What we collect, where it goes, why

Last updated: 10 May 2026

Who we are

Respite is published by Olent (the "Operator", "we", "us"), an indie software studio based in Sydney, Australia. The Operator is the data controller for personal information processed by the Respite macOS application (the "App"), the getrespite.app website (the "Site"), and the licensing and update services we provide (together, the "Service").

Privacy questions: support@getrespite.app.

Overview

Respite is designed to be local-first. The App does not require an account, and your settings, break history, and streak data stay on your Mac. To deliver the licensing service we do collect your email and a small amount of operational data on our servers -- the details are below, processor by processor, with retention periods.

What the App collects (on your Mac)

All of the following stays local on your device unless you explicitly enable the optional anonymous telemetry described further below.

Settings, streaks, achievements, and break history are stored using standard macOS storage (UserDefaults and application support directories) and are never transmitted.

Trial state (your first-launch date) is stored locally so the App can enforce the 14-day free trial.

Permissions used by the App.

Microphone Access

Used solely to detect whether another application is using the microphone (a meeting indicator), so that breaks can be paused automatically. Respite never records, stores, or transmits any audio.

Calendar Access

Used to read your calendar events so that breaks are suppressed during scheduled meetings. Event data is read locally and is never sent off your device.

Accessibility / Activity Monitoring

Used to detect idle and active states so breaks are timed appropriately. This means observing whether the keyboard and mouse are in use; no keystrokes, no application contents, and no usage data are recorded.

Screen Recording

Used to detect full-screen applications and active displays for smart break suppression. No screen content is captured, recorded, or stored.

What we collect on the licensing backend

These items are processed by us or our sub-processors so that we can sell licenses, deliver keys, activate devices, and let you manage them.

On purchase: your email address, the Stripe session and customer identifiers, and the price and currency of the order. Stripe holds your card data; we do not.

On license activation: a hashed hardware identifier derived from system properties, plus the activation timestamp. The hardware identifier is one-way and does not identify you on its own.

On license release: your email address, a one-time release code with a one-hour expiry, and rate-limit counters keyed by IP address (used only to prevent brute-force abuse).

On any API request: transient request logs (including IP address and user-agent) maintained by our hosting provider for abuse prevention and operational diagnostics.

Renewal reminders: if your update entitlement is approaching expiry, we may email a reminder using the address on your license. You can request that we stop sending these by replying to any reminder.

Anonymous in-app telemetry (optional, opt-in)

The App can emit anonymous event signals -- such as "app launched", "break completed", or "break skipped" -- through TelemetryDeck. This is off by default; you opt in during onboarding or in Settings. The signals are aggregate and do not include your email, hardware identifier, calendar contents, audio, keystrokes, or any personally identifying parameters. TelemetryDeck does not store your IP address or assign tracking cookies.

You can change the toggle at any time in Settings. Turning it off prevents any further signals from leaving your Mac.

Cookies and tracking on the website

We use a small set of privacy-respecting telemetry on getrespite.app to keep the Site fast and reliable. We do not set any tracking cookies; nothing on the Site requires a consent banner.

A cookieless audience counter records aggregate page views without persistent identifiers, and a real-user performance metric sampler measures site speed. Both run on every page; neither sets a tracking cookie or assigns a persistent identifier.

An error-monitoring service (Sentry) captures application errors and a small sample of session replays so we can debug crashes. Replay is configured with text masking and media blocking on. The "send default PII" option is disabled (so IP addresses and user-agent strings are not attached to events), and a server-side scrubber removes email addresses from any captured message, exception, or extra-data field before transmission. We do not use session replay for marketing or analytics.

You can block any of these at the browser level, and they are not required to use the Site or to purchase a license.

Sub-processors and where data is processed

Stripe, Inc. (United States) -- payment processing, hosted checkout, receipts, and Stripe Tax. You interact with Stripe directly during checkout.
Resend, Inc. (United States) -- delivery of transactional email (license keys, release codes, renewal reminders, refund confirmations).
Neon, Inc. (United States, AWS us-east-1) -- managed Postgres database storing licenses, keys, activations, and release attempts.
TelemetryDeck GmbH (Germany / EU) -- the anonymous in-app event analytics described above, only when you have opted in.
Functional Software, Inc. dba Sentry (United States) -- crash and error capture for the website and API, with PII off and email scrubbing in place as described above.
Vercel, Inc. (United States, with a global CDN) -- hosting and edge network for the website and licensing API, including cookieless first-party performance and audience metrics.
GitHub, Inc. (United States) -- hosting of the release artefact (the DMG) that the App's update feed downloads.

Each provider operates under its own privacy and security commitments. International transfers rely on each provider's standard contractual clauses or equivalent transfer mechanism. For Data Processing Agreements with any of the named processors, email support@getrespite.app.

Legal bases (GDPR / UK GDPR)

We process personal information on the following bases: performance of a contract for license sale, key delivery, activation, and release; legitimate interests for anti-abuse rate limiting, error monitoring, and renewal reminders to existing customers; and your consent for optional in-App anonymous telemetry, which is default-off and opt-in only.

Retention

Licenses, keys, and email addresses are retained while your license is active and for up to seven (7) years thereafter for tax, accounting, and dispute-resolution purposes (matching Australian record-keeping requirements).

Activation records are retained until you release the device or the license is terminated.

Release codes expire one hour after issuance and are purged from active storage shortly thereafter.

Hosting and error logs are retained per the defaults of our hosting and error-monitoring providers, typically up to 90 days.

Anonymous in-App telemetry is retained per TelemetryDeck's defaults and contains no identifier we can tie back to you.

Your rights

Depending on your location, you have rights including: access to the personal information we hold about you; rectification of inaccurate data; deletion (subject to legal retention obligations); restriction of processing; objection to processing based on legitimate interests; and data portability. Residents of the EU/UK have the right to lodge a complaint with their supervisory authority. Residents of California have rights including the right to know and the right to delete; we do not sell your personal information.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@getrespite.app from the address on your license. We will respond within a reasonable time and, where applicable, within statutory deadlines.

International transfers

Most of our infrastructure is hosted in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information is transferred to and processed there under the standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanism in place with each sub-processor.

Children

Respite is not directed to anyone under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

We use TLS for all network traffic, hardware-bound license JWTs for activation, rate-limited APIs to deter abuse, and we store no card data on our servers. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to us, but we work to protect what you entrust us with.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of the page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes that affect existing customers will be notified by email.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at support@getrespite.app.