Privacy policy

Last updated: 24 September 2026

The SideMini app

SideMini runs on your Mac. It has no account system, no analytics, and no crash reporting. Your license key is verified cryptographically on your Mac. Activation also makes one request to register a license seat, as described below.

Activating a key makes one request to our server, so that a license sold for two Macs is used on two Macs. That request carries a one-way fingerprint of the key and a one-way fingerprint of this Mac's hardware identifier. Neither can be turned back into the key, the serial number, or anything about you. We store only those two fingerprints and the date, so that we can count Macs; if you write to support because you changed machines, we delete them.

A licensed copy makes one small request to our server about once a day, to ask whether its key has been cancelled. This exists so that a refunded or charged-back purchase stops working, and for nothing else. The request sends a one-way fingerprint of the key, never the key itself, never your email address, and never anything about your Mac or how you use the app. The answer is yes or no. If our server cannot be reached, the app keeps working normally, so a broken connection or a shut-down server can never cost you your license.

Once a day the app also reads a small file on sidemini.com that lists the latest version, so it can tell you when an update is out. The request carries nothing about you or your Mac beyond what any download shows: your IP address and the app's version, which our host, Vercel, keeps in its standard server logs. You can switch the daily check off in Settings → About. An update is downloaded only when you choose to install it, and it is checked against our signature and Apple's before anything is replaced.

The app stores its settings, the date of first launch (for the trial) and your license key on your Mac, in your user Library folder. It writes a plain-text log of connection events to ~/Library/Logs/SideMini.log, which you can read or delete at any time.

This website

sidemini.com is a static website. It sets no cookies, and there is nothing to accept or decline. Fonts and every script are served from this domain, so on every page except one, no third party sees your visit.

Buying works the same way. The Buy button takes you to Polar’s own checkout page, so their script never runs on this site; only when you are on their page do they see your visit and set the cookies they need to take the payment.

We use Google Analytics to count visits, and it only runs if you press Accept on the strip that appears on your first visit. Press Decline and nothing loads: no Google script, no cookie, no data sent. Your answer is remembered in your browser, and you can change it here at any time: Change my cookie choice

If you accept, Google sets cookies and receives the pages you looked at, the site that sent you, and coarse details such as country, browser and device type, with your IP address shortened before storage. Google processes this for us under their terms and we see only aggregate reports. We never send them your name, email address or anything about a purchase.

Separately, and whatever you choose, pressing Download or Buy adds one to a counter on our own server. The message contains a single word, “download” or “buy”. It carries no cookie, no identifier, no page address and nothing about you, and we do not store the IP address it arrived from. The result is a daily total that cannot tell two people apart from one person clicking twice.

This site is hosted by Vercel, who keep standard server logs including IP addresses for security and operations, deleted on their normal schedule.

Two other companies handle data on our behalf. The license server that answers the activation and cancellation checks runs on Cloudflare, which sees the request and the fingerprints in it. Mail sent to support@sidemini.com is forwarded to us by ImprovMX, which passes the message through. License and release-note emails are sent by Resend.

Buying a license

Purchases are processed by Polar Software, Inc., who act as the merchant of record and are the seller on your receipt. They collect the details needed to take payment and calculate tax, under their own privacy policy. We receive your email address, order number, country and the product bought so that we can issue your license key, send it to you and provide support and refunds. We keep that information for as long as we need to support your license and to meet accounting obligations.

Release notes by email

If you subscribe to release notes, we store your email address and nothing else, with Resend, the same provider that delivers license keys. It is used for one purpose: telling you when a new version ships. There is no other mailing, no tracking pixel in the message, and every email carries an unsubscribe link. Ask us and we delete the address the same day.

Support email

If you write to support@sidemini.com we keep the conversation so we can help you and remember what was already tried. We do not add you to any mailing list.

Your rights

You can ask us what we hold about you, ask for a correction, or ask us to delete it, by emailing support@sidemini.com. Deleting your purchase record also means we can no longer re-send your key, so keep a copy.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version is published here with a new date. We do not have your address to notify you unless you bought a license, in which case material changes are emailed.