Privacy Policy

Effective 7 October 2026 · Applies to Shoo for macOS

1. Who this policy covers

This policy describes how Shoo, a macOS menu-bar app published by Jonatan Kronander ("we", "us"), handles information. It applies to every version of the app, whether downloaded from GitHub Releases, built from source or installed from the Mac App Store.

Shoo is designed so that we never receive any information about you. We don't operate servers, accounts or analytics for the app. The sections below explain what the app does with your camera and what it keeps on your own Mac.

2. How Shoo uses your camera

• Shoo uses the camera only while watching is turned on. You start and stop watching from the menu bar. Your Mac's green camera indicator is on whenever Shoo is using the camera.
• Each frame is processed entirely on-device using Apple's Vision framework. No frame is ever sent to us or to anyone else.
• Frames are downscaled before analysis, kept in memory only for as long as it takes to analyse them, and then discarded.

3. Face and hand data

To decide whether a hand is near your face, Shoo computes the following from each frame:

• a face bounding box and the landmarks around the mouth and nose;
• the positions of hand joints (fingertips, knuckles and wrist) for any hands in view.

This information is used for one purpose only: to work out whether a fingertip is close to your mouth or nose and, if so, to show a reminder. It is held in memory for that single frame and then discarded. It is never written to disk, never stored across frames beyond a short smoothing window, never used to identify you, and never shared.

Shoo does not perform facial recognition, does not build a biometric template, and cannot tell who you are.

4. The reminder snapshot

By default, the reminder overlay shows a small still image from the camera so you can see what triggered it. This snapshot:

• is kept in memory only while the overlay is on screen and is released when the overlay closes;
• is never saved to disk or sent anywhere;
• is excluded from screen recordings and screen sharing where macOS supports it;
• can be turned off in Settings → Show camera snapshot in reminder. With it off, the overlay shows a hand symbol instead.

5. What Shoo stores on your Mac

Shoo keeps a small amount of information in its own preferences (macOS UserDefaults) inside the app's sandbox. None of it leaves your Mac.

You can reset all settings from the app's Settings window. Trashing the app does not remove this folder; to erase it too, delete ~/Library/Containers/io.github.jkkronk.shoo (see Uninstalling on the support page).

6. What Shoo does not do

• It does not record video or audio, and it does not save any image.
• It does not upload, stream or share any imagery, face or hand data, or anything else. The app has no network access.
• It does not use face or hand data for advertising, marketing, identification, profiling or any purpose other than showing a reminder.
• It does not include analytics, crash reporting, tracking or third-party code.
• It does not collect personal information of any kind. We have nothing to sell, share or disclose.

7. Permissions

• Camera (required). Needed to notice hand-to-face gestures. macOS asks the first time you start watching. You can revoke it at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera; Shoo will simply stop working until you grant it again.
• Notifications (optional). Only requested if you turn on "Show a notification". macOS asks when you do.
• Login item (optional). Only registered if you turn on "Launch at login". It uses Apple's standard login-item mechanism and can be removed in System Settings → General → Login Items.

8. Sandbox and security

Shoo runs inside the macOS App Sandbox with a single entitlement: camera access (com.apple.security.device.camera). It requests no network, file, microphone, location or other device entitlements. This is enforced by the operating system, not just by our code. Because the app is open source, you can verify this yourself in the repository.

9. Third parties

Shoo contains no third-party SDKs, libraries or services. It is built only with Apple's own frameworks (such as AVFoundation, Vision, SwiftUI, ServiceManagement and UserNotifications), which run locally on your Mac and are governed by Apple's privacy policy.

If you download Shoo from GitHub, your interaction with GitHub is covered by GitHub's privacy statement. If you install it from the Mac App Store, Apple's App Store terms apply to the download. In neither case do we receive any information about you.

10. Children

Shoo does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. The app is a general-purpose reminder tool and is not directed at children.

11. Your rights and choices

Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to access, correct, export or delete on request. Everything Shoo stores is on your Mac and under your control:

• Turn watching off, or quit the app, to stop all camera use.
• Revoke camera access in System Settings at any time.
• Reset settings from the app's Settings window, or delete the app and its container folder to remove everything.

If you believe we have handled information in a way that is inconsistent with this policy, please contact us. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.

12. Changes to this policy

If Shoo ever changes how it handles information (for example, if an opt-in diagnostics feature were added), this policy will be updated before the change ships, with a new effective date at the top. The current version is always available at jkkronk.github.io/shoo/privacy.html, in the app under Settings → About, and in the repository as docs/PRIVACY.md. The repository's commit history shows every change.

13. Contact

Questions about privacy? Open an issue at github.com/jkkronk/shoo/issues or see the support page for other ways to reach us.