Gitwyn

Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 17, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Gitwyn collects, how we use it, and the choices you have. Gitwyn is a free native macOS app and does not require an account.

1. Your code never leaves your Mac

Your source code, git repositories, diffs, commit messages, branch and file names, remote URLs, and commit history are read and processed entirely on your device. None of it is ever transmitted to us or to any third party. Git credentials you enter for pushing are stored in your Mac’s Keychain and are sent only to the git remote you are pushing to.

This includes drafting commit messages. When you press Generate, Gitwyn reads your staged changes and passes them to Apple Intelligence’s on-device model, which runs on your Mac. Your diff is not uploaded, not sent to us or to any AI provider, not stored on disk, and not written to a log - there is no API key and no account, and the feature works with no network connection at all. The drafted message is put in the commit box for you to edit or discard.

2. Usage analytics in the app

Only if you agree to it. The App shows you the setting when you first open it, and you can switch it off there or at any time afterwards. (One thing is not covered by that setting: the install count in section 3, which carries no information about you at all.) While it is on, the App records a small number of anonymous usage counts using Google Analytics for Firebase, so we can see which features are actually used and where to invest effort. These are counters only:

No content from your repositories is attached to these events. We do not record repository names, file paths, branch names, commit messages, or any part of your code - switching branch records that you switched, not which branch; a merge conflict records that one happened, not which files were involved; and drafting a commit message records that a draft was made, never the message or the changes it was written from.

You can change your answer at any time in the App, under Settings › General › “Share anonymous usage counts”. Switching it off stops Firebase collecting entirely, including the technical information described below - not merely the events listed above. While it is off, Firebase is not started at all: there is no app instance identifier, no local event store, and no network traffic.

If you have agreed, Firebase additionally collects standard technical information alongside these events, including a randomly generated app instance identifier, app version, macOS version, device model, and an approximate location (country) derived from your IP address. This is processed by Google as described in Firebase’s privacy documentation.

3. Counting installs

This one is not optional, and it is the only thing in the App that isn’t. The first time you open the Gitwyn panel, the App sends a single request to our own server containing one thing: the date and time, to the second. We store that timestamp in a table that has no other column.

There is no identifier in the request and none in the row - no hardware identifier, no licence key, no installation id, no app or macOS version, no country. Two rows cannot be told apart, cannot be linked to each other, and cannot be linked to you, to a licence, or to anything in section 2. The request is sent once per installation; the App records locally that it has been sent and never sends it again.

It answers one question - roughly how many people have installed Gitwyn and got as far as opening it - which nothing else can answer, and which we would otherwise be guessing at from download counts. It runs whether or not you allow usage analytics, because there is nothing in it to withhold: a bare timestamp is not information about a person.

As with any web request, our server sees the IP address it came from. We do not store it, do not put it in the row, and do not use it for anything.

4. Licence keys

Gitwyn is free and does not ask for a licence key. Should that ever change, the App contains one path that would send an identifier of your Mac to our server: activating a licence key. It runs only when you enter a key yourself, so today it does not run at all - the App does not collect or transmit a hardware identifier, and never does so on launch.

If you do activate a key, we receive and store your Mac’s hardware identifier (the platform UUID - a persistent identifier, and therefore personal data), the key, the email address it was issued to, and the date. It has one purpose: counting how many machines a key is active on. It is not linked to the analytics in section 2, not used to build a profile, and not shared with anyone. Afterwards the App checks your licence entirely on your Mac, so the identifier is not sent again, and we will delete those records on request.

5. Feature rollout

The App downloads a small, signed configuration file from GitHub so a rollout date can change without shipping an update. It is a plain static file, requested at most twice a day: no identifier of yours is sent, and nothing about you is included in the request beyond what any web request exposes (your IP address). If the request fails, the App uses the settings built into it. Earlier versions used Firebase Remote Config for this; that has been removed.

6. Software updates

The App checks for updates by fetching an update feed hosted on GitHub. As with any web request, GitHub receives your IP address and the version of Gitwyn being checked. No other information is sent.

7. This website

This marketing website uses privacy-friendly, anonymized analytics (Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights) to understand traffic and page performance. This data is aggregated and is not used to identify you.

8. Support correspondence

If you email us at mail@gitwyn.com, we keep that message and your address to respond to your request.

9. Service providers

We share the minimum data necessary with providers that help us operate:

10. Your rights

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal data we hold about you - outside of support correspondence, that is the anonymous analytics in section 2 - and we will respond within a reasonable time.

11. Cookies

This website does not use cookies for advertising or tracking across sites.

12. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time; the date above reflects the latest revision.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy? Reach us at mail@gitwyn.com.