Privacy policy

The short version

We do not collect any data. Belay has no accounts, and we run no servers that your data passes through. There is no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising and no tracking. Your phone talks only to your own computer.

How Belay works

Belay Remote lets you control your own Mac or Windows PC from your iPhone. On that computer you run the Belay host, an open-source program you install yourself (github.com/MossLouvan/belay). The app connects directly to it, in one of two ways:

• On your local network, over an encrypted TLS connection. The app remembers your computer’s certificate when you pair, and afterwards talks only to that exact certificate.
• Over your own Tailscale network, if you have set one up to reach your computer away from home. Tailscale is a separate service with your own account; we are not part of it and see nothing that passes through it.

What stays on your phone

The app keeps a small amount of information on your iPhone, in the iOS Keychain or the app’s secure storage:

• the addresses of computers you have paired with;
• the pairing tokens that let those computers recognise your phone;
• each computer’s certificate fingerprint;
• your theme preference.

None of this is sent to us or to anyone else.

What goes to your computer, and only there

While you use the app, it sends these to your own computer, and nowhere else:

• touches, gestures and keystrokes;
• text you type into the terminal;
• files and photos you choose to send;
• text you dictate.

Dictation is turned into text on your iPhone by iOS itself, on the device. Belay sends only the resulting text, and only to your computer.

Notifications you set up yourself

The host can optionally send you a push notification, for example when a task needs a decision. This is off unless you configure it, on your own computer, with a service you choose (such as an ntfy topic or a webhook). Those notifications go from your computer to that service under its own terms; they never pass through us.

Third parties

We do not use any third-party services in the app, and we do not sell, share or rent information, because we have none. Apple runs the App Store and handles your download under Apple’s privacy policy. Tailscale, if you use it, is covered by your own agreement with Tailscale.

This website

gobelay.com is a static site. It sets no cookies and runs no analytics or tracking. Like any web host, our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes the technical details of each request, such as your IP address, to deliver the page and protect it from abuse.

If you contact us

If you email us or open a GitHub issue, we receive what you send, such as your email address or GitHub username and your message. We use it only to reply and to fix the problem you reported, and we delete support emails when they are no longer needed. GitHub issues are public and are governed by GitHub’s own terms.

Children

Belay is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone.

Deleting your data

Everything Belay stores on your phone is removed when you delete the app. To make your computer forget your phone as well, reset pairing on the host by running npm start -- --reset-pairing in the host’s server folder (see Support). There is nothing for us to delete, because we never had it.

Changes to this policy

If we change how Belay handles information, we will update this page and its effective date before the change ships. If a change would mean collecting any data, we will say so here and in the app’s App Store privacy details first.

Contact

Belay
Questions about this policy or your privacy: [email protected]