# MyAi privacy

MyAi by Elpmis Software runs ordinary chat, photo understanding, project search, and agents on your device. Local use needs no account, subscription, API key, wallet, or Elpmis service. The application contains no advertising or conversation analytics. It does not silently fall back to a cloud model.

## Automatic web search

MyAi can search Bing for current or changing facts when “Search the web when helpful” is on. This sends the current question as search terms and exposes your IP address to Microsoft. It does not send saved chat history, saved notes, project files, or attachments. Avoid including private information in a question you want searched. Turn this setting off for offline answers. Search-result summaries are untrusted text, not full articles; source links are provided, and search failure is disclosed. Search availability and result freshness depend on Bing. Search does not use a remote AI model. Opening a source sends an ordinary browser request to that website.

## Downloads and model updates

Choosing Download latest version opens the official MyAi website in your browser. The Windows installer is distributed from the public `joshmail752/myai-downloads` GitHub repository. Visiting the page and downloading the installer shares ordinary network metadata with the website host and GitHub, not chats, settings or downloaded models. The manual update action does not automatically download, run an installer, or quit MyAi.

Signed Windows releases with in-app updates enabled check the MyAi release host after startup and periodically while open. These requests and background update downloads expose ordinary network metadata; the updater may also send an installation identifier used for rollout decisions. Chat content, notes, files and downloaded AI models are not uploaded. Updates are verified before installation, and installation requires the user to choose Restart and update. Development previews do not contact an update feed. This is separate from downloading or updating an AI model.

Downloading a model or runtime contacts the named distribution service. That service sees ordinary connection metadata, including your IP address. Chat contents are not included. Curated downloads are pinned to exact versions and checked by complete SHA-256 and byte length before use. Checking for a newer model is an explicit action with native confirmation; installing an update requires a separate review and keeps the current model. Local GGUF imports are copied into MyAi storage; a hash verifies those bytes but does not establish publisher identity, licensing, or native-parser safety.

## Saved desktop data

Conversations, photos, settings, agent configurations, saved notes, project registrations and task activity live in the OS application-data directory. MyAi uses operating-system protected encryption when available and reports the actual protection status in Settings. Pairing keys, remote credentials, connected-tool credentials, search indexes and durable edit checkpoints require protected storage; they fail closed without it. Protection depends on your OS account and does not defend against malware running as that account.

Original project files and downloaded models are not encrypted by MyAi. JSON and Markdown exports are readable portable files; save them somewhere private. Exports do not contain pairing or provider credentials. Imported projects and agents must receive fresh file and tool permissions.

## Files, photos, memory and search

Choose project folders through the native picker, or approve creation of a new folder. File tools reject paths outside the granted project, linked files and known credential locations. An agent receives only its explicitly granted tools. Proposed changes, Git mutations and isolated test runs require review. Checkpoints preserve previous contents in encrypted storage and reject a rollback when it would overwrite newer changes.

Desktop JPEG/PNG attachments are decoded in a sandbox, resized, and re-encoded before saving; source metadata is removed. Only compatible local vision models receive the prepared photo. Mobile uses its native image pipeline and compatible local model. Original photos elsewhere on your device are outside MyAi's deletion controls.

Memory consists of notes you choose to save. It can be turned off, edited or deleted. Personal notes and project notes have separate scopes; each agent needs its own memory permission. Semantic search is explicitly indexed on your computer and shows its coverage limits. Saved-history search includes notes only when you choose that option and memory is enabled. Opening a result validates its current source; results are not automatically inserted into prompts. Editing/deleting saved content or disabling memory invalidates its derived search index.

## Voice

Windows dictation and read-aloud use installed local Windows speech resources. Microphone recording needs approval for each capture; the transcript is reviewed before sending. An imported PCM WAV can also be transcribed locally. Mobile requests on-device recognition and filters for offline synthesis voices; unsupported devices report that limitation. MyAi does not upload audio to a cloud fallback. Availability and accuracy depend on installed language resources and hardware.

## Optional connections

Private device sharing is off by default and must be enabled on the desktop. Pairing uses a short-lived code, native approval, pinned TLS and authenticated requests. You choose each phone's model access and resource allowance, and can pause or revoke it. Sharing does not expose your saved conversations, arbitrary files or an unrestricted command interface. Optional desktop-agent requests require explicit agent grants and a fresh desktop approval; authorized task results may contain information from that agent's approved project. The phone can see and cancel only its own tasks.

Remote model connections disclose the exact recipient, selected model and complete request before native approval. Information you approve then leaves this device; the provider controls its retention and processing. Credentials stay in protected main-process storage and are not passed to local models or the renderer. There is no retention guarantee for a third-party endpoint. Paid work remains unavailable where the provider cannot enforce the disclosed spending cap.

Connected MCP tools and approved websites have separate grants. Every tool call or website request requires native approval of the outgoing request. Tool responses are untrusted. MyAi's isolated Node execution uses a fixed local Docker image, no network, read-only copied sources, an unprivileged user and resource limits; your original project is never mounted. Installing that runtime downloads its official image. It does not install project dependencies automatically.

## Delete, export and recover

Delete individual records, remove project registrations, manage models, or use Settings → Privacy to export, replace or clear saved data. Removing a project keeps the original folder. Clearing saved data removes conversations, agent/task records, notes, derived indexes, checkpoints and remote connection data, while keeping downloaded models and original project files. Paired desktop-agent grants and task handles are cleared during data replacement. Chat pairing and connected-tool profiles are managed separately in Devices and Settings → Tools. The confirmation describes this scope before proceeding.

Mobile conversations use app-private SQLite and OS/device protection; MyAi does not claim an independently encrypted SQLite database. Android cloud backup is disabled. Corrupt database recovery preserves the original file for explicit export before reset. Portable exports, system backups and files shared to other apps remain outside MyAi's deletion controls. Deletion is logical removal, not guaranteed secure erasure on an SSD.

See [verification](/reference/docs/VERIFICATION.md), [security boundaries](/reference/docs/security.md), and [platform-specific mobile notes](/reference/docs/mobile.md) for tested scope and remaining limitations. Public distribution, owner signing and untested platforms are separate release gates.