GorpHow Gorp handles your data
I built Gorp so a meeting can be recorded, transcribed and written up without leaving the Mac it happened on. This page shows where your recordings go, every connection the app can make, and what Gorp doesn’t protect for you. The legal version is the privacy policy.
The short version
- Gorp records, transcribes and writes notes on your Mac. Recordings, transcripts and notes are ordinary files in your user Library.
- A meeting leaves your Mac only if you pick a cloud AI service, with your own API key or through your Claude or ChatGPT plan. Then that meeting’s audio or text goes straight to that provider. Gorp never switches you to the cloud on its own.
- The only connection that is on when you first install it is a daily update check to dl.gorpapp.com. It carries no meeting data, and you can turn it off.
- Anonymous usage counts are off until you turn them on. They have a fixed, published field list and no identifier.
- There is no Gorp account, and I don’t run a server that receives or stores your meetings.
- Gorp does not encrypt the library itself. Your macOS account and FileVault, if you’ve turned it on, protect the files.
- On Macs without Apple Intelligence, check which writer you picked: the caveat is below.
Where your meetings go
Gorp records, transcribes and writes notes on your Mac. Recordings, transcripts and notes are saved as ordinary files in your user Library. There is no Gorp account, and I don’t run a server that receives or stores your meetings.
Anything leaving your Mac is your choice. If you pick a cloud AI service, with your own API key or through your Claude or ChatGPT plan, Gorp sends that meeting’s audio or text straight to that provider. If the writer you picked fails, Gorp offers only on-device alternatives. It never switches you to the cloud on its own.
One caveat today: on Macs without Apple Intelligence, choose the built-in private writer during setup; if you add an OpenAI key, notes go to OpenAI unless you change the writer.
Every connection the Mac app can make
This is the complete list. Gorp has no analytics SDK and no other network code. The update check is the only connection that is on when you first install it, and it carries no meeting data.
Show every connection (17 rows)
| Connection | What is sent | When, and the default | How to turn it off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Update check to dl.gorpapp.com | An ordinary request: your IP address and the app name and version. No system profile. | On. Once a day; the first check waits 30 minutes after first launch. Updates never install without you. | Settings → Help: turn off Check for updates automatically. |
| Update download | A download request. The update is signed and checked before it is unpacked. | Only when you choose to install. | Don’t install. |
| Local model downloads from Hugging Face | A download request (your IP address). Covers Parakeet, the speaker-separation and spelling-helper models, and the built-in writer models. No meeting data. | When you prepare a model, or the first time you use one you haven’t prepared. | Prepare the models once; they aren’t fetched again while they’re on disk. |
| Apple speech and Apple Intelligence assets | macOS may download Apple’s own language assets from Apple. | Managed by macOS. | Your macOS settings. |
| Cloud transcription (OpenAI or Groq, your key) | The meeting audio only. | Off. Parakeet on your Mac is the default. | Settings → AI & cost: choose Parakeet or Apple Speech. |
| Cloud writing (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini or Groq, your key) | Your rough notes, any spellings you noted for the meeting, and the transcript. For a meeting started from your calendar, also spelling hints: invitees’ names (not addresses), capitalized words from the event title and terms from labelled spelling lines in its description. Text from attached materials only if you turn that on. | Only once you add a key and that provider is the writer (see the caveat above). | Settings → AI & cost: choose an on-device writer. |
| Checking an API key you add | The key only, to that provider’s free model list. No meeting content. | When you add or test a key. | Don’t add a key. |
| Claude Code or Codex on this Mac | The same text, passed to that app, which sends it to Anthropic or OpenAI under your plan. Claude Code runs with its tools off and no saved session. Codex can read files on your Mac. | Off. | Settings → AI & cost. |
| Ask, Rewrite and saved actions with a cloud writer | The excerpts or note text you selected. Ask shows what will leave the Mac, with its sources, before it sends, unless you’ve told it not to ask again for that provider. | Only when you run one. | Use an on-device writer. |
| Ollama | Audio or text to Ollama at 127.0.0.1, which never leaves the Mac. Gorp won’t use Ollama’s cloud models. | Off. | Settings → AI & cost. |
| Ollama installer and models from ollama.com | A download request (your IP address). Gorp fetches the official Ollama installer itself; a model you download in Ollama setup is fetched by Ollama. No meeting data. | Only when you press download in Ollama setup. | Don’t use it. |
| Google or Microsoft calendar | Read-only sign-in. Gorp reads today’s and tomorrow’s events every 10 minutes. | Off. | Settings → Calendar → Disconnect. |
| Recorder hand-off from iPhone or Watch | Recordings from your phone, over your local network with an encrypted pairing, or through your own iCloud Drive, encrypted on the phone first. The iPhone and Watch recorders are coming. | Off until you set it up. | Settings → Devices. |
| Anonymous usage counts to gorpapp.com | A fixed list of fields: event name, app version, build and coarse results. No identifier and no meeting content. The full list. | Off. | Settings → Privacy: Share anonymous usage counts. |
| Feedback to gorpapp.com | Your message and only the details you tick. After a crash, Gorp asks first and opens the same form so you can read it. | Only when you press Send. | Don’t send it. |
| A Shortcut after notes are ready | The recap (no transcript), to whatever your Shortcut does with it. | Off. | Settings → Assistant. |
| Assistants you connect (Claude, Cursor and others) | Gorp itself sends nothing, but the assistant may send what it reads to its own provider. It can’t change anything unless you turn on Let assistants make changes. | Off until you connect one. | Remove it from the assistant, or start it with --read-only. |
What’s on your disk
Your library lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Gorp. Each meeting is a folder with plain JSON files and its audio, so you can read everything without Gorp. You can export Markdown, PDF, Word, subtitles, portable .gorp bundles or a full library backup.
