Respond
Privacy Policy
Last updated 5 August 2026
Respond is a desktop application that translates text you highlight in other applications. That means it reads text from your screen, and you are entitled to know exactly how much, where it goes, and what is kept. This policy answers those questions in plain terms.
The short version: Respond reads only the text you deliberately highlight. That text is sent to the translation service you have chosen so it can be translated, and it is not stored by us afterwards. Nothing else on your screen is ever read.
Who we are
Respond is operated by the developer trading as Respond ("we", "us"). You can reach us at support@withrespond.com for any question about this policy, or to exercise any of the rights described below.
What Respond reads from your device
Text you highlight
When you highlight text and activate Respond, the application reads that selection in one of two ways: through the Windows accessibility system, or, for applications that do not expose their selection that way, by briefly copying it. When the copy method is used your previous clipboard contents are restored immediately afterwards.
Respond does not take screenshots, does not record keystrokes, and does not monitor or read anything you have not highlighted.
What Respond refuses to read
- Any control that the operating system identifies as a password field. The selection is discarded before it leaves the application.
- Any application on your block list. Respond ships with password managers already blocked, including 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Dashlane, LastPass, NordPass, RoboForm and Enpass, plus the Windows credential and elevation prompts. You can add to or change this list in Settings.
- For the automatic hover preview only, text that has the shape of a credential: API keys, private keys, payment card numbers and short numeric codes. These are not previewed automatically, though you can still translate them deliberately.
Global input hook
To notice that you have highlighted something, Respond observes mouse and keyboard events system-wide. This is used solely to detect selection gestures and your chosen shortcut. Key presses are not recorded, stored or transmitted.
Where your highlighted text goes
Translation requires sending the highlighted text to a translation service. Which service depends on the engine you select in Settings.
| Engine | Who receives the text | When it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Google's public web translation endpoint | The default free engine, used unless you choose otherwise | |
| Claude | Our translation service, which passes it to Anthropic | Respond Pro subscribers who select Claude |
| GPT | Our translation service, which passes it to OpenAI | Respond Pro subscribers who select GPT |
| DeepL | DeepL, directly from your computer using your own key | Only in the internally distributed edition |
Interface labels are also translated through the Google engine when you set Respond to an interface language other than English. These are fixed strings from the application, never your own text.
We do not store the text you translate. Our service passes it to the provider, returns the translation to your computer, and retains no copy of either. The providers listed above process it under their own terms and privacy policies.
What we store
If you never create an account
Nothing. The free version requires no account and no sign-in. Your settings live in a file on your own computer and are never sent to us.
If you sign in for Respond Pro
We store, on our servers:
- Your email address, from the Google account you sign in with.
- Your subscription status and billing period, along with the identifiers our payment processor uses to reference your subscription.
- A monthly count of characters translated and translations performed. This is a running total used to enforce the fair-use limit. It is a number, not content: we cannot reconstruct anything you translated from it.
On your own computer
Your settings are stored in your Windows user profile. Any API keys you enter yourself are encrypted using the Windows Data Protection API, tied to your Windows account, and are never sent to us or exposed to the application's interface after you save them.
Service providers
We use the following providers. Each receives only what it needs to do its job.
| Provider | Purpose | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic, OpenAI | Translation for Respond Pro | The text being translated |
| Free translation engine and sign-in | The text being translated; your email address on sign-in | |
| Supabase | Accounts and the subscription database | Your email address and subscription status |
| Stripe | Payment processing | Your payment details, which we never see or hold |
| Render | Hosting for our translation service | Requests in transit, including your IP address |
| GitHub | Distributing application updates | Your IP address when checking for or downloading an update |
Analytics and tracking
Respond contains no analytics, no telemetry and no advertising identifiers. This website sets no cookies and runs no third-party trackers.
How long we keep things
- Translated text: not retained.
- Monthly usage counts: retained while your account exists, so limits can be applied across a billing period.
- Account and subscription records: retained while your account exists, and after closure only where we must keep transaction records to meet tax and accounting obligations.
- Server logs: kept briefly for security and debugging. They record errors and request metadata, not translated content.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export or delete the personal information we hold, to object to or restrict its processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Email support@withrespond.com and we will action your request. To delete your account entirely, ask us and we will remove your account record and usage history.
International transfers
Our providers operate internationally, so your information may be processed outside the country you live in, including in the United States. Where required, transfers rely on the safeguards those providers have in place, such as standard contractual clauses.
Children
Respond is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that materially affects how your information is handled, we will update the date at the top and, for account holders, notify you by email before the change takes effect.
Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: support@withrespond.com.