The short version: Bowerbird works on your Mac. We don’t have an account system, we don’t collect analytics, and your files, file names, extracted text and searches are never sent to us or anyone else. The only network requests the app makes are license activation and checks, which send your license key and your Mac’s name to our payment provider, Dodo Payments. This website doesn’t use cookies or trackers either.
Who we are
Bowerbird is developed by DakCyber (https://dakcyber.com), referred to here as “we” or “us”. You can reach us at hello@getbowerbird.app.
The Bowerbird app
What the app processes, and where
To show and search your files, the app reads the folders you choose and builds a local index. That index may contain:
- file names, paths, sizes, dates and types;
- preview thumbnails;
- text recognised inside images and PDFs, using Apple’s on-device text recognition;
- visual fingerprints of photos, used to find duplicates and look-alikes;
- the download source macOS records for downloaded files (for example, the website address), which the app maps to names such as Slack or GitHub.
All of this is created and stored only on your Mac, inside the app’s container in your user Library. It is never uploaded. Deleting the app’s data (from the app’s settings, or by removing its folder) removes the index completely.
What the app does not do
- It has no user accounts and never asks for your email.
- It contains no analytics, telemetry, advertising or third-party tracking SDKs.
- It does not send your files, file names, file contents, extracted text or search queries anywhere.
- It does not permanently delete files. Clean-up actions you confirm move files to the macOS Trash.
Network access
Draft: this section and “Licenses and payments” below are new and still to be reviewed by counsel.
The only network requests the app makes are for your license: when you activate it, about once a day while you’re online, and when you deactivate it. These requests go to Dodo Payments (live.dodopayments.com) and contain your license key, the license instance ID created at activation, and your Mac’s name as set in System Settings (used as the name of the activation, so you can tell your Macs apart). No files, file names, search queries, usage data or hardware identifiers are sent. There are no update checks and no analytics. The app works offline for up to 30 days between license checks. New versions are announced on this website and in the changelog. If we ever add an optional update check, we will describe it here and note it in the changelog before it ships.
Permissions
macOS asks for your permission before the app can read folders such as Downloads, Desktop or Documents. You can review or revoke access at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Crash reports
The app does not send crash reports to us. If something goes wrong and you want to help, you can email us a report yourself, and you’ll see exactly what you’re sharing.
This website
- No cookies, analytics or third-party scripts. We don’t load external fonts, trackers or embeds.
- Local preferences. If you pick a theme or language, that choice is saved in your browser’s local storage, on your device only.
- Server logs. Our hosting provider processes standard request data (such as IP address, browser user agent and the page requested) to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. We don’t use this data to identify or profile visitors.
If you contact us
If you email us or message us on X, we use what you send only to reply and to help you. We don’t add you to any mailing list.
Licenses and payments
Licenses are sold by Dodo Payments, which acts as the merchant of record. When you buy, Dodo Payments collects your name, email address, billing details and payment information to process the payment, handle tax and email you your license key. Your payment details are handled entirely by Dodo Payments: we never see or store your card number. Their privacy policy applies to that data. We receive your order details (name, email, country, product and license key) so we can support you, and we don’t use them for marketing.
Dodo Payments also keeps a list of your activations (the instance ID and your Mac’s name, with the time of activation), so the seat limit of your license can be enforced and you can deactivate a Mac. On your Mac, the app stores your license key, the activation’s instance ID and the date of the last successful check in your macOS Keychain. Deactivating in Settings ▸ License frees the seat and removes them from your Keychain.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, laws such as Türkiye’s KVKK (Law No. 6698) or the EU GDPR give you rights to access, correct or delete personal data. The app doesn’t send us personal data. What we may hold is what you sent us yourself (such as emails) and the order and license details described above. For any of that, write to hello@getbowerbird.app.
Children
Bowerbird isn’t directed at children and we don’t knowingly collect data from anyone, including children.
Changes
If this policy changes, we’ll update the date at the top of this page and note meaningful changes in the changelog.