Privacy Policy

Effective date: May 22, 2026

        The short version: ChatSnap does not collect, transmit, or store your data anywhere. Neither the Mac app nor the browser extension makes any network requests with your messages. Everything ChatSnap does — reading your conversation, building the PDF, and saving it — happens entirely on your own device.
      

What ChatSnap does

ChatSnap comes in two versions, and both turn a conversation into a multi-page PDF that is saved to your own device:

ChatSnap for Mac is a macOS app that reads conversations from the Messages app on your Mac (Apple Messages / iMessage and SMS) and exports the one you choose to a PDF.
ChatSnap for Android is a Chrome extension that captures a conversation you already have open in Google Messages for web (messages.google.com) and assembles it into a PDF.

Information we collect

We collect nothing. ChatSnap has no servers, no analytics, no tracking, and no account system. The contents of your conversations are never read by us, sent to us, or sent to any third party. The PDF that ChatSnap creates exists only on your device and goes only where you choose to save it.

Data stored on your device

The only data ChatSnap stores is your license key, so you don't have to re-enter it. The Mac app keeps it in the app's local preferences on your Mac; the browser extension keeps it in your browser's local extension storage (chrome.storage.local). In both cases it stays on your device, is never transmitted, and can be removed by uninstalling ChatSnap.

License keys

Your license key is verified locally using a cryptographic signature — ChatSnap does not contact any server to validate it. When you purchase ChatSnap, payment is processed by Stripe, and your license key is generated from the email associated with your purchase. We do not receive or store your payment details; those are handled entirely by Stripe under their privacy policy.

Permissions and why they're needed

ChatSnap for Mac

The Mac app needs Full Disk Access, which you grant in System Settings → Privacy & Security. macOS keeps the Messages database behind this permission and offers no narrower option. ChatSnap uses it solely to read your Messages database: it opens the database read-only, never modifies it, and accesses nothing else for any other purpose. The app makes no network requests with your messages and builds the PDF entirely on your Mac.

ChatSnap for Android (Chrome extension)

Permission	Why the extension needs it
`activeTab`	To capture screenshots of the Google Messages tab you're actively using, only when you click the extension.
`scripting`	To scroll the conversation and read what's already on screen so it can be captured in order.
`tabs`	To confirm the active tab is Google Messages before capturing.
`downloads`	To save the finished PDF to your computer.
`storage`	To remember your license key locally so you only enter it once.
Host access to `messages.google.com`	The extension only runs on Google Messages for web and nowhere else.

Children's privacy

ChatSnap is intended for adults and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the effective date above and post the revised version on this page.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Contact us.