is in the app:

Settings › Privacy & Data › Sent from this Mac › Privacy Options… › Export My Data… gets a copy of what this Mac has sent.
… › Privacy Options… › Delete My Data… deletes what this Mac has sent, from our server and from this Mac, after you confirm. It cannot be undone.
… › Privacy Options… › Reset Identifiers… makes new random numbers, so later reports are not connected with earlier ones.
Turning the features off (or choosing "Never send" for crash reports) stops any further sending.

These controls are in versions of Deskathon where VPO Core is switched on, which are the only versions that can send anything.

If you cannot use the app (for example you have uninstalled it), or you sent us feedback with your e-mail address, write to [contact email — owner to confirm]. We may ask you for something that identifies your reports (for example your support ID, if the app shows it to you) or the e-mail address you used, so that we delete the right data and nobody else's. We answer within the time the law requires, normally within one month.

10. Security

Your statistics are stored in a sandboxed app folder in your user account. Deskathon asks macOS for the smallest set of permissions it needs. Data sent to VPO Labs travels over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). No system is perfectly secure, so please do not send sensitive information in feedback.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change what Deskathon does with data, we will update this policy before the change ships, change the effective date above, and tell you where the law requires it. A version that would send new kinds of data will ask you first.

12. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy:

VPO Labs
[legal entity and postal address — owner to confirm]
support@vpolabs.com

You can also use Feedback in the sidebar of the main window.

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