Privacy Policy
Last updated 26 July 2026
Owl is a personal assistant that runs on your own Mac and iPhone. Your meetings, notes and to-dos are yours. We don't sell them, we don't mine them, and we don't use them to train AI models.
Who we are
Owl ("we", "us") is operated by the maker of Owl, contactable at hello@meetowl.co. This policy covers the Owl applications for macOS and iOS and the website at meetowl.co.
Where your data lives
Owl is a local-first application. Meetings, transcripts, notes, to-dos and contacts are stored on your device, in Owl's own folder in your user library. We do not host a copy.
- Audio is never uploaded as a recording and never stored by us. Audio is captured only while you are recording, held in memory, sent for transcription, and discarded. Owl keeps the text, not the sound.
- Sync across your own devices uses your private iCloud. If you use Owl on more than one device, your data travels through your personal iCloud account, which only you can read. It does not pass through our servers.
- API keys are never in the app. AI requests are relayed through a proxy that attaches the key on the server side, so no key is ever distributed to a user's device.
Google data we access, and why
When you sign in with Google, Owl requests only what it needs to work:
- Your name, email address and basic profile
(
openid,email,profile) — to identify you, to authorise your AI usage against an approved list, and to tell which voice in a meeting is yours. - Your calendar events (
calendar.events) — to show the meetings coming up, to name a recording after the meeting it belongs to, to identify participants from the invitee list, and — only when you ask — to write focus blocks into your calendar.
Calendar data is read on demand and used to display and label your meetings. We do not copy your calendar to any server of ours, and we never modify or delete events you did not ask Owl to create.
Limited Use disclosure
Owl's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Specifically, we do not use Google user data to train generalised AI or machine-learning models, we do not sell it, we do not transfer it except as needed to provide the features you asked for, and no human reads it except with your explicit permission or where required by law.
Processing by AI providers
To turn a meeting into notes, the transcript is sent to an AI provider (OpenAI, and Anthropic where selected) purely to produce that output, then returned to your device. These providers act as processors on our behalf and, under their API terms, do not use the content to train their models. Silence and echo are stripped before anything is sent, so less of your audio leaves the device than you recorded.
What we collect about usage
We record minimal operational data so the service can be run responsibly: the account that made an AI request, which feature it was for, and the size of the request. This is used for cost control and abuse prevention. It does not include the content of your meetings or notes.
Your control
- Delete any meeting, note or to-do inside Owl and it is removed from your device and from your iCloud copy.
- Disconnect Google at any time in Owl's settings; you can also revoke access at your Google account permissions page.
- Delete the app and its folder to remove everything Owl holds locally.
- Write to hello@meetowl.co to ask what usage records exist for your account, or to have them deleted.
Recording responsibly
Laws about recording conversations differ by country and state. You are responsible for telling the people you meet with that you are recording, and for getting their consent where the law requires it.
Children
Owl is a tool for working professionals and is not directed at anyone under 16.
Changes
If this policy changes materially we will update the date above and note the change on this page.