HotMic.

Privacy policy

Last updated: October 9, 2026

This is the whole policy. It covers the HotMic app, its browser extension and helper components, and this website. HotMic is made by Duck Duck Grey Duck LLC ("we").

Your audio stays on your Mac

To receive the AirPods mute gesture from macOS, HotMic runs an audio unit that the system treats as handling call audio. Every audio sample that unit receives is rendered and immediately discarded, locally, on your Mac. Your audio is never recorded, never stored, and never transmitted off your device by HotMic. There is no code path that could send it anywhere.

HotMic listens for the gesture only while another app is using your microphone, which is how it tells you're in a meeting, and while the practice screen in its setup is open. To know, it asks macOS which apps are using the microphone; it never hears their audio. By default it stays out of the way of Zoom, FaceTime and the Teams app, which handle the gesture themselves. The rest of the time the audio unit isn't running.

What HotMic asks macOS for

  • Microphone, which macOS requires before it passes on the AirPods mute gesture. HotMic asks only in setup, when you click Continue; see above for what happens to the audio.
  • Accessibility, which macOS requires before an app can create a virtual device. HotMic uses it only to create the HotMic Headset. It doesn't send keystrokes or clicks, see your screen, or read what you type.
  • Notifications (optional), to warn you if muting stops working during a call.
  • Automation for Music and Spotify (optional), only if you turn on "Pause music during meetings" (see below).
  • Open at login (optional), if you choose it.

HotMic doesn't ask for Input Monitoring, Screen Recording, Camera or Location.

The browser extension

The HotMic for Meet & Teams extension runs only on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams pages. It reads whether the page's microphone button is muted and whether a call is in progress, and clicks that button when you mute or unmute in HotMic. It tells the HotMic app on the same Mac, through your browser's native messaging, only that state, which meeting site it's on, its own version and how it was installed, a list of the features it supports, and short status answers for the features below. When you ask, it can bring the meeting tab to the front or open a new Meet test meeting. On Google Meet it can highlight Meet's own buttons to walk you through setup, and it shows a small "HotMic muted Meet" note by the mic button once.

On Google Meet it also checks, when a Meet page loads, when a device connects or disconnects, and while you pair, whether Meet can already use the HotMic Headset. It never asks for access to any device, and it keeps and passes on nothing about other devices: only whether the HotMic Headset is allowed and in use.

The extension has two settings in its popup, which work with or without the app. With "Ask before closing a meeting tab" on (the default), it checks each click on the meeting page only for whether it was on the meeting's own Leave button, so leaving on purpose isn't questioned; it keeps nothing about the click. With "Join Meet muted" set to Mic only or Mic and camera (it's Off by default), on Google Meet's pre-join screen it reads whether those toggles are on, whether you changed them yourself, and the meeting code in the page address, so it acts once per meeting. That stays in the page's memory and is gone when the tab closes; the only thing it tells the HotMic app is whether turning the mic or camera off didn't take. Both settings are kept in your browser's local storage and are never sent anywhere.

The extension makes no network requests. It collects, stores and sends no personal data, page content or meeting details, and it doesn't access audio.

So the extension can reach the app, HotMic puts one small file (its helper's connection manifest) in the support folder of each Chromium browser you have: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc or Chromium. It doesn't read your browsing data there, and Settings → Uninstall HotMic → Remove HotMic's Connections removes the file. HotMic writes it again if you open the app later.

Music and Spotify (optional)

If you turn on "Pause music during meetings" in Settings (off by default, part of Pro), HotMic asks macOS for permission to control whichever of Music and Spotify is open; Settings has an Ask button for the other once you open it. When a meeting starts, it asks whichever of those players is already running whether it's playing, and for the ID of the current track (not its name). It pauses a playing player. When the meeting ends, it resumes the player only if the same track is still paused. It never opens a player, reads nothing else from your library, and can't change your library or playlists. What it paused is kept only in memory until the meeting ends. You can turn this off in Settings, or remove the permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.

Updates: the app's only network activity

HotMic checks for new versions with the Sparkle update framework: automatically if you say yes when it asks, and whenever you choose Check for Updates. Like any web request, a check sends your IP address, along with the app version, so the server can answer "is there something newer?". If you install an update, HotMic downloads it from the update server. That is the app's only network activity. Links you click in HotMic open in your browser. License activation is verified locally on your Mac.

Purchases

Purchases are processed by Paddle as merchant of record. When you buy a license, Paddle — not us — collects and processes your payment details under Paddle's privacy policy. We receive from Paddle what is needed to issue your license key, such as your email address and what you bought. A small service we run on Cloudflare creates the key, and Resend, our email provider, emails it to you; both receive your email address only to create and deliver your key. If the email fails to send, your address is written to that service's error log so we can resend it. Your license key contains your email address. When you enter it in HotMic, it is stored and checked on your Mac.

No analytics, anywhere

The app contains no analytics, telemetry, or crash reporting that phones home. This website sets no cookies, runs no analytics, and loads nothing from third-party servers.

HotMic keeps a short list of setup steps on your Mac to help with support, and never sends it anywhere. If you use Copy details or Send details, the text goes only where you paste or send it, and it never includes your email, license key or device names.

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@usehotmic.com.

Duck Duck Grey Duck LLC
30 N Gould St, Ste N
Sheridan, WY 82801
United States