Audio Retention | Parrot Scribe Docs

Retention Policies

You can configure retention in Settings -> Retention.

Retention exposes two related controls:

When you tighten transcript retention, Parrot Scribe calculates and shows impact before you apply changes.

Retention settings with one-week selection

Retained audio is stored as encrypted data on your local disk.

No Plaintext: Audio files are never stored in a standard playable format (like MP3 or WAV) on your disk.
AES-256-GCM: Each audio chunk is encrypted using AES-256-GCM with keys derived from a root key in your Mac's Keychain.
Chunked Data: Audio is broken into small, encrypted segments that cannot be reconstructed without the app and the local key material on your Mac.

Retained audio stays encrypted on your local disk, and the key that unlocks it is rooted in your Mac's Keychain.

Audio Stays Local: Audio recordings themselves are never uploaded; only the encryption root is carried by iCloud Keychain, so a replacement Mac or a second Mac on your Apple ID can decrypt your retained audio.
Recovery Key: Your free 24-word recovery key restores access on a machine without iCloud Keychain.
Pre-Migration Backups: Backup snapshots taken before the portable-key upgrade remain tied to the original Mac's hardware and cannot be opened on another machine. Snapshots taken after the upgrade open anywhere your key does.

You can disable audio retention from Settings -> Retention.

Retention settings with audio retention enabled

When disabling audio retention, Parrot Scribe prompts for confirmation and removes retained audio across stored sessions.

Retention settings alternate state

If you want the technical details behind retention behavior:

read Apple Keychain Access for the Mac Keychain root of trust context
read Encryption Architecture for the Mac Keychain root, key separation, and encrypted storage details
review Privacy Model for the product-level privacy stance
continue to Local Architecture Rationale for the trust-boundary and local-first design logic