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No internet connection required after installation. All processing happens on your device, period.
Privacy First
Your Voice Stays on Your Computer
Vocalinux is built from the ground up for privacy. All speech recognition happens locally, with zero cloud processing. Your voice data never leaves your machine.
No Cloud Processing
Unlike Dragon, Otter, or Google Dictation, we don't send your voice to any servers. Everything stays local.
Open Source
Fully open source under GPL-3.0. Inspect the code yourself on GitHub. No hidden telemetry or data collection.
Data Collection
We do not collect any personal data. This includes:
- No voice recordings or audio data
- No transcribed text
- No usage analytics or telemetry
- No device fingerprints
- No IP addresses or location data
How We Process Your Voice
When you dictate, here's exactly what happens:
- 1. Audio Capture — Your microphone records audio temporarily in RAM
- 2. Local Processing — Audio is processed by whisper.cpp, Whisper, or VOSK on your CPU/GPU
- 3. Text Output — Transcribed text is injected into your active application
- 4. Immediate Deletion — Audio data is discarded immediately after processing
Note: No audio is ever written to disk or transmitted over the network.
Configuration Data
Vocalinux stores configuration locally at ~/.config/vocalinux/:
- Settings like preferred engine, model size, and language
- Custom keyboard shortcuts
- Window and tray preferences
This data is stored in plain text YAML format. You can view, edit, or delete it at any time.
Vocalinux vs Cloud Dictation Services
| Feature | Vocalinux | Cloud Services |
|---|---|---|
| Data leaves device | Never | Always |
| Internet required | No | Yes |
| Source code available | Yes (GPL-3.0) | No |
| Voice recordings stored | No | Varies by service |
| Cost | Free forever | Subscription |
Questions About Privacy?
If you have any questions about our privacy practices or want to verify our claims, please reach out:
Open an issue on GitHub