Nous Privacy Policy
Last updated: 11 October 2026
The short version
- Your conversations, notes and the memory Nous builds about you are stored on your Mac. We don’t have a copy and can’t see them.
- To write a reply, Nous sends your message and the context it needs to an AI model in the cloud. It is used to write that reply and is not kept by us.
- We keep only what we need to run your account: your email address, usage counts, and feedback you choose to send us.
- No ads, no tracking, and we never sell your data.
- You’re in control: turn memory off, delete any memory, export everything, delete everything on your Mac, or delete your account — all inside the app.
1. Who we are
Nous is made by an independent developer, who is responsible for the personal data described in this policy.
Contact: nousapp.team@gmail.com. You can also reach us from Settings › Help & feedback in the app.
2. Stored on your Mac, answered in the cloud
Nous is local-first. Everything you write, and everything Nous learns about you, is saved in a
database on your Mac (nous.db). Signing in doesn’t sync it anywhere. Keys and the sign-ins for apps
you connect are kept in the macOS Keychain.
Writing a reply needs an AI model, which runs in the cloud. So when you send a message, that message and the context Nous picks for it — such as relevant earlier messages, memories, notes or attachments — are sent over an encrypted connection to the AI model, used to write the reply, and the reply comes back to your Mac to be saved there.
Before anything is sent for the first time, Nous explains this and asks you to agree.
3. What we collect and why
| What | Why | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Account details — email address, sign-in methods you link, and the name you give Nous | To create and run your account | Providing the service |
| Your messages, in transit — a message and its context, while a reply is written | To write the reply you asked for. We don’t store it | Providing the service |
| Usage counts and update checks — how many replies were used, and your app version, tied to your invite; no content | Fair-use limits, keeping costs under control, and telling you about updates | Legitimate interest |
| Feedback you send — what you typed, plus the app and macOS version | To fix problems and improve Nous | Legitimate interest |
| A conversation you attach to feedback — only if you choose one when sending: its title and the full text of its messages | To understand the problem or idea in context | Your consent, each time |
| Usage statistics — only if you turn them on: one daily summary of counts, such as messages sent, failed replies and which features were used. No content | To find problems and see what to improve | Your consent |
An email address is needed to have an account. Everything else is optional; if you don’t provide it, only the feature that needs it won’t work.
4. AI processing
Replies are written by large language models from established AI providers. We use them through their business services, under terms that don’t allow them to train their models on your data and limit how long they may keep it — at most 30 days, for safety and abuse checks.
If you turn on web search, your question is also used as a search query.
AI can be wrong. The memory Nous keeps is written by AI reading your conversations, so it can be wrong too — you can review and delete any memory in Settings › Memory.
5. Apps you connect
Nous can read from apps you choose to connect — Apple Calendar and Reminders, Apple Notes and Notion. Nothing is connected until you connect it. Nous reads them on your Mac to spot deadlines and find what’s relevant to what you’re doing; anything it uses in a reply is handled the same way as the rest of your message. For Calendar, Nous can also add or move events for actions you’re tracking. When you ask, Nous can also create a note in Apple Notes or add to one it has read; it never deletes a note. You can disconnect any of them in Settings › Connections or in macOS System Settings › Privacy & Security.
6. Who we share data with
We don’t sell or rent personal data. We share it only with service providers that help us run Nous, and only what each needs:
- Cloud hosting — runs our server.
- Account and database services — sign-in, usage counts and feedback.
- AI model providers — write replies.
- Email — delivers the feedback you send to our support inbox.
They may use the data only to provide their service to us, and must protect it. We may also disclose data if the law requires it. You can ask us for the current list of providers at the contact above.
7. Improving Nous
Because your conversations stay on your Mac, we don’t see them and don’t use them to improve Nous — unless you choose to send one to us. Two things help us improve the app, and both are your choice:
- Feedback, and if you want, one conversation attached to it. Nothing is attached unless you pick it.
- Usage statistics, off by default. Turn them on or off any time in Settings › Data & privacy. They are tied to a random identifier for this installation, not to your account or email.
8. Where data is processed
Our service providers are based mainly in the United States, and may process data in other countries. When your data is transferred to another country or region, we rely on our providers’ data-protection terms, including standard contractual clauses where available.
9. How long we keep it
- On your Mac: until you delete it.
- Account details: until you delete your account.
- Usage counts: while your access to Nous is active, or until you ask us to delete them.
- Feedback, and any conversation attached to it: until it’s no longer needed, or until you ask us to delete it.
- Usage statistics: 24 months, then deleted.
- Messages sent to AI providers: not kept by us; at most 30 days by the provider, as above.
10. Your choices and rights
- Memory: turn it off, review it, or delete one memory or all of them in Settings › Memory. Clearing all memory also wipes it from the database file, and Nous won’t learn again from conversations you had before the clear.
- Data on your Mac: export everything or delete everything in Settings › Data & privacy.
- Your account: delete it in Settings › Profile › Delete account. This permanently deletes your account details and signs you out. Data on your Mac stays until you delete it.
- Access, correction, deletion: ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold, or ask us to correct or delete it, at nousapp.team@gmail.com. We reply within 30 days. If you’re in the EU or UK you can also restrict or object to processing, ask for portability, and withdraw consent at any time.
- Complaints: you can complain to the data protection authority where you live.
11. Security
Data is encrypted in transit. Keys and sign-ins are kept in the macOS Keychain. We don’t log the content of your messages. No system is perfectly secure; your Mac’s own protections (password, FileVault) keep your local data safe.
12. Children
Nous is for people aged 18 and over. If we learn we hold personal data from someone younger, we’ll delete it.
13. Changes
When this policy changes we’ll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we’ll tell you in the app before it takes effect.