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Privacy policy

Your video and your audio never leave your computer. This page says exactly what does, who receives it, and what they may do with it.

Last updated: 2026-10-21

Arc Engine Tools is a trade name of ColinMadeThis Multimedia, LLC, a Texas limited liability company. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean that company.

The short version

Your video and your audio never leave your Mac. BaseCut sends text: the transcript of what was said, the names of your source files, the brief you typed, and - only if you switch it on - your client's website address. That text goes to our servers and on to Google Cloud, where the AI model that builds the cut runs. We do not store your transcript. Nothing you send trains any model.

GenLock and Shutter send nothing but a license check, plus an update check when you ask Shutter for one.

Our website runs advertising tags from Google, Meta and Reddit, so we can see which of our ads work. Visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland are asked first, and anyone can turn them off. None of our plugins contain them.

What BaseCut sends, item by item

BaseCut transcribes your interviews on your own machine. Building the cut needs a model that is too large to run there, so the text goes to us and we pass it to Google Cloud for AI processing.

This is everything that leaves:

  • The transcript - every word spoken, with speaker labels and times. The cut is built from it. Goes to us, then to Google.
  • The file name of each source clip - the name only, never the folder path. The cut names the clip each line came from. Goes to us, then to Google.
  • The brief you typed, and any other instructions you type, such as speaker names or topics to avoid. They are the instruction. Goes to us, then to Google.
  • Your client's website address, if you switch that option on. We read the public site to learn who the client is. Goes to us, then to Google.
  • Your license key and a random ID for the panel, to check your license and count your hours. Comes to us only.
  • The length of the footage, in seconds, to count your hours. Comes to us only.

We are naming the file names on purpose.File names often carry a client's name. You would find that out eventually, and we would rather you heard it from us.

What never leaves your machine with BaseCut

  • No video. Not a frame, not a proxy, not a render, not a thumbnail.
  • No audio. None, in any form.
  • No Premiere project. No project file, no bins, no sequences, no folder paths.
  • Nothing that identifies your Mac. No hostname, no user name, no serial number, no MAC address, no hardware fingerprint. The panel makes up a random ID the first time it runs and keeps it on your machine.

If you use the client-website option

When you give BaseCut a client's website address, our servers read that public site- up to eight pages, and we obey the site's robots.txt rules. We identify ourselves as BaseCut/1.0 (+https://arcenginetools.com) Arc Engine Tools.

Your client's own web logs will show a visit from us. The option is off unless you turn it on.

The speech model download

The first time BaseCut transcribes, the Engine on your Mac downloads its speech model from Hugging Face. This happens once. It sends none of your content - Hugging Face sees a request for a public model file, and your IP address, and nothing else.

The Engine's local server

The BaseCut Engine runs a small web server on your own Mac, on 127.0.0.1 port 8787. 127.0.0.1 means your machine only - nothing on your network and nothing on the internet can reach it. Every request to it needs a key that the Engine makes fresh each time it starts.

Error reports

BaseCut has a Send error reports switch in Settings. It ships on. You can turn it off at any time.

When something fails, a report contains: the error message, the stack trace, the plugin version, the Premiere version, your macOS version, your license key, the random panel ID, and counts such as how many clips were loaded.

A report never contains your footage, your audio, your transcript, your brief, your file paths, your project name or your bin names. Your license key is turned into a one-way digest the moment it reaches us and is never stored as a key.

What GenLock and Shutter send

Both do all of their work on your own computer, on a Mac or on Windows. Neither one sends your footage, your projects or your editing activity anywhere, ever. Each makes one kind of network call on its own: a license check to us. Shutter also asks us for the latest version number when you press Check for updates, and that request carries nothing about you.

  • GenLock sends your license key, a random ID it makes up the first time it runs, and a label naming your Premiere version. Nothing about your computer is read.
  • Shutteris a native effect rather than a panel, and it identifies a seat differently: it reads your computer's hardware ID (on a Mac, its hardware UUID; on Windows, its machine GUID), salts it and turns it into a one-way SHA-256 digest before it leaves your machine, and sends that digest instead. The raw hardware ID is never transmitted. Shutter also sends your computer's name, so you can tell your two seats apart in the list on your account page.

What we collect about your account

  • Your email address. To send your receipt, your license key and your download link.
  • Billing details.Handled by Stripe. We store your Stripe customer ID. Your card details stay with Stripe; your account page asks Stripe for the card's brand and last four digits when it shows them, and we do not store them.
  • Purchase records. Your name as you gave it at checkout, product, amount, currency, date, plan.
  • License activations. Your license key, the machine ID described above, and a label for the machine, so we can hold you to two machines.
  • Usage rows. For each cut: how many tokens the model used, what it cost us, how many seconds of footage, and a one-way hash that lets us recognise a shoot we have already charged you for. No content.
  • Download events. A one-way hash of your IP address and a browser string, to stop people sharing download links. We do not store the IP address itself.
  • The notify-me list. If you ask to be told when a plugin is ready to download, we keep that email address for that one message.

How long we keep things

  • Your transcript, your brief and your file names are not stored at all. They pass through our server on the way to Google and are gone. Nothing writes them to a database, and nothing writes them to a log.
  • Purchase records: at least 7 years, because tax law requires it. Those cannot be deleted on request.
  • Your usage rows, your license activations, your download events and any error reports are kept until you ask us to delete them. We have not set an automatic deletion date for them. We would rather tell you that than publish a number that nothing enforces, which is what the previous version of this page did.
  • Deactivating a machine deletes that activation straight away. It is removed from our database, not flagged.
  • Our server logsare kept by our host, Vercel, for as long as its plan retains them. They record counts, lengths, status codes and our own identifiers. They never contain your transcript, your brief, a client's website address, your email address or your license key.
  • Google's logs, if it flags a request: up to 90 days, at Google. See below.

