Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

FirstCut is made by Josh Butcher Online (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what we collect, what we do not, and how to reach us. It covers the FirstCut website at getfirstcut.io and the FirstCut application for macOS.

The short version. The FirstCut app runs entirely on your Mac. Your video, audio, and transcripts are never uploaded to us or to anyone else — we never receive them and could not access them if we wanted to. The only personal data we hold is what you give us when you buy the app or email us for support.

The app: what stays on your Mac

FirstCut processes your footage locally. Transcription runs on-device using Apple’s built-in speech engine, and all editing decisions are made on your own machine. Specifically:

Your video and audio files are never uploaded to our servers or any third party.
Transcripts and generated cut decisions are stored only on your Mac.
We do not collect analytics, telemetry, or usage data from inside the app.

The app does contact our server for one purpose only: to check whether a newer version is available. That check requests a small version file and does not include any personal information about you or your projects.

The website: what we do collect

When you visit getfirstcut.io, standard web server logs record technical details such as your IP address, browser type, and which pages you requested. Our hosting provider keeps these for security and troubleshooting.

We also use the Meta pixel on this website. It is a small piece of code from Meta (Facebook and Instagram) that tells us how many people visited the site or completed a purchase after seeing one of our ads, and allows us to show ads to people who visited but did not buy. It sets cookies in your browser and shares limited event data with Meta. You can control this through your Meta ad preferences, your browser’s cookie settings, or by using a tracking blocker.

Buying FirstCut

Payments are processed by Stripe. When you buy, you provide your email address and payment details directly to Stripe — we never see or store your card number. From Stripe we receive your email address, name (if you provide one), the amount paid, and a transaction reference, which we use to deliver your download, send your receipt, provide support, and keep records required for tax and accounting purposes.

Stripe processes this data under its own privacy policy, available at stripe.com/privacy.

Email

If you email support@getfirstcut.io, we keep that correspondence so we can help you and refer back to it if you write again. We do not add you to a marketing list without your agreement, and we do not sell or rent your details to anyone.

How long we keep things

Purchase records are kept as long as required for tax and accounting obligations — typically several years. Support email is kept while it remains useful for helping you. Server logs are kept on our host’s standard retention schedule.

Your rights

You can ask us what personal data we hold about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask us to delete it. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to object to processing or to receive a copy of your data in portable form. Email support@getfirstcut.io and we will respond.

Note that we cannot delete records we are legally required to keep, such as proof of a completed sale.

Children

FirstCut is a professional tool and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new date at the top. Material changes affecting existing customers will be communicated by email where we reasonably can.

Contact

Questions about privacy: support@getfirstcut.io. A real person answers.