Privacy policy
Ciao is a dictation app for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. It has no server of its own.
Audio and text
Recordings and transcripts stay on your device. Audio leaves it only to be transcribed by the service you chose, with your own API key: OpenAI, under OpenAI's privacy policy, or Google's Gemini, under the Gemini API terms.
Google sign-in and sync
Signing in with Google is optional. If you sign in, Ciao keeps your terms (the words to spell exactly as written), your transcription prompt and, unless you turn off Sync API keys, your OpenAI and Gemini API keys in a hidden application folder in your own Google Drive, so every device you sign in on uses the same ones. Ciao asks Google for two permissions:
-
See, create, and delete its own configuration data in your Google Drive (
drive.appdata): Ciao can read and write only the files it created in that hidden folder. It cannot see any other file in your Drive. - See your primary Google Account email address: shown in the settings, so you know which account you are signed in with.
This data goes only between your device and Google. Ciao does not send it anywhere else, does not share or sell it, and does not use it for anything but syncing your settings. Your sign-in is stored on your device. Signing out removes it there. To take Ciao's access away on every device, remove it in your Google account's third-party connections; to delete the synced file too, delete Ciao's hidden app data in Google Drive → Settings → Manage apps.
Ciao's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Usage statistics
The desktop app sends anonymous usage counts (app version, OS, how dictations ended, timings, cost) to PostHog. They carry a random install id, never your text, audio, terms, prompt, email or keys. You can turn them off in the settings. The full list is in the README.