Plain-language policy
Privacy
UsageBeacon is built to work locally and does not operate a UsageBeacon account service. Crash reporting is on for new installations and can be turned off at any time. Anonymous usage analytics remain off until you enable them.
Data on your Mac
Provider credentials and secrets are stored in the macOS Keychain. App preferences and usage snapshots stay in local app storage.
Provider connections
When you configure a provider, UsageBeacon connects directly from your Mac to that provider or to the custom endpoint you supplied. Those requests are governed by the provider’s own privacy policy and terms.
Calendar access
Calendar access is optional. When enabled, UsageBeacon reads the selected calendars locally to exclude holidays and time off from working-day budget calculations.
Updates
The app periodically requests a static Sparkle update feed hosted on GitHub Pages. Downloads are served by GitHub Releases. GitHub may process normal web request information under its own privacy policy.
Diagnostics
Settings provides separate controls for crash reports and anonymous usage analytics. Crash reporting is on for new installations; the app presents this choice on first launch and you can turn it off at any time. Existing installations retain their saved choice when updating. Anonymous usage analytics are off by default and are sent only when you enable them. When crash reporting is on, Google Firebase Crashlytics may receive crash stack traces, sanitized unexpected-error categories, app and operating-system versions, device model, timestamps, and random installation or session identifiers. If you enable anonymous usage analytics, Google Firebase Analytics may receive feature names, connector type, refresh outcome, retry count, coarse duration buckets, app and device metadata, and random installation identifiers. UsageBeacon does not send API keys, cookies, account identifiers, provider responses, URLs, spending, budgets, limits, or token usage in telemetry. Diagnostics are used only to understand reliability and feature adoption; they are not used for advertising. Data is handled under Firebase’s privacy and security terms and the project’s retention settings. UsageBeacon also leaves Sparkle system profiling disabled.
Website configuration
This website uses Firebase Remote Config to control whether the support link is displayed. Firebase may store a random installation identifier and cached configuration in your browser and process normal request information. The website does not load Firebase Analytics. Release information is requested from GitHub.
Last updated: September 14, 2026.