API keys and calendar sign-ins go in the macOS Keychain, restricted to this Mac. They aren’t synced to iCloud Keychain and aren’t included in library backups.
Gorp does not encrypt the library itself. Your files are protected by your macOS user account and, if you turn it on, FileVault. Exports, .gorp bundles and backups are unencrypted copies too.
Deleting a meeting removes its notes, transcript, audio and attachments and leaves a small marker with only its ID and when it was deleted. It’s an ordinary file deletion. It can’t reach Time Machine copies, exports, or the original files you imported. You can also have Gorp delete audio automatically after a number of days, or as soon as the notes are written.
Gorp shows meeting titles and a short summary in Spotlight, on by default. That index stays on your Mac; you can turn it off in Settings → Assistant.
Setting it up for sensitive work
Everything on this list works today.
To keep every meeting on this Mac
- Transcribe with Parakeet (the default) or Apple Speech, not OpenAI or Groq.
- Write notes with Apple Intelligence, Gorp’s built-in writer, or Ollama. AI setup should show Leaves this Mac: Nothing.
- Don’t add cloud API keys, and don’t pick Claude Code or Codex for confidential meetings. If you need a subscription, prefer Claude Code, which runs with its tools off; Codex can read files on your Mac.
- Leave Include indexed meeting materials when creating AI notes off (the default).
- Don’t connect an assistant, or start it with
--read-only, and remember its provider sees what it reads. - Leave After notes are ready, run a Shortcut off, or check where that Shortcut sends the text.
To run with no network at all
- Prepare Parakeet, the speaker model and the writer once while online. After that, transcribing and writing need no connection.
- Turn off automatic update checks in Settings → Help, and check by hand on a network you trust.
- Leave Share anonymous usage counts off (the default).
- Don’t connect Google or Microsoft calendars. Use your Mac’s Calendar app instead.
- Leave recorder hand-off in Settings → Devices off (the default).
- macOS itself (iCloud, Apple Intelligence updates, Apple’s analytics) follows your system settings, not Gorp’s.
To protect the files on disk
- Turn on FileVault. Gorp does not encrypt the library itself.
- Use your own macOS user account, and turn off Spotlight in Settings → Assistant on a shared Mac.
- Encrypt your Time Machine backups, and treat exports,
.gorpbundles and library backups as unencrypted copies. - Set an audio retention rule if you shouldn’t keep recordings.
- Use the consent tools. If someone objects, Stop and delete their audio removes their side.
Questions people ask me
Can I use Gorp for HIPAA work? Will you sign a BAA?
No, I don’t sign BAAs. For HIPAA, that depends on your setup. With on-device models, FileVault and your own device policies, your meetings stay on your Mac and I have no server that holds them. If you pick a cloud AI provider, that provider’s own terms, and any BAA it offers, apply to what Gorp sends it.
Do you have SOC 2 or ISO 27001?
No. There is no hosted service holding customer data to certify.
Is my data encrypted?
On disk, not by Gorp; it relies on FileVault and your macOS account. In transit, yes: HTTPS to every outside service, an encrypted pairing on the local recorder link, and the iCloud hand-off is encrypted on the phone before it reaches iCloud.
Can you see my meetings?
No. Nothing sends them to me. I only see what you put in a feedback report.
Does the AI provider train on my data?
That depends on the provider’s policy for your account or key. Gorp sends directly to them and doesn’t change their settings, so check their terms.
Does it work offline?
Yes, once the local models are downloaded. Turn off update checks and Gorp makes no connections unless you ask for one.
Is the app sandboxed and notarized?
Gorp is signed with my Developer ID, notarized by Apple, runs with the hardened runtime, and only installs updates that carry my signature. It is not App-Sandboxed, because the Claude Code and Codex bridges run programs you installed, which App Sandbox would block.
Does Gorp store voiceprints?
No. Telling voices apart happens on your Mac, and Gorp stores only the names you give speakers.
Is there telemetry?
None unless you turn on anonymous usage counts, which have a fixed, published field list and no identifier.
Who makes it, and where do I report a security problem?
Gorp is published by Interplex Ventures LLC. Write to security@gorpapp.com.