Privacy Policy
Effective [Month Day, 2026]
1. Who we are
This policy covers the Kestrel desktop app for macOS and Windows and the website usekestrel.net (together, “Kestrel”). Kestrel is operated by [Company legal name], [registered address] (“we”, “us”). Questions: privacy@usekestrel.net.
2. What Kestrel handles on your device
- System audio. While you’re listening, Kestrel captures your computer’s audio output (the other side of the call) and cuts it into short clips for transcription. Kestrel does not capture your microphone, and it doesn’t save audio recordings.
- Transcripts and answers from each session.
- Your materials: resume, STAR stories, job descriptions, notes and documents you upload to a session.
- Screenshots, only when you press Screen, F1 or “Solve Screen Now”. A screenshot is kept with the answer it produced in your session history.
- Settings and API keys you enter.
This information is stored locally in the app’s storage on your computer. You can clear a transcript at any time, and uninstalling Kestrel removes it.
3. What leaves your device, and why
To turn speech into text and produce an answer, Kestrel sends the minimum needed to an AI provider:
| What is sent | When | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| Short audio clips of the call | While listening | The speech-to-text provider in use (Deepgram, Groq, OpenAI, Google Gemini or OpenRouter) |
| The question, recent transcript, and the relevant parts of your resume, stories and session documents | Each time an answer is generated | The AI model provider in use (OpenRouter, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic or Groq) |
| A screenshot | Only when you ask Kestrel to read the screen | The AI model provider in use |
Your own API keys (Lifetime BYOK)
If you use your own keys, requests go straight from your computer to that provider and are governed by your agreement and their privacy policy. We never see that content.
Kestrel Cloud (Week Pass and Pro)
If your plan includes AI, requests pass through our relay (“Kestrel Cloud”) to the same providers. We use the content only to return your answer and do not store it after the request completes. We keep limited operational records (time, plan, usage amounts and error codes, never audio, transcripts or prompts) for up to [30] days to run the service and prevent abuse.
Provider privacy policies: Deepgram, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, Anthropic, Groq.
4. Purchases and accounts
Payments are processed by [Payment processor, e.g. Paddle / Lemon Squeezy / Stripe], which acts as [merchant of record / payment processor]. We receive your name, email, country, what you bought and your license status. We never receive your full card number. If you join the referral or affiliate program, we also keep the referral link you used or shared and the rewards earned.
5. This website
usekestrel.net sets no cookies and runs no analytics, advertising or tracking scripts. Our hosting provider (Cloudflare) may keep standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security, under its own policy.
6. What we don’t do
- We don’t sell or rent personal information.
- We don’t show ads or share data with advertisers.
- We don’t use your audio, transcripts, documents or answers to train AI models.
- We don’t record your microphone or join your meetings.
7. How long we keep things
- On your device: until you delete it or uninstall Kestrel.
- Kestrel Cloud content: not stored after the request completes. Operational records are kept for up to [30] days.
- Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting law requires (usually [6–7] years).
- Support emails: up to [24] months after the conversation ends.
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, UK GDPR or CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export the personal information we hold about you, and to object to or restrict certain processing. Email privacy@usekestrel.net and we’ll respond within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data-protection authority. Data stored only on your device is under your control, and you can delete it from the app at any time.
Our legal bases for processing are: to perform our contract with you (providing the app and your purchases), our legitimate interests (security and abuse prevention), and legal obligations (tax records).
9. Security
Connections to AI providers and Kestrel Cloud are encrypted with HTTPS. Local data is protected by your computer’s account security, so keep your device locked and up to date.
10. International transfers
AI providers and our service providers may process data in the United States and other countries. Where required, transfers are covered by appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
11. Children
Kestrel is not intended for anyone under 16, and we don’t knowingly collect information from children.
12. Changes
We’ll post any changes here and update the effective date. For significant changes we’ll give notice in the app or by email.
13. Contact
[Company legal name], [registered address] · privacy@usekestrel.net