Privacy policy
Octal and Octal DriveBench have no telemetry, no account and no tracking. Everything below applies to both apps, except where a feature is only in Octal.
What the apps collect
Nothing. Neither app has analytics, usage tracking or any phone-home. Neither requires an account or a login. What you browse, move and connect to stays on your Mac.
Your credentials
Server usernames and passwords are stored in the macOS Keychain. Octal sends them only to the server they belong to.
Software updates
Each app checks for updates via Sparkle by fetching a static update feed. That request carries only what's needed to serve the file (like your app version), and is used solely to offer you new versions. You can turn automatic checks off in Settings ▸ Updates.
Other connections
In Octal, the internet quality graph in the Network panel pings a public DNS server (1.1.1.1 by default) to chart your connection's response time. A ping carries no data. You can change the host or turn the graph off in Settings ▸ Network. Finding servers on your local network stays on your local network. Neither app has a cloud service, and neither syncs or uploads your files or settings anywhere.
A DriveBench report image you choose to share names an external drive by its model and a network share as “SMB Server”, never by your own volume name or path.
Problem reports
Help ▸ Report a Problem… in either app sends what you type, plus the app's version, the macOS version, and the Mac's model, chip and memory. For a bug you can choose to attach diagnostics, a log of recent activity in the app. It's off by default; file names, servers and accounts are replaced with anonymous tokens before anything is logged, and View… shows the exact text before you send it.
Reports from the app or from the report form create a ticket in our private issue tracker. The form uses a Cloudflare Turnstile check to block spam. An email address is optional and only used to follow up on your report.
Supporting Octal
Support goes through Ko-fi, which handles the payment under its own privacy policy. Your card or PayPal details never reach us. Ko-fi shows us your name and any message you leave with your support; we don't copy those anywhere, and neither the apps nor this website store anything about who has supported.
The I've already supported Octal setting only hides the support banner. It's stored on your Mac and isn't checked against anything.
The website
This site counts its visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics: which pages are viewed, the site a visitor came from, and their country and browser. It sets no cookies, doesn't fingerprint visitors or follow them to other sites, and doesn't store IP addresses. There are no ads or ad trackers.
Questions about privacy? Get in touch.
Last updated: 5 November 2026.