01Data controller
Clipbus ("Clipbus", "we", "us", or "our") is a macOS and Windows clipboard manager operated by Junren Wang, an individual developer (sole proprietor) based in Shenzhen, China.
For any privacy questions or to exercise your data rights, contact us at [email protected]. For general or billing matters, you can reach us at [email protected].
02Local-first by design
Clipbus is local-first by default. Your clipboard history is stored on your own device and is not uploaded to us unless you explicitly turn on Cloud Sync.
Using Clipbus locally does not require an account. You stay in control of your clipboard data: you can exclude selected apps from clipboard capture, delete individual items, or clear your entire history at any time.
03How your data flows
Copy: when you copy something, Clipbus captures it locally. If the frontmost app is on your exclusion list, the item is skipped entirely and never enters history.
Store: history is written to an encrypted local SQLite database on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Search: search and detectors run entirely on-device. No query or clipboard content leaves your device.
Sync (optional, off by default): with Cloud Sync enabled, each item is end-to-end encrypted on your device with libsodium, using a passphrase that only you know, and written to your configured sync folder. macOS supports iCloud Drive and custom folders; Windows supports OneDrive and custom local folders. Your chosen storage provider synchronizes the encrypted files, and the other device decrypts them locally. Our servers do not receive or decrypt your clipboard data.
04Plugins and your data
Every plugin runs in its own isolated process, separate from the main app. Plugins receive clipboard data only through a local inter-process protocol on your device — the same mechanism Clipbus's built-in detectors use.
The plugin SDK (@clipbus/plugin-sdk on npm) and the plugin protocol are open source, so you can audit exactly what a plugin can see and do. Like any software you install, a third-party plugin's own code determines what it does with the data it processes — install plugins you trust.
05Information we collect
Clipboard content: By default, clipboard history is kept locally on your device and is not collected by us. If you enable Cloud Sync, items are end-to-end encrypted on your device (libsodium) with a passphrase only you know and synchronized through your configured storage provider. Your clipboard content is never uploaded to our servers, even in encrypted form, and we cannot decrypt it.
Account information: Cloud Sync does not require a Clipbus account. A cloud storage provider such as iCloud Drive or OneDrive may require its own account. Local use does not require an account.
Purchase information: When you buy a Clipbus license, our payment provider Paddle collects your email address and payment details. We receive your email address and license information so we can deliver your license key and provide support. We do not receive or store your full payment card details.
Device and license information: When you activate a license, Clipbus connects to our servers to validate the license and the device. This involves processing license and device identifiers needed for activation and license enforcement.
Usage and diagnostics: The Clipbus macOS app integrates Google Firebase (Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics) to collect usage analytics and crash diagnostics. This may include app interaction events, device and operating-system information, app version, and crash reports. This data helps us understand how the app is used and diagnose stability problems. These events never include your clipboard content. The Settings switch ("Send anonymous usage analytics") controls optional interaction events and crash reports. Basic activity remains enabled: opening the main panel submits a parameter-free activity event at most once every 12 hours, including across restarts, using Firebase’s installation identity and default metadata. Firebase Analytics stays enabled, so its automatically collected events continue independently of this switch and the activity-event interval.
macOS PostHog analytics: The macOS app also sends the selected usage events to PostHog, using a separate random installation identifier. It follows the same optional analytics preference and 12-hour basic activity interval described above. PostHog events exclude clipboard content, search terms, tag names, license keys, and purchase email addresses. Disabling optional analytics clears queued optional events and cancels their pending requests; basic activity remains enabled and is not retried after failure. The PostHog integration does not enable automatic interaction capture, session replay, or crash reporting.
Windows usage analytics: The Windows app integrates PostHog for feature usage statistics. When analytics is configured, it sends selected interaction events, app and operating-system versions, and a random installation identifier. Optional feature analytics is enabled by default and can be turned off in Settings → General → Privacy. Basic activity remains enabled: opening the main panel sends at most one attempt every 12 hours, including across restarts, with a random installation identifier, platform, event time and transport deduplication/privacy flags. Failed attempts are not retried within the interval. Turning off optional analytics does not delete already received events. Events exclude clipboard content, search terms, tag names, license keys, and purchase email addresses. The Windows integration does not enable session replay or upload crash reports.
Website analytics: Our website uses Cloudflare Web Analytics, which automatically injects a privacy-focused JavaScript performance beacon. It uses no cookies, fingerprinting, or cross-site tracking. We see aggregate metrics such as page views, visit counts, referrer host/path, country-level origin, and performance data — never personal identifiers. Cloudflare Web Analytics does not log query strings or UTM parameters.
06How we use information
We use the information described above to provide and operate Clipbus, including optional Cloud Sync; to process purchases and deliver and validate license keys; to activate and enforce licenses; to provide customer support; to diagnose crashes and improve the stability and quality of the app; and to understand aggregate usage so we can improve our product and website.
07Third-party processors
Paddle: Paddle.com acts as our Merchant of Record and processes payments, billing, invoicing, and taxes on our behalf. Your purchase data is handled by Paddle under its own privacy policy, available at https://www.paddle.com/legal/privacy.
Google Firebase: We use Google Firebase (Analytics and Crashlytics) for usage analytics and crash diagnostics in the macOS app. Google processes this data as our service provider. See Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy and how Google uses data at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
PostHog: We use PostHog Cloud to process usage events from the macOS and Windows apps. Data is sent to the US or EU region configured for our analytics project. See PostHog's privacy policy at https://posthog.com/privacy.
Cloudflare: We use Cloudflare (Workers, D1, R2) as the infrastructure for our website and licensing backend. Our servers store only license entitlement records — license keys, device identifiers, and purchase references — never clipboard content. See Cloudflare's privacy policy at https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.
Apple iCloud: If you choose iCloud Drive for Cloud Sync on macOS, encrypted sync files are stored and transported by Apple under your Apple ID, per Apple's privacy policy at https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/. Windows supports OneDrive and custom local sync folders. The selected provider handles storage and transport under its own privacy policy; we are not a party to that storage.
08Data security
Clipboard history stays on your device by default. When Cloud Sync is enabled, your clipboard data is protected with end-to-end encryption (libsodium), which means it is encrypted on your device and we cannot read the plaintext of your synced clipboard content.
We rely on reputable infrastructure providers and apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the limited data we process. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect your information.
09Data retention
Local clipboard history is retained on your device until you delete it or clear your history; you remain in full control of this data.
We retain purchase and license records for as long as necessary to provide the license, support, and comply with legal, tax, and accounting obligations. Usage and crash diagnostics are retained according to the retention settings of the relevant provider.
10Your rights
You can access, delete, and export your local data directly within Clipbus, since it is stored on your own device.
Subject to applicable law, you may also request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal data we hold about you, and you may object to or restrict certain processing. To make a request, contact us at [email protected].
11International data transfers
We are based in China, and our service providers (such as Cloudflare, Paddle, and Google) operate globally. As a result, your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than the one in which you reside, including for payment processing, infrastructure, and diagnostics.
12Children
Clipbus is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.
13Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of Clipbus after an update means you accept the revised policy.
14Contact
For privacy questions or data requests, contact [email protected]. For general support, contact [email protected].