joule-privacy

Privacy policy — Joule

Last updated: 2026-11-04. Applies to the Chrome extension «Joule» and the local service meetrec that it works with.

In short: the extension records Google Meet calls you choose to record, on your own computer. The audio, transcript and summary are stored only on that computer. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else unless you turn on a feature that sends it, and then it goes only where you pointed it.

What is recorded and collected

When you start a recording (a click on the extension icon or its keyboard shortcut; in the optional macOS “always” mode, when the call starts):

• Call audio — the sound of the Google Meet tab (everyone else in the call).
• Your microphone — as a separate track. You can switch it off in the settings.
• Call details from the Meet page: the meeting code, the meeting title, the participant names Meet shows, and the start and end times.

Not recorded: video, your screen, other tabs (except in the optional macOS “always” mode, which captures all of Chrome’s audio and says so in the settings), your browsing history.

If you turn on auto-join from Google Calendar (off by default), the extension reads, from the Google Calendar page open in your browser, the start time, title and Meet link of your events, and keeps them in the extension’s local storage to open those calls on time. It does not use the Google Calendar API and has no access to your Google account beyond the page you have open.

The extension also stores its settings, your consent, and recording chunks waiting for the local service, in the browser’s local extension storage on your computer.

Where it is stored

• The extension passes the audio over Chrome’s native messaging to the meetrec service on the same computer. It is saved in ~/MeetRecordings/ (or the folder you configure), one folder per call, together with the transcript and summary.
• Transcription runs on your computer. The speech-recognition model is downloaded once from Hugging Face; no audio or text is sent to do so.
• Retention: the audio of a finished recording is deleted automatically after 30 days (configurable, retention_days); transcripts and summaries stay until you delete them. A file you process yourself with meetrec process is never deleted.

What leaves your computer, and only if you turn it on

Nothing is uploaded by default. These features send data only when you enable them, and only to the destination you choose:

• Summary with Claude (summary.backend = "claude-code" or "api"; default "none"): the transcript text (not the audio) is sent to Anthropic under your own Claude account or API key, to write the summary. Anthropic’s own terms and privacy policy apply to that request.
• Command hook (sinks.on_done): runs a program you configured on the finished folder; what it does with the files is up to you.
• kosh (for the author’s own setup only): writes the transcript and summary into his own notes service.

We (the developers) operate no server for this product and receive no data from it.

Use of data and Limited Use

Data is used only to provide the extension’s single purpose: recording, transcribing and summarising your Google Meet calls on your computer.

The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. The same applies to what the extension reads from Google Meet and Google Calendar pages. In particular, the data is:

• collected only as far as the single purpose needs, and used only for the practices described here;
• transferred to a third party only to provide the single purpose as you direct (the features above), to comply with law, or to protect against malware, spam, phishing or fraud;
• never used, transferred or sold for personalised advertising, to advertising platforms, data brokers or other information resellers, or to determine creditworthiness or for lending;
• not read by humans, except with your explicit consent for specific data, for security purposes such as investigating abuse, or to comply with law.

The extension sells no data.

Consent and notice

Before the first recording the extension shows what is recorded and where it is stored, and asks you to confirm. When a recording starts, it offers to post «🔴 Цей дзвінок записується для нотаток (локально)» in the call’s chat (on by default, can be switched off per call), and its icon stays red while recording. You are responsible for telling the participants that the call is recorded and for following the rules that apply to you. This policy is not legal advice.

Your control

• Delete any recording by deleting its folder in ~/MeetRecordings/.
• Turn off the microphone track, the chat notice, auto-join or any sending feature in the settings.
• Remove everything with installer/uninstall.sh and by removing the extension; recordings stay until you delete them.

Who we are and contact

Joule is developed by Think Different (td-ua, a software studio in Ukraine) and published for the team of Energise (energise.pro), which uses it internally.

Questions about this policy or the extension: open an issue at https://github.com/td-ua/joule-privacy/issues, or, for Energise staff, ask your Workspace administrator.