MacTidy
Privacy Policy
Last updated October 16, 2026
The short version. MacTidy scans your Mac locally. Your file names, folders and scan results never leave your Mac. The app has no analytics and no account. It makes four kinds of network requests: activating and checking your license, checking for app updates, downloading updates, and downloading updated cleanup rules. Polar handles payments and sees what any store would. This site sets no cookies and runs no trackers.
Who is responsible
Zeus Olivar, the developer of MacTidy, is responsible for the personal data described here. Contact: support@mactidy.dev.
What the app does with your files
MacTidy reads file sizes, dates and locations on your Mac to build the disk map and find items to clean. It runs entirely on your Mac. It doesn't upload, sync or share any file, file name, folder name or scan result, and it doesn't read the contents of your documents.
If you grant Full Disk Access, MacTidy can see folders macOS protects by default, such as Mail and other apps' containers. That data is read on your Mac in the same way and is never sent anywhere. You can remove the permission any time in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, Full Disk Access.
What the app sends over the network
| Request | Sent to | What it contains | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| License activation and check | Polar (api.polar.sh) | Your license key; a one-way hashed identifier derived from this Mac's hardware ID, which can't be turned back into the hardware ID; the Mac's model identifier, such as Mac15,3; a label for this activation (the model and a short code, or a name you type or choose, such as your Mac's name); and the app version | When you activate or deactivate, and about once a day while MacTidy is open. If MacTidy can't reach Polar for 30 days, cleaning and the uninstaller pause until the next successful check; scanning, the disk map and Undo keep working. |
| Update check | mactidy.dev | The app's name and version, in the request's user agent | About once a day, unless you turn it off |
| Update download | Our download server | A standard download request, nothing else | When you choose to install an update |
| Cleanup rule update | mactidy.dev | A standard download request, nothing else (it may include a cache tag so unchanged rules aren't downloaded again) | About once a day |
Like any web request, these also reveal your IP address to the server that receives them. We don't use IP addresses to identify you or build a profile, and our host keeps request logs only for a short period for security and operations.
MacTidy keeps your license key and activation details in your Mac's Keychain. When it checks your license, Polar's reply also includes the customer details on the order, such as name, email and billing address. MacTidy doesn't read, store or send them.
MacTidy doesn't include analytics, advertising identifiers, or an automatic crash reporter. If you send us a crash report or log yourself, we use it only to fix the problem.
Purchases
Polar Software, Inc. processes orders as our merchant of record. To complete a purchase, Polar collects your name, email address, billing country and payment details, and handles them under Polar's privacy policy. We never see your full card details. Polar shares with us your name, email address, country, what you bought, and your license key and its activations, so we can provide your license and support.
This website
mactidy.dev is hosted by Vercel. It sets no cookies, loads no third-party scripts or fonts, and runs no analytics. Vercel processes standard request data, such as IP addresses, to serve and protect the site.
When you email us, we use your email address and message only to reply and to help with your issue. We don't add you to a mailing list unless you ask to join one.
Why we're allowed to use this data
If you live in the EU, the UK or a country with similar law, here is the legal basis for each use:
- Activating and checking your license, and helping with your order: to perform our contract with you.
- Update and rule checks, server request logs, and replying to your emails: our legitimate interest in keeping MacTidy working, up to date and secure, and in answering you. You can turn off automatic update checks in MacTidy's settings.
- Keeping order records: our legal obligations under tax and accounting law.
You don't have to give us any personal data to use MacTidy's free features. To use the paid features, MacTidy must send the license data listed above to Polar; without it, a license can't be activated. To buy, Polar needs the details listed under Purchases. We don't make automated decisions about you.
Where data is processed
Polar, Vercel and the provider that hosts our downloads may process data in the United States, outside your country. Where the law requires it, these transfers rely on safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. Ask us at support@mactidy.dev if you want details.
How long we keep data
- Order and license records: as long as your license is active, and afterwards as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Support emails: up to two years after the conversation ends, unless you ask us to delete them sooner.
- Server request logs: kept by our hosting provider for a limited period, then deleted.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask to see, correct, export or delete the personal data we hold about you, or object to how we use it. Email support@mactidy.dev and we'll respond within 30 days. For data Polar holds as merchant of record, you can also contact Polar directly. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
We don't sell or share personal data for advertising.
Children
MacTidy isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal data.
Changes
If we change how MacTidy handles data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If a change means the app sends something new, we'll say so in the release notes before that version ships.