Privacy Policy

Effective: 6 May 2026 · Last updated: 6 May 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Stardust Recorder ("Stardust," "we," "our," or "us") handles information when you use our iOS application. Stardust Recorder is operated by Astir Technology, based in Sydney, Australia.

We built Stardust Recorder around a single principle: your recordings stay on your device. We don't operate servers that receive your audio, transcripts, summaries, or action items. We don't analyze your content. We don't have user accounts. This policy explains exactly what that means.

Information We Process

Stardust Recorder is a voice transcription app that records audio, transcribes it locally on your device using Apple's on-device machine learning frameworks, and stores the results encrypted on your device. Below is everything that gets processed and where.

Information that stays on your device only

• Audio recordings you create with the app are encrypted using ChaCha20-Poly1305 cryptography and stored within Stardust Recorder's app sandbox. They are not transmitted off the device.
• Transcripts are generated by OpenAI's Whisper model running locally on your device via WhisperKit. The transcription happens on your device's processor — no audio is sent to OpenAI or any third party. Transcripts are stored encrypted alongside the recording.
• Summaries and Action Items are generated by Apple Intelligence's on-device Foundation Models (when available on your device). This processing happens entirely on your iPhone's Neural Engine. No transcript content leaves your device. These are stored encrypted alongside the recording.
• Recording titles, tags, and metadata (timestamps, durations, language) are stored in an on-device database within the app sandbox.
• Encryption keys are generated on your device and stored in iOS Keychain with the highest device-only protection level. They never sync to iCloud Keychain and never leave your device.

Information that may leave your device under specific circumstances

The following are limited cases where data leaves your device. None of them involve your audio or transcript content.

• Apple In-App Purchase data. When you upgrade to Stardust Pro (lifetime or monthly), Apple processes the payment through their App Store. Stardust receives an entitlement confirmation from Apple but does not receive your payment details, name, or Apple ID. Apple's privacy policy applies to this transaction (apple.com/legal/privacy).
• Whisper model files for Pro variants. Stardust Pro users can download additional Whisper model variants (Tiny, Small, Medium) from Hugging Face's public model repository. These downloads contain only model weights — no audio or user data is transmitted. The default Whisper Base model is bundled with the app and never requires download.
• Reminders and Calendar events. If you create a Reminder or Calendar event from an action item, the action text is passed to your iOS Reminders or Calendar app. If you have iCloud Reminders or iCloud Calendar enabled in your iOS Settings, that text will sync to your iCloud account through Apple's services. This is the same as creating a reminder or calendar event manually in iOS — Stardust does not have its own sync.
• iCloud Backup. If you have iOS iCloud Backup enabled in your device settings, the encrypted Stardust app data may be included in your backups. The data remains encrypted, and the encryption keys are stored locally in your Keychain (not in iCloud Keychain), so backups alone cannot decrypt your recordings.
• System diagnostic and crash reports. iOS may send anonymized crash reports to Apple if you have enabled "Share with App Developers" in iOS Settings. Stardust receives these reports through Apple's standard crash reporting service. Reports do not contain your audio, transcripts, or content.

Information we do not collect

• We do not have user accounts. You don't sign up, log in, or provide personal details.
• We do not use analytics SDKs (Firebase, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Google Analytics, or similar).
• We do not use advertising SDKs or display ads.
• We do not track your usage patterns.
• We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, location, contacts, photos, or browsing history.
• We do not have servers that receive any user content.

Microphone Access

Stardust Recorder requests microphone access to capture audio recordings. This access is used only when you actively start a recording. Audio capture stops when you stop the recording. You can revoke microphone access at any time through iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Stardust Recorder.

Recording Consent

You are responsible for complying with applicable recording consent laws in your jurisdiction. Recording laws vary significantly between locations. Some jurisdictions require consent from all parties to a conversation; others require only one party's consent. Before recording others, you must understand and follow the laws that apply to you.

Stardust Recorder displays consent reminders during onboarding and on the recording screen as a courtesy, but this does not constitute legal advice and does not relieve you of legal responsibility for your recordings.

Children's Privacy

Stardust Recorder is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. The app is rated 4+ on the App Store but is intended for general users.

Your Rights

Because Stardust Recorder stores all your data on your own device:

• Access: You can view all your recordings, transcripts, summaries, and action items directly within the app.
• Deletion: You can delete individual recordings (swipe-to-delete in the recording list, or via the More menu in a recording's detail view) or wipe all data at once (Settings → Privacy → Delete all recordings).
• Export: You can export any recording's transcript in text, Markdown, PDF, DOCX, JSON, or directly to Apple Notes.
• Portability: All exports are in standard formats you can use in any other application.

If you are subject to GDPR (European Economic Area), the UK Data Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or the Australian Privacy Act, the rights to access, deletion, portability, and erasure are met by the on-device data controls described above. We do not hold any of your data on servers, so there is nothing for us to provide or delete on your behalf.

Third-Party Services

Stardust Recorder integrates with the following third-party services. None of them receive your audio or transcript content.

• Apple App Store — In-app purchase processing. Apple's privacy policy applies.
• Apple iOS frameworks — Speech, AVFoundation, Foundation Models, EventKit. All on-device processing.
• WhisperKit (open source) — On-device Whisper transcription. Runs entirely locally.
• Hugging Face — For Pro users only, who choose to download additional Whisper model variants. Downloads model weights only; no user data transmitted.

Changes to This Policy

If we update this Privacy Policy, the new version will be posted at this URL with an updated "Last updated" date. Material changes will be communicated through an in-app notice on the next launch.

Contact

For privacy questions, contact: contact@astir.technology

Astir Technology
Sydney, Australia