Privacy Policy

This policy covers the Thump macOS app and this website. Thump is built by an independent developer; questions about anything below are welcome at thegreenninja101@gmail.com.

The sensor

Thump works by reading the motion sensor (accelerometer) built into Apple Silicon MacBooks and looking for the vibration pattern of a tap. All of this happens in real time, in memory, on your Mac. Sensor readings are never recorded to disk, never leave your device, and are discarded the moment they have been checked for a tap.

Permissions Thump asks for

• Input Monitoring — macOS gates access to the motion sensor behind this permission. Thump also uses it to notice that a key was pressed, so taps can be ignored while you type. Which keys you press is never inspected, logged, or transmitted. Thump is not a keylogger and contains no keystroke recording of any kind.
• Accessibility — used solely to press the media keys (play/pause, volume, mute) you assign to gestures. Nothing is read through this permission.

What the app stores

Your settings — gesture assignments, sensitivity, preferences — are stored locally on your Mac in the standard user defaults system. They stay there.

Usage analytics (telemetry)

To understand which features are used and catch crashes, the app may send anonymous usage events through a privacy-focused service such as TelemetryDeck or PostHog. When enabled, an event looks like “a double-tap gesture ran” or “onboarding completed,” together with the app version, macOS version, and device model.

• No names, emails, or account identifiers — there are no accounts.
• No accelerometer readings, ever.
• No keystrokes or key contents, ever.
• No advertising identifiers and no cross-app tracking.
• You can turn telemetry off in Thump’s settings at any time.

Software updates

Thump checks for updates using the open-source Sparkle framework. An update check is an ordinary web request to our update feed, which — like any web request — includes your IP address and the app version. Update checks contain no personal information and can be limited to manual checking in settings.

This website

The site is static. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (IP address, page requested, browser). We may use a privacy-respecting analytics tool such as PostHog to count page views and see which sections people read — configured without advertising cookies and without selling or sharing data with data brokers.

Who we share data with

Nobody, except the service providers needed to run the things described above (hosting, the update feed, and the analytics service if enabled). Each receives only what is necessary to provide its function. We never sell personal data.

Children

Thump is not directed at children under 13 and collects no personal information from anyone.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, the date above will be updated and significant changes will be noted in the app’s release notes.

Contact

thegreenninja101@gmail.com