Who else sees it

  • Google Cloud (AI processing)- your transcript, your file names, your brief and instructions, and the client profile. Google's terms say it will not use your data to train its models, and will not store your prompt beyond the time needed to answer it. If Google's automated safety tools flag a request, Google may keep that request for up to 90 days and a Google employee may read it, to check whether it broke Google's rules.
  • Stripe - merchant of record. Your email and your payment details. Stripe handles payment, invoices, tax and refunds.
  • Clerk - sign-in. Your email address.
  • Vercel - website hosting and the servers that run the cut.
  • Neon - the database that holds purchases, licenses and usage.
  • Cloudflare- our domain's DNS, the storage that holds the plugin downloads, and the routing that delivers mail sent to us.
  • Resend - sends receipts and license-key emails.
  • Google Ads - advertising measurement on our website, under the rules in Advertising on our website below.
  • Meta and Reddit - advertising measurement on our website, under the same rules.

We never sell or rent your data. The advertising tags on our website (Google Ads, Meta and Reddit) are described next, with how to turn them off. We run no analytics.

Advertising on our website

Our website runs three advertising tools: Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Reddit. They tell us which of our ads bring people to the site and which lead to a purchase. They are the only third-party advertising tools on the site, and they are on the website only. None of our plugins contain them.

Google Ads

When the tag runs, Google receives:

  • The pages you visit on our site, and the ad you clicked to get here, if you came from one.
  • Your IP address and browser details, which every request to Google carries.
  • When you buy: the order number, the price, the currency, and a hashed copy of your email address. Your browser turns the address into a one-way SHA-256 hash before it leaves, and Google uses the hash to match the purchase to an ad you clicked. Google calls this enhanced conversions. Google never receives the address itself from us.

Google can also use your visit to show our ads to people who have been to our site. Google handles this data under its own privacy policy, and this page explains how Google uses data from sites like ours. You can manage the ads Google shows you at My Ad Center.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

We use the Meta Pixel in your browser and Meta's Conversions API from our server to measure how our ads perform and to show our ads to people likely to be interested. Meta receives the pages you view on our site, your browser and device details, and Meta cookie identifiers. When you buy, it also receives the order value and currency, your IP address, your browser details, and a one-way hashed copy of your email address. Meta may match this to your Meta account and use it under its own privacy policy. For visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, we and Meta are joint controllers for this collection, and Meta's Business Tools Terms apply. To opt out, press Decline or change your answer in Cookie settings, turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser, or use the ad preferences in your Meta account.

Reddit

We use the Reddit Pixel in your browser and Reddit's Conversions API from our server to measure which Reddit ads lead to visits and purchases. Reddit receives the pages you view, your Reddit click ID, and your browser details. When you buy, it also receives the order value and currency, your IP address, and a one-way hashed copy of your email address. Reddit uses this under its own privacy policy. To opt out, press Decline or change your answer in Cookie settings, turn on Global Privacy Control, or use the ad privacy settings in your Reddit account.

What we keep about the ad you clicked

When you arrive from one of our ads, we keep the ad's campaign tags and click ID in a first-party cookie called arc_attr for 30 days, and attach them to your order in Stripe, so we can tell which ads lead to sales. We set this cookie only where the law does not require your consent first, or after you press Allow. We never set it when your browser sends Global Privacy Control, or after you press Decline.

When you start a checkout, and only if the rule above allows it, we also attach your IP address, your browser details and your Meta cookie identifiers to the order, so our server can send the purchase report to Meta and Reddit. Our server sends that report only for purchases where advertising cookies were allowed.

Your choice:

  • In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the Google, Meta and Reddit tags do not load until you press Allow. Until then, nothing is sent to them.
  • Everywhere else, they load when you visit. You can turn them off with Cookie settings at the foot of any page.
  • If your browser sends Global Privacy Control, we treat that as a no, wherever you are.
  • We remember your answer in your browser's local storage and in a first-party cookie called arc_consent (one year), so our server can honour it. It is not sent to Google, Meta or Reddit.

Some US state laws count sharing data with an ad platform as "sharing" for targeted advertising. Cookie settings and Global Privacy Control are how you opt out of it.

Your rights

Email support@arcenginetools.com to see, correct or delete your data. We answer within 14 days. We keep purchase records for as long as tax law requires, so those cannot be deleted on request.

You can withdraw your consent to advertising cookies at any time with Cookie settings, at the foot of any page.

Cookies

  • Strictly necessary:the cookies that keep you signed in, set by our sign-in provider, Clerk, and the cookies Stripe's checkout form sets to take your payment and prevent fraud. These always run.
  • Advertising: the Google Ads tag sets cookies on our domain whose names start with _gcl, the Meta Pixel sets _fbp and _fbc, and the Reddit Pixel sets _rdt_uuid and _rdt_cid; each company sets its own on its own domains. We set arc_attr and arc_consent. They run only under the rules in Advertising on our website.

Children

Our site and our plugins are not for anyone under 13, and we do not knowingly collect anything from them.

Changes

We will update this page if what the software does changes. We will email existing customers about any material change.

Status

If something looks broken, arcenginetools.com/status says whether it is us.