Privacy

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Local-first by design

QualBuddy is designed as a local-first tool. Your audio files, transcripts, pseudonym maps, notes and exports are stored on your device unless you choose to move or share them.

Interview audio, transcripts, analysis notes, codebooks, quote banks and pseudonym maps are processed on your own machine. QualBuddy does not upload your interview data for processing.

Local transcription and speaker separation

The current Mac and Windows installers include the software and models used for transcription and speaker separation. Those tasks run on your computer; the normal setup does not require a separate Python installation or model download. An optional custom transcription model is read from a folder you select on your device.

This website

The website has no analytics. You can download the Mac or Windows app from our own download address without giving your email; you sign in inside the app. Licences are paid for in Paddle’s checkout, described below. Questions and feedback use email links that open a draft for you to send. Opening an email link does not submit a request. If you play one of the small games hidden on this site, it sends nothing over the internet and your browser keeps your progress on your device.

Trial accounts and verification emails

When you request a sign-in code, your email address is sent to QualBuddy’s account service on Cloudflare and to Resend to deliver the message. Verification creates an account. It does not subscribe you to marketing or start the trial.

We store your email, verification and trial dates, active device installation IDs and account access records. The account database is provisioned in Western Europe and email sending uses Resend’s Ireland region. These settings do not mean every part of the providers’ infrastructure is confined to those locations.

During a trial, the app also sends the length of each recording it transcribes or separates into speakers, with a scrambled fingerprint of that recording, so the 3 hours of trial transcription can be counted. The fingerprint is made on your computer with a key that never leaves it, so it cannot be matched to a recording anywhere else. The app never sends the recording or its words. These counts are deleted with your account.

Codes expire after 10 minutes. Unused session credentials expire after 30 days. Expired verification challenges, sessions and rate-limit counters are removed by a daily cleanup job. Rate-limit identifiers are protected with keyed hashes; we do not put raw IP addresses in that database. Cloudflare and Resend also process connection and delivery information to operate their services.

Account and activation history remains until account removal, including the original trial dates so reinstalling does not reset a trial. Contact hello@qualbuddy.com to request account removal or corrections. Provider operational records may follow their own retention periods; see Cloudflare’s privacy policy and Resend’s privacy policy.

The website does not ask for your email or keep a login. The desktop app stores its account credentials encrypted using the operating system’s secure storage. It sends account credentials and its installation ID for activation and access checks. It does not send research recordings, transcripts, notes or participant data to the account service.

Buying a licence

Paddle.com is our reseller and Merchant of Record. When you buy a licence, Paddle collects your payment details, email address, country and postcode to take the payment, work out tax, prevent fraud and send your receipt, under Paddle’s privacy notice. We never see your card details.

Our account service gives Paddle your account’s email address when you open a checkout from the app. Paddle then tells the service when the payment completes, or is refunded or disputed, so the licence goes to, or is withdrawn from, the account you signed in with. We keep a record of each purchase with your account: Paddle’s order reference, its status and dates. We keep it for as long as the account exists and as long as tax and accounting rules require.

Only our checkout page, qualbuddy.com/buy/, loads Paddle’s checkout code; the rest of this website does not. The checkout opens when you start a purchase from the app, and may use cookies or similar technology to prevent fraud.

When you email us

If you send a message, we receive your email address and the information you choose to include. We use that correspondence to respond to your question or feedback and, where you ask us to, follow up about product updates. Email is handled through email services; it is separate from the research you keep in the desktop app.

For support, an app version and a description of the problem are a useful starting point. Please do not send interview audio, transcripts, participant details or other confidential research material. Check any screenshot for identifying information before sending it.

You can ask us to stop product follow-up emails, or request removal of your contact details, by emailing hello@qualbuddy.com.

Pseudonymisation, not anonymisation

QualBuddy supports pseudonymisation, but it does not guarantee full anonymisation. Researchers remain responsible for checking outputs and meeting their own ethics, governance and data protection requirements.

Your responsibilities

• Use QualBuddy only where it fits your ethics approval, data management plan and local institutional or NHS governance requirements.
• Review pseudonymised outputs before sharing them — automated support is a help, not a substitute for researcher judgement.
• Manage backups, retention and deletion in line with your own data management plan. QualBuddy provides project backup and deletion controls to support this.
• Take care with exported files and backups, which may contain identifiable material. Copies you place in shared or synchronised folders are handled by the services you choose to use.

Questions

Email hello@qualbuddy.com with any questions about how QualBuddy handles data.