TSNLE Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 27, 2026
1. Data Controller
Responsible for TSNLE and its data processing:
Stefan Lohmaier
Weitlstr. 103
80935 München
Germany
Email: admin@slohmaier.com
Website: slohmaier.com
A data protection officer has not been appointed; there is no obligation to appoint one under Art. 37 GDPR or § 38 BDSG.
2. Summary
TSNLE’s core features run entirely offline. Video editing, transcript navigation, timeline operations, and export never transmit your media, transcripts, or project data — none of this data leaves your device unless you use an AI engine that involves a network service (see section 9).
However, TSNLE is licensed software. License activation and validation contact our licensing service at lic.slohmaier.com. This page explains exactly what is sent, what is stored, and on what legal basis.
- No telemetry, analytics, or crash reporting
- No tracking SDKs or advertising libraries
- Network access is limited to: license activation/validation, the update check you trigger manually, the one-time download of a local Whisper model from HuggingFace, and the AI engines described in section 9
3. License Activation & Validation
When you activate or validate a license, TSNLE contacts lic.slohmaier.com (the licensing service operated by Stefan Lohmaier) and sends:
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| License key (UUID issued at purchase) | Verify the key against LemonSqueezy’s records |
| Device hostname (your computer’s name) | Label the activation in the license dashboard |
Device identifier — a SHA-256 hash derived from hardware properties of your device (Windows: registry MachineGuid + system volume serial; macOS: IOPlatformUUID) | Bind the license to your device and enforce the per-device activation limit |
The device identifier is a one-way cryptographic hash. It cannot be reversed to identify your hardware, user account, or any personal information; it is used solely to count and verify device activations.
After a successful activation the server issues a cryptographically signed license token that TSNLE caches locally. Validation runs at each application start: if a network connection is available, TSNLE revalidates against lic.slohmaier.com, sending only the license key, the product identifier, and the device identifier — not the hostname. Without a network connection, the cached token keeps the app fully functional for an offline grace period of 14 days before revalidation is required. No requests are sent on a schedule in the background while the app is running.
4. What Is Stored on Our Server
For each activation, the licensing service stores:
- The license key
- The customer email address (received from LemonSqueezy)
- The device identifier hash
- The device hostname
- Timestamps of activations and validations
- Your IP address (only the most recent one — it is overwritten on each request and removed after 90 days; no history is kept)
The licensing server is hosted by 1blu GmbH in Germany (data processing agreement per Art. 28 GDPR in place).
5. Legal Basis (GDPR)
- Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR (performance of a contract): processing the license key and the device binding (hostname + device identifier) is necessary to provide the licensed software you purchased.
- Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest): processing the IP address and the device fingerprint serves our legitimate interest in enforcing the per-device activation limit and preventing license abuse.
No separate consent is required for this processing.
6. Trial / Evaluation Period
The evaluation period is fully local and contacts no server. During the trial, TSNLE makes no licensing requests whatsoever. The licensing service only ever sees a paid activation — never an evaluation user.
7. Payments
Payments are processed entirely by LemonSqueezy, acting as Merchant of Record and as a separate, independent data controller. LemonSqueezy is US-based, so your payment data is processed in the United States. Stefan Lohmaier does not receive or store your payment details — only the license key and the order metadata required to fulfil the license agreement. During activation, the device name you configured is also forwarded to Lemon Squeezy (USA) as the activation’s instance name. See LemonSqueezy’s privacy policy: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/privacy
8. Update Check (Manual Only)
TSNLE does not check for updates automatically and runs no background polling. An update check happens only when you trigger it yourself via Help ▸ Check for Updates…. It is a single HTTPS GET request to dl.slohmaier.com/appcast/tsnle-win.xml (Windows) or dl.slohmaier.com/appcast/tsnle-mac.xml (macOS) that fetches the current release feed; no license key, device identifier, hardware details, or other personal information are sent beyond the standard technical metadata of any HTTPS request. If a newer version exists, TSNLE offers a download link that opens in your browser — you stay in control of the install. Downloaded updates are verified against an Ed25519 signature before installation.
9. AI Features
TSNLE offers AI-assisted features such as speech-to-text transcription and frame descriptions. All AI features are disabled by default behind a single master toggle in Settings and only run after you explicitly enable them.
Default engine selection (“auto”): When you enable AI features, the transcription engine defaults to “auto”, which picks the best available engine for your hardware. On Apple Silicon Macs, “auto” prefers Apple Speech (see below); otherwise it falls back to local whisper.cpp, then to a cloud engine you have configured.
Apple Speech (macOS): This engine uses the speech recognition built into macOS. Where an on-device language pack is installed, TSNLE requests strictly on-device recognition and your audio never leaves your device. If on-device recognition is not available for the selected language, macOS routes the audio to Apple’s servers for processing — in that case Apple is a recipient of your audio data and processes it under Apple’s privacy policy. TSNLE surfaces a notice when this network fallback applies. If you want to rule out any transmission to Apple, install the language on-device (System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation) or choose a local engine such as whisper.cpp.
Local engines: whisper.cpp (transcription) and Ollama (local language models) run entirely on your device; your audio, video frames, and transcripts never leave it. Note: the first time you use local Whisper transcription, TSNLE downloads the selected model file from HuggingFace over HTTPS (a one-time download containing no personal data beyond the standard technical metadata of the request).
Optional cloud engines: You may optionally configure a cloud AI provider — OpenAI, Groq, Google Gemini, or Anthropic — by entering your own API key. Only if you do so and select that engine, TSNLE sends the audio segments and/or video frames you are processing directly to the provider you selected, which acts as an independent data controller under its own privacy policy. This happens only after your explicit configuration — never automatically. We do not receive, store, or forward any of this data; the connection goes directly from your device to the provider. API keys are stored locally in TSNLE’s settings.json and are never sent to lic.slohmaier.com or dl.slohmaier.com.
Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent, given by enabling AI features and, for cloud engines, by configuring them). You can withdraw consent at any time by disabling AI features, removing the API key, or switching to a local engine. Please review the privacy policy of the provider involved before using it.
10. Local Data Storage
TSNLE stores your preferences and license state locally on your device only, as plain files in the application’s user-data directory (settings.json for preferences, license.json for the cached license token):
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\TSNLE\— TSNLE does not write to the Windows Registry. To delete, uninstall via Windows Settings and remove the%APPDATA%\TSNLEfolder. - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/TSNLE/— TSNLE does not use UserDefaults, and nothing is synced to iCloud. To delete, uninstall the app and remove that folder.
Downloaded Whisper models are also kept in this directory. Project files, media, and transcripts live wherever you save them and are never uploaded by TSNLE.
11. Retention & Your Rights
IP addresses are removed after 90 days. Activations that have not validated for around 18 months are deleted automatically, and the customer email address is anonymized around 12 months after a license is disabled or expires. Deactivating a device in the app immediately deletes that device’s activation record from the server.
Under the GDPR you have the right to access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and to object (Art. 21) to the processing of the data held about you on the licensing server. You can also view and reset your own activations at any time via the self-service portal at https://lic.slohmaier.com/portal.
No automated decision-making or profiling within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR takes place.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (BayLDA), Promenade 18, 91522 Ansbach, Germany (www.lda.bayern.de).
To exercise your rights, email support@slohmaier.com with the subject “Privacy Request — TSNLE”. Requests are handled within 30 days.
12. Changes to This Policy
Any material changes to this policy will be noted on the TSNLE product page at slohmaier.com/products/tsnle and in the release notes.