Security
Private by architecture, backed by concrete security choices.
No telemetry, no phone-home
The app sends no usage data or analytics of any kind. Everything it does reach the network for is listed below — the same list as Privacy & your data, rendered from one definition.
| Call | When | Where to |
|---|---|---|
| Model download | The first time you use a model, then cached and run offline. Nothing of yours is sent — it is a file download, and every file is checked against a build-time checksum before it is used |
|
| Model catalogue | When you open the model list in Settings, to see which models exist and how big they are. Asks for a file listing — nothing of yours is part of the request |
|
| ONNX Runtime download | First run, if the runtime is not already present. Checked against a build-time checksum before it is used |
|
| Bug report / feedback form | Only when you click Report a bug or Send feedback. Opens a form in your browser — Zerds sends nothing to it, and attaches no recording, transcript or log |
|
| Your remote AI endpoint | Only if you configure one. Transcript text goes to the server you chose |
|
| Discord | Only during a Discord recording you start |
|
| Store ownership confirmation | On launch, on a Microsoft Store build. Windows confirms the licence you already own — no Zerds account, and no transcript, recording or filename is part of it |
|
The local dashboard is locked down
The optional web dashboard binds to 127.0.0.1 only, is read-only, escapes all HTML (XSS-defended), and sets a Content-Security-Policy. It can't be reached from other machines.
Verified, bounded downloads
Model downloads are checked against expected digests before use, with size caps to guard against decompression bombs. Archive extraction is hardened against path-traversal ("zip-slip").
Safe by construction
- All database queries are parameterized — no SQL injection surface.
- TLS connections use your OS trust store, with no insecure fallbacks.
- External processes are spawned via argument lists, never by feeding transcribed text to a shell.
Credentials & encryption
Any stored credentials (a Discord bot token, or a bearer token for your own AI server) live in a config file restricted to your own Windows user account. The transcript database can additionally be encrypted at rest with a password you set.
Audited dependencies
The dependency tree is scanned against the RustSec advisory database; the latest review reported zero known vulnerabilities. Discord audio is decrypted end-to-end (Discord's DAVE, MLS + AES-256-GCM).