ChopShop privacy policy

Last updated: May 25, 2026

ChopShop doesn't collect or transmit any personal data. No analytics, no telemetry, no accounts.

What ChopShop does on your machine

Reads and writes .chop document files at locations you pick via Open / Save dialogs. Those documents are plain JSON on your disk and never leave your device. They reference your source media by file path and security-scoped bookmark — the source files themselves are never embedded, copied, or uploaded.
Reads the source audio and video files you drag in or open through the app, so it can play them back and include them in your exported output.
Exports MP4 / MOV / M4A / WAV files where you tell it to save them.
Stores your timeline state, window position, and trial / license metadata in standard macOS UserDefaults on your machine.

Update checks (direct-download build only). The Sparkle framework periodically fetches https://bendansby.com/apps/chopshop/appcast.xml to see if a newer version is available. The request carries only a User-Agent string and the current ChopShop version, the same as any HTTP request. No identifiers, no telemetry, no tracking. The Mac App Store build doesn't use Sparkle — App Store updates handle that.
License activation (direct-download build only). When you enter a license key, ChopShop sends the key to Lemon Squeezy's license API to validate it, and stores a signed local cache so subsequent launches work offline. While the app is in use, a periodic background revalidation hits Lemon Squeezy roughly once a week so revoked or refunded keys stop working within the grace window. No information about your edits, projects, or media is ever sent — only the license key itself. The Mac App Store build doesn't use LicenseKit; in-app purchases are handled by Apple.

No analytics or telemetry of any kind.
No user accounts. No login, no remote configuration.
No advertising, third-party tracking SDKs, or fingerprinting.
No cookies, no server-side logs about you.
No transmission of your source media, your .chop projects, or your exports. They live entirely on your machine.

If anything material changes about what ChopShop collects, this page updates and the next version's release notes call it out explicitly.