Privacy Policy

How Explain This handles your data

Last updated: October 10, 2026

The short version

Explain This is a macOS app you install and run locally. When you select text and ask for an explanation, that text is sent directly from your Mac to the AI provider you chose (Google Gemini, OpenRouter or Vercel AI Gateway), using an API key that belongs to you. There is no Explain This server in between. The developer does not receive, see, or store the text you explain.

What the app does with your text

When you press the hotkey, the app captures your current text selection and sends it to your chosen provider to generate an explanation, authenticated with your own API key. For Google Gemini that is generativelanguage.googleapis.com. The request goes straight from your device to the provider. It is not routed through, logged by, or stored on any server operated by the developer of Explain This.

Your use of Gemini is subject to Google's own terms and privacy policy, since it is your account and your key. If you choose OpenRouter (openrouter.ai) or Vercel AI Gateway (ai-gateway.vercel.sh) instead, the text is sent directly to that service with your own key, and that provider's terms and privacy policy apply. Nothing is sent to any provider until you set up a key and ask for an explanation.

Your API key

Your API key is stored locally on your Mac, in the macOS Keychain. It is never transmitted anywhere except directly to the provider you chose, as authentication for your own explanation requests. The developer never receives your API key.

Clipboard access

To capture your selected text, the app briefly uses the system clipboard (simulating Copy, reading the result, then restoring whatever was on your clipboard beforehand). This happens locally and momentarily. Clipboard contents are not stored or transmitted anywhere beyond that immediate capture.

Automatic update checks

The direct-download version periodically checks a remote feed to see if a new version is available, and can download and install updates automatically (you can disable this in Settings). This is a standard web request to the update feed's host. The developer does not log or retain personal information from these checks beyond what any web request inherently involves, such as your IP address being visible to the hosting provider.

Accessibility permission

The app requests macOS Accessibility permission so its global hotkey can detect selected text system-wide. This is an operating-system permission grant, not a data-collection mechanism. Explain This does not monitor or log your keystrokes or activity in other apps.

Mac App Store version

The Mac App Store version is sandboxed. It has no automatic update checks (updates come from the App Store). Like the direct version, it asks for Accessibility permission so the shortcut can copy the text you have selected, and it restores your clipboard afterwards. The developer collects no data in this version either, and Apple handles any purchase or download records under Apple's privacy policy.

Purchases (direct download)

The direct-download version is distributed and sold through Gumroad. Payment details, billing information, and your purchase record are collected and processed by Gumroad, not by the developer directly. Gumroad's own privacy policy governs how that information is handled.

This website

This website does not use tracking cookies or analytics. No visitor data is collected here.

Children's privacy

Explain This is not directed at children, and the developer does not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as the app or website changes. Material changes will be reflected here with an updated "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent via osborne.vc.