Privacy Policy

Last updated 13 September 2026

The short version

Mote collects nothing, stores nothing about you, and sends nothing anywhere. It has no network access at all — not restricted, not optional. The app is built without the macOS entitlement that would let it open a network connection, so it cannot transmit data even if it were asked to.

What Mote reads

To draw a map of your disk, Mote reads the names and sizes of files and folders in the location you choose. It does not open, read, copy or index the contents of your files.

Everything it learns lives in memory for the length of the scan and is gone when you quit. Nothing is written to a log, a database, or a file of any kind.

What Mote sends

Nothing. There is no server. There is no account to make, no sign-in, no sync, no telemetry, no crash reporting, no analytics, and no advertising SDK.

This is enforced by macOS, not by our good intentions. Mote ships sandboxed without the com.apple.security.network.client entitlement. A sandboxed app without that entitlement is blocked by the operating system from making outbound connections.

What Mote stores on your Mac

Mote keeps a few small preferences in your own user account, using the standard macOS preferences system:

Whether you have seen the welcome screens.
Whether you prefer rings or blocks.
A security-scoped bookmark for the folder you chose, so you are not asked for permission every time you open the app.
How much you have tidied on the free plan, to apply the free allowance.

These stay on your Mac. Deleting the app removes them.

Purchases

Mote Pro is a one-time purchase handled entirely by Apple's App Store. The transaction happens in Apple's own out-of-process purchase system — Mote never sees, receives or stores your name, email, payment details or Apple Account.

Mote asks StoreKit a single question: has this Apple Account bought Mote Pro, yes or no. Apple's handling of the purchase is covered by Apple's Privacy Policy.

Full Disk Access

macOS keeps some folders locked away from apps. If you grant Mote Full Disk Access in System Settings, it can measure those folders too, so the totals it shows you are accurate. It still only reads names and sizes, and it still cannot send anything anywhere. You can withdraw the permission at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.

Children

Mote is a disk utility and is not directed at children. Since it collects no data from anyone, it collects no data from children.

Changes

If this policy ever changes, the new version will appear on this page with a new date. If a future version of Mote ever collected anything at all, that change would be described here before it shipped.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or anything else: email us.