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GobyStation Privacy Statement

Version 1.3 · 6 October 2026

In plain language: GobyStation runs on your Mac and stays there. We operate no servers, we collect nothing, and there is no telemetry, no account, and no advertising. The only data that ever leaves your Mac is what you choose to send through the optional AI assistant, after it has shown you exactly what it would send — and it goes to the provider you configured, not to us.

What the app reads, and why

To do its job, GobyStation reads file names, paths, sizes, and dates across your disk — including, if you grant Full Disk Access, locations macOS otherwise keeps private. (The Mac App Store edition sees only the folder you choose when it first asks, normally the whole startup disk.) It uses this information on your Mac, to show you what is taking space and what could be removed.

It reads what is inside files in three cases only:

  • Descriptions of apps and background jobs — applications' Info.plist files, the definitions of launch jobs, and the list of login items macOS keeps, to tell you what each app and job is.
  • Your own development projects — in the folders where projects are usually kept (Developer, Projects, Documents, Desktop and similar), it reads the project files that declare an app's identifier: project.pbxproj, project.yml, Info.plist, package.json, tauri.conf.json, .xcconfig files and shell scripts, up to 2 MB each, and never a file that is stored only in iCloud. Only the identifiers are kept, so that the data of apps you build yourself is not offered for removal as the leftovers of a deleted app.
  • Candidate duplicates — files of the same size are compared by content, to confirm they really are copies.

All of this happens on your Mac, and none of it is transmitted.

What stays on your Mac

  • Scan results — the last scan (paths, sizes, the list of apps and of duplicates) is saved in a file only your macOS user account can read, so it can be shown again at the next launch. It is discarded the first time the app opens after a restart, an update, or a change of language.
  • Preferences — stored in Apple’s Keychain, including your language, provider configuration and sandbox folder bookmark.
  • Removal record — a local log of each removal you confirmed (time, mode, what the confirmation showed, items), so you can see exactly what was removed and when. When it grows large, the older part is kept beside it as a dated file. You can delete it at any time; Settings › Legal › Removal record shows it in the Finder.
  • Assistant credentials — if you configure the assistant, your API key is stored in Apple’s Keychain with the provider it belongs to. It is sent only to that provider for authentication.
  • Assistant answers — replies you asked for are kept locally for two weeks so the same question costs one request rather than two. Older ones are deleted, and all of them are deleted when you turn the assistant off.

Scan results, removal records and cached answers remain in the app’s Application Support folder. Settings and credentials remain in Keychain until you remove them through GobyStation or Keychain Access. On upgrade, old settings and key files are removed only after a verified Keychain save; a failed migration preserves the originals and reports the error.

~/Library/Application Support/GobyStation/ ~/Library/Containers/com.gobystation.app/Data/Library/Application Support/GobyStation/

What leaves your Mac

Nothing — with one exception you control. If you enable the AI assistant and ask it about an item, or about a cleanup selection (its 40 largest entries), GobyStation first shows you the exact text, and sends it to that provider only when you press Send. It holds what is needed to answer: names, paths (with your home folder written as ~), sizes, dates, versions and identifiers such as bundle IDs and startup-job labels, plus the question you chose and the interface language — never the contents of your files. That data is handled under the provider's own terms and privacy policy, not ours. Disable the assistant and nothing leaves your Mac at all.

We receive nothing in either case: no analytics, no crash reports, no identifiers, no usage data.

The privileged helper

In the direct-download edition, the optional helper that performs administrator-level removals and switches system startup jobs runs entirely on your Mac, serves administrator accounts only, accepts commands only from GobyStation, and transmits nothing. When it reads the list of login items macOS keeps, it passes the app only your account's entries. The Mac App Store edition has no helper.

Your choices

  • Use the app without Full Disk Access — features that need it will say so.
  • Leave the assistant off, or remove its key at any time in Settings.
  • Delete the removal record whenever you wish.
  • Remove the helper in Settings (direct download).

Changes and contact

If our practices change, this statement's version and date change with them, and the app will show you the new version. Questions: use the developer contact given where you obtained GobyStation — its App Store page for the Mac App Store edition, or https://gobystation.com for the direct download.