JK CodesCurlew Privacy Policy
Last updated 28 September 2026 · Applies to Curlew — Offline Voice Typing & Dictation (package JKCodes.Curlew) published on the Microsoft Store by JK Codes.
Short version. Curlew is offline by design. Your audio and the text it produces are processed on your device and never leave your PC. There is no account, no telemetry and no data collected by us. The only network activity is downloading speech models you choose to install, and an optional AI editing feature that is off by default and uses your own API key.
1. Audio and dictation
When you hold the dictation key, Curlew records from your microphone, converts the audio to text on your CPU using the speech model you selected, and inserts the text at your cursor. The audio is processed in memory and discarded when the dictation ends, unless you turn on the optional audio archive described below. Nothing is uploaded, and we have no server that could receive it.
2. What is stored on your device
| Data | Where | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Settings (hotkey, model, formatting, appearance) | Your local app data folder | So the app remembers your choices |
| Transcript history | A local SQLite database in your app data folder | Searchable history, statistics, re-transcription and undo |
| Audio archive (optional, off by default) | Your app data folder, size-capped | Lets you re-transcribe past dictations with a newer model |
| Custom vocabulary and replacement rules | Your app data folder | Improves recognition of names and jargon |
| Speech model files | Your app data folder | Required to transcribe offline |
| API key for AI editing (optional) | Your app data folder, encrypted with Windows DPAPI | Only if you enable the feature and enter a key |
Diagnostic log (curlew.log), including the text of dictations | Your app data folder, size-capped | Helps diagnose problems; it is never sent anywhere |
| When the Microsoft Store last confirmed you own Curlew Pro | Your app data folder, encrypted with Windows DPAPI | Keeps Pro working if the Store is briefly unreachable; it is never sent anywhere |
You can clear history, delete the audio archive and remove models from inside the app. On a normal Microsoft Store install, uninstalling Curlew removes its app data folder. If a Curlew folder already existed in %APPDATA% before you installed it, Windows leaves that folder in place and you can delete it yourself.
3. Network access
- Model downloads. When you choose to install a speech model, Curlew downloads it from the model's public host (for example Hugging Face). That host sees a normal file download request from your IP address, the same as if you downloaded the file in a browser. Curlew sends no identifying information with the request.
- Optional AI editing (bring your own key). If you enable this feature and enter your own OpenAI-compatible or Anthropic API key, then when you use a voice edit or AI formatting style, the text you selected or dictated is sent to the endpoint you configured. Audio is never sent. What that provider does with the text is governed by its own privacy policy and your agreement with it. This feature is off by default and Curlew never enables it on its own.
- Nothing else. Curlew has no telemetry, no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising and no account system. It does not contact JK Codes.
4. Curlew Pro
Curlew is free to use. Curlew Pro is an optional one-time add-on sold through the Microsoft Store, which handles the purchase and the licence. Version 1.0.1 offered a 7-day Pro trial and recorded its start date on your PC and in your Windows user registry; version 1.0.2 removes the trial and deletes that record the first time it starts. Nothing about the trial was ever sent anywhere. Curlew learns only whether Pro is owned and its price. It does not see your Microsoft account, name, payment details or purchase history. Microsoft's handling of that information is described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
5. Permissions
- Microphone. Required to hear you. Curlew records only while the dictation key is held or dictation is toggled on, and shows an on-screen overlay whenever it is listening. If Windows microphone access is denied, Curlew tells you and links to the Windows privacy setting.
- Full-trust desktop app. Needed to register a global hotkey and insert text into other applications. Curlew uses this only to deliver your dictated text to the focused window. It does not read the contents of other applications.
6. Children
Curlew is a general-purpose productivity tool and collects no personal information from anyone, including children.
7. Your rights
Because we collect no personal data, there is nothing held by JK Codes to access, correct, export or delete. Everything Curlew stores is on your own PC under your control and can be deleted from inside the app or by uninstalling it. If you have a question about this policy, contact us and we will respond within 7 days.
8. Third-party components
Curlew uses OpenAI Whisper (MIT licence) and NVIDIA Parakeet (CC BY 4.0) speech models, which run locally. Neither OpenAI nor NVIDIA receives any data from Curlew. Whisper, NVIDIA and Parakeet are trademarks of their respective owners.
9. Changes to this policy
If a future version of Curlew changes how it handles data, this page will be updated with a new date at the top and the change will be described in the app's Store listing before it takes effect.
10. Contact
JK Codes
Support: support@jkcodes.app
Website: jkcodes.app