Privacy Policy

Bellows — Developer Tools

Last updated: August 21, 2026

1. Data Controller (Verantwortlicher)

Eduard Bruch

Kleinfeld 28c

21149 Hamburg, Deutschland

2. Overview

Bellows ("the App") is a macOS utility containing developer tools that format, encode, decode, convert and inspect text — JSON, JWTs, Base64, hashes, timestamps, regular expressions and so on.

People paste sensitive material into tools like this: production tokens, API responses, customer records, configuration files. So the important statement comes first. The App collects no data, transmits no data, and has no ability to transmit data. There is no server, no account, no analytics and no advertising. This is not merely a promise in a policy — it is enforced by macOS, and section 3 explains how you can verify it yourself.

3. No Network Entitlement — Enforced by macOS

The App runs inside Apple's App Sandbox. A sandboxed app can only do what its entitlements permit, and network access is an entitlement that must be requested explicitly. The App requests exactly two:

com.apple.security.app-sandbox — run inside the sandbox at all.
com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write — read and write files you explicitly choose in an open or save dialog.

Neither com.apple.security.network.client nor com.apple.security.network.server is present. Without them, macOS refuses outbound connections at the kernel level. The App could not send your data anywhere even if it contained code that tried to.

You do not have to take this on trust. Right-click the App in Finder, choose Show Package Contents, and inspect the code signature — or run codesign -d --entitlements - /Applications/Bellows.app in Terminal. The entitlements are listed in full, and network access is not among them.

4. What the App Processes

Everything you type or paste into a tool is held in memory for as long as that tool window is open, transformed on your Mac by the CPU in front of you, and discarded when you clear the field, switch tools or quit. None of it is written to disk by the App, and none of it is included in any stored setting.

4.1 Clipboard access

The App reads your clipboard in exactly two situations, both of which you initiate: when you press the Paste button inside a tool, and when you press the Inspect Clipboard global shortcut, if you have assigned one. In the second case the App examines the clipboard text only to decide which tool fits it — for example, text beginning with eyJ suggests a JWT — and then fills that tool in for you. The App does not monitor the clipboard in the background and does not read it while idle.

4.2 Files

The App only ever touches files you select yourself through a standard macOS dialog. It has no access to your Documents, Desktop, Downloads or any other location unless you explicitly point it there in that dialog.

5. The Markdown Preview and Its Web View

One tool, Markdown Preview, renders your Markdown using a system web view so that you see a formatted page rather than raw HTML. This is disclosed because "web view" understandably sounds like a network feature. It is not one. The generated HTML is handed to the view directly as a string with no base URL, JavaScript is disabled, and the sandbox has no network entitlement — so there is no origin to load remote resources from and no way to request them. Nothing about your Markdown leaves the machine.

6. Data Stored on Your Device

The App saves a small amount of preference data locally, in the standard macOS preferences store for the App. It never leaves your Mac, other than through your own iCloud or Time Machine backups, which are under your control. It consists of:

which tools you used most recently, so the Recents list works;
which tool was last open;
your keyboard shortcut assignments;
whether the App launches at login and whether it appears in the Dock;
the date you last dismissed the review prompt, so you are not asked again.

Note what is not in that list: none of the text you process is stored, and the Recents list records tool names only — never their contents. Deleting the App removes this data.

7. No Analytics, Tracking or Advertising

The App contains no analytics SDK, no crash reporting service, no advertising identifier and no third-party tracking of any kind. It builds no profile of you and there is nothing to opt out of. The open-source components it uses — for preferences, keyboard shortcuts, launch-at-login and opening the Settings window — all operate purely locally.

8. Data Sharing with Third Parties

No personal data is shared, sold or transmitted, because none is collected. Two third parties are nonetheless involved in ordinary use and should be named:

Apple — if you obtain or purchase the App through the Mac App Store, Apple processes the download and payment under its own privacy policy. The developer receives only anonymised, aggregated sales and download reports; these cannot identify you.
Apple's review prompt — if you choose to leave a review, Apple's standard rating dialog handles it. The App neither sees nor stores your rating or review text.

9. Data Retention

Text you process is retained only in memory, for the lifetime of the window. Preferences persist on your Mac until you delete the App. Nothing is retained anywhere else, because nothing is sent anywhere else.

10. Your Rights (DSGVO / GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

In practice these rights have no data to attach to here: the developer holds no personal data about you and has no means of identifying you. Any data the App creates lives on your own device and is deleted when you delete the App. If you would like this confirmed in writing, contact the address in section 1.

11. Children's Privacy

The App is a developer utility and is not directed at children. It collects no data from anyone, including children under 16.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

This policy may be updated if the App changes. Any change that would affect how data is handled — in particular, adding a network entitlement — would be reflected here and in the App's release notes before it took effect. The date at the top of this page shows the current version.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy or about how the App handles data: support@eduardbruch.com