--- title: "Privacy Policy - PaneStack" description: "What PaneStack and this website do with your data: your files stay on your Mac." canonical: https://panestack.app/privacy.html --- # Privacy Policy Last updated: 14 November 2026 PaneStack is owned and run by Sheik Ahamed, who is responsible for your data. You can reach him at [support@panestack.app](mailto:support@panestack.app). PaneStack is a file manager, so it sees your files and folders to do its job. This policy explains what stays on your Mac and the little that doesn't. ## The app PaneStack runs on your Mac. It has no account, and no analytics, crash reporting or tracking. - File names, folders, tags and contents are read to list, preview, search and organise them, and are not sent anywhere. - Searching, including plain-words search, searching inside documents and reading text in pictures and PDFs, happens on your Mac with Apple's Spotlight and Vision. - Ask, summaries and name suggestions use Apple's on-device model, on macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence. PaneStack never sends your files to a server model. - Settings, workspaces, saved searches, recent places, the undo history and the licence file are saved on your Mac, in ~/Library/Application Support/PaneStack and PaneStack's preferences. - Passwords and keys for servers you add, and passwords you choose to keep for encrypted disk images, are stored in your Keychain. ## What the app sends When you activate a licence, and about once a day after that, PaneStack contacts Dodo Payments to check that your key is valid. The request contains your licence key and your Mac's name, which shows you which Mac a licence is on. It contains nothing about your files. PaneStack checks for updates by fetching a list of versions from this website. That request says which version of PaneStack you have, and nothing else. Everything else happens only when you ask for it: - **Servers you add.** A WebDAV, S3 or SFTP server is contacted only when you open it, and files go straight between your Mac and that server. Share links are made by your own server. - **Phone transfer.** Files go over your own Wi-Fi to a one-time address with a random secret, which stops working when you close the panel. - **Maps.** When you look at where a photo was taken, the map is drawn by Apple Maps, which receives the area being shown. - **Handoff.** If Handoff is on in System Settings, the folder you're in is offered to your other Macs on the same Apple Account, through Apple. - **Logs.** "Collect Logs" makes a zip on your Desktop with PaneStack's log from the last day and your Mac's model and macOS version. It's never sent by itself. The log can include the names of files and folders you worked with, so look through it before you send it. "Report a Problem" opens an email to us that includes only the PaneStack and macOS versions and your Mac's model. ## Permissions PaneStack asks for a permission only when you first use something that needs it. Full Disk Access lets it show protected folders, Accessibility lets it help in Open and Save dialogs, and Automation lets it ask Finder to empty the Trash and put back items. Changing protected files uses the system's administrator prompt. You can turn any of them off in System Settings. ## This website This website uses no cookies, no analytics scripts and no advertising pixels, and its fonts are served from this website, so your visit isn't shared with anyone else. The server keeps standard logs, including your IP address, for a short time to keep the website running and secure; we read them to see which sites link to us and which crawlers visit. When you download PaneStack, the server counts it: the day, your country and the page you came from. The country is worked out on our own server from your IP address, which isn't stored with the count. To avoid counting a double click twice, a scrambled form of your IP address and browser is kept for five minutes, with a key that changes every day. ## Purchases Dodo Payments, as merchant of record, collects your name, email, billing details and payment details. We don't see your full card number. Your licence key is also shown on our thank-you page after checkout, which removes it from the address bar and doesn't store it. We use your email to deliver your licence key, answer support requests and, rarely, tell you about important product or security updates. ## Sharing We don't sell your data. We share it only with the providers named here, as needed to run the service, or where the law requires it. These providers can be in other countries, including the United States, so your data may be handled outside your own country. ## Keeping data and your rights We use your data to deliver what you bought and meet legal duties, and for our legitimate interest in running and securing this website. Order records are kept as tax and accounting rules require. You can ask for a copy of your personal data, or for it to be corrected or deleted, by writing to us. You can also complain to your local data protection authority. To remove what PaneStack stored on your Mac, see [Removing PaneStack](https://panestack.app/support.html#removing-panestack). ## Children PaneStack is not directed at children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their data. ## Changes If this policy changes, we'll update the date above and note material changes on this website. ## Contact Privacy questions? Write to [support@panestack.app](mailto:support@panestack.app).