Effective date: June 2026

The short version

PipeCleaner collects nothing. There is no analytics SDK, no telemetry endpoint, no crash reporter, and no cloud backend. The app makes no network connections of any kind — every transform runs locally on your Mac.

What the app accesses

The clipboard. PipeCleaner reads your clipboard when you paste into the window, run “Clean Clipboard,” or invoke the CLI in clipboard mode — and writes the cleaned result back when you ask it to. With Auto-Clean enabled, it checks the clipboard a few times per second (only while the toggle is on) and rewrites text copied from terminal apps. The previous clipboard contents are kept in memory only, solely to power “Undo Last Auto-Clean,” and are discarded as soon as your clipboard moves on. Clipboard text is never stored to disk by the clipboard monitor and never transmitted anywhere.

Text you explicitly send it. Text passed in through the Services menu item (“Clean with PipeCleaner”), the Shortcuts actions (“Clean Text,” “Clean Clipboard”), or the command line is processed in memory and returned. It is not retained.

A local hand-off file. When the CLI is set to “Show in the PipeCleaner window,” the piped text is briefly written to a file inside the app’s own container on your Mac so the window can pick it up; the file is deleted as soon as it’s read. It never leaves your device.

Usage counters. The app keeps simple local statistics — how many cleanups it’s run, tables it’s reformatted, and lines it’s fixed — so the menu bar can show a running count. These are integers stored in the app’s local preferences on your Mac. They contain no text content and are never transmitted.

What we don’t collect

  • No crash reports
  • No analytics events
  • No usage data sent anywhere
  • No device identifiers
  • No accounts, no sign-in
  • No clipboard contents stored or transmitted

Third-party SDKs

None. The app has no third-party dependencies.

Data retention

Because no data leaves your Mac, there is nothing for us to retain or delete on your behalf. All data stays on your device, under your control. Deleting the app removes its preferences and container.

Children

PipeCleaner is a utility app with no user accounts, no social features, and no data collection. It is suitable for all ages.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, the updated version will be posted at https://dangauthier.page/pipecleaner-privacy-policy/ with an updated effective date.

Contact

Questions about privacy: [email protected]