Koanshell · Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 21 September 2026

The short version

Who we are

Koanshell is a desktop meeting assistant for macOS and Windows, run from India. In this policy "Koanshell", "we" and "us" mean the operator of the Koanshell app and koanshell.com. For anything about your data, write to privacy@koanshell.com.

What we collect, and why

WhatWhy
Account details: your email address and a securely hashed password (we can't read your password) To sign you in, verify your email, reset your password and send important account notices
Meeting audio, while a meeting is running Streamed to our speech-to-text provider to produce the live transcript. Never recorded or stored by us.
Screenshots, only when you press the explain-my-screen key Sent to our AI provider to answer your question. Never stored by us.
Transcripts, summaries, the questions you ask and the answers So you can review past meetings. Encrypted before they are written to our database.
Your custom instructions for the assistant To apply them to your answers
Usage counts: how many minutes and requests you used and what they cost us To apply fair-use limits and spending caps, and for billing
Security records: sign-ins, password changes and similar events, stored against your account number (never your password or email address), and your IP address in short-lived rate-limit counters To protect your account and the service from abuse

The website itself sets no cookies and runs no analytics. It only remembers your light/dark theme choice in your own browser.

Who processes your data for us

We use a small number of service providers, only to run Koanshell:

ProviderWhat they receiveWhy
xAIMeeting audio; for "think deeper" answers, the transcript and your questionLive transcription and in-depth answers
Requesty (an AI routing service) and the AI model host it routes toTranscript excerpts, summaries, your questions and screenshots you choose to sendSummaries and answers
Our cloud server hostEverything stored on our server (encrypted where described above)Running the service
CloudflareWebsite traffic, and email sent to @koanshell.com addressesHosting the website, delivering mail
ResendYour email address and the email we send youSign-up, password-reset and account emails
Our payment provider, if you pay by cardPayment details, entered directly with themTaking payment. We never see your card number.

Some of these providers process data outside India, including in the United States. We choose providers that commit to protecting it and to using it only to provide their service to us.

Recording other people

Koanshell transcribes everyone it can hear, including the other people in your meeting. You are responsible for telling them and getting their consent where the law or your workplace requires it. See our Terms.

How long we keep it

Your rights

Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and similar laws where you live, you can ask to see, correct or erase your personal data, and withdraw consent. You can delete meetings and your account yourself in the app. For anything else, email privacy@koanshell.com and we'll reply within 30 days. If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India or your local data-protection authority.

Security

Everything travels over encrypted connections. Passwords are hashed, meeting text is encrypted in our database, and the desktop app keeps your sign-in in your operating system's secure storage. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your data, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires. To report a security issue, write to security@koanshell.com.

Children

Koanshell is not meant for anyone under 18, and we don't knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date above and email you before the change takes effect.