The short version: Caxton is a local application. Your files never leave your machine, and the app contains no analytics, no telemetry, and no tracking of any kind.
1. The Caxton application
What we do not collect
- The contents of your files are never transmitted anywhere. All editing, searching, filtering, and indexing happens entirely on your Mac.
- Caxton contains no analytics or telemetry frameworks. We do not record which features you use, what you open, or how often you launch the app.
- Caxton does not scan your disk. It reads only the files and folders you open, drag in, or point it at, such as the folder shown in the sidebar or the folder a Find in Files search covers, plus its own working data described below.
What stays on your machine
Caxton stores its working data (session state, crash-recovery journals, bookmark and marker sidecars, filter presets, pinned clipboard entries, snippets, workspaces, imported themes, saved validation schemas, and preferences) in its application-support and cache folders under ~/Library on your Mac. This data is yours, never transmitted, and removed if you delete the app and those folders.
Network connections the app makes
- Update checks. Caxton uses the Sparkle framework to check for updates. An update check sends the standard request metadata (app version, macOS version) to our update server so it can return the right release. You can turn automatic checks off at any time from the Caxton menu (Caxton ▸ Automatically Check for Updates).
- License activation and checks. Licensing is handled by Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record. Activating a license sends your license key and a device name (your Mac's computer name, as shown in System Settings) to the Lemon Squeezy licensing API, which returns an instance identifier that the app keeps in your keychain. Deactivating a device sends the key and that identifier. A subscription license also sends the key and identifier to the same API about once a day to confirm the subscription is still active; a lifetime license is checked only when you activate or deactivate it, plus one check that binds a lifetime license activated by Caxton 1.x to this Mac, retried during the session and at each launch until the server answers. No file contents or usage data ever accompany these requests. Lemon Squeezy's own privacy policy governs their processing.
2. Purchases
Purchases and subscriptions are processed by Lemon Squeezy, our merchant of record and payment provider. We receive your name, email address, and purchase details so we can issue and support your license; we never see your full payment-card details. The payment provider's own privacy policy governs the data you give them during checkout.
3. The caxton.app website
This website uses Google Analytics to understand traffic in aggregate: which pages are visited, roughly where visitors arrive from, and which links (such as the download button) are clicked. This sets cookies and shares standard request data with Google, whose own privacy policy governs their processing. We look at these numbers only in aggregate. The site also carries the Reddit Pixel, which we use to measure Reddit advertising: it records that a page was visited and whether the download button or a checkout link was clicked, and it sets a Reddit cookie so Reddit can attribute those visits to its ads. It receives standard request data (IP address, browser, page address). We never send it your email address, license key, or any other identifier, and it is not loaded on the post-purchase page that displays your key. Reddit's own privacy policy governs their processing, and Reddit's ad personalization settings let you opt out. Content blockers that filter Google Analytics or the Reddit Pixel don't affect the site in any way. We also count download requests on our own server, without IP addresses: each request records the time, the page it came from, the download link's query string (where campaign tags such as utm_source live), the country our host reports, and the browser's user-agent string, filed under a random number that is not derived from you or your device. Our web host may also keep standard server logs (IP address, request path, user agent) for security and operational purposes; we retain them only as long as operationally necessary. Web fonts are served by Google Fonts, which receives the standard font request when a page loads.
The application is different. Caxton itself contains no analytics or telemetry of any kind (section 1). Website analytics never touch the app.
4. Support email
If you email hello@caxton.app, we keep the correspondence so we can help you and improve the product. We do not add you to marketing lists, and we never sell or share your contact information. If you join the release announcements list, we store only your email address, use it only to announce major releases, and remove it on request.
5. Your rights
You may request a copy or deletion of the personal information we hold about you (which is limited to purchase records and support correspondence) by emailing hello@caxton.app. We will respond within 30 days. Because the application itself collects nothing, there is nothing to request or delete on the app side.
6. Children
Caxton is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
7. Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at caxton.app/privacy with an updated effective date. Material changes will be noted in the app's release notes.
8. Contact
HWY Enigma LLC · Support · hello@caxton.app