Buckshot

Privacy Policy

Buckshot for Mac · Last updated October 20, 2026

Short version: Buckshot runs on your Mac and has no ads. Your contacts, messages and files are never sent to the developer or to anyone other than the people you choose to message. Buckshot's small server only keeps your account (your email address and plan), a count of how many send-outs you make each week, optional email open tracking, anonymous usage counts and any feedback you choose to send, all described below.

What Buckshot stores, and where

  • Contacts and lists you enter (names, phone numbers, email addresses), drafts, and send history (who you sent which files to, and when). These are saved only on your Mac, in ~/Library/Application Support/Buckshot.
  • Your files are never uploaded anywhere by Buckshot except as attachments to the messages you send. For iMessage, Buckshot makes a temporary copy for the Messages app and permanently deletes it shortly after sending.
  • Apple Contacts (optional): if you choose Import from Apple Contacts, or turn on Settings ▸ Sending & Files ▸ Suggest Apple Contacts in the “To” field, Buckshot reads the names, phone numbers and email addresses in your Mac's Contacts app, with your permission. Import adds the people you pick to Buckshot's contacts on your Mac; suggestions are kept in memory only while Buckshot is open, and someone is only added when you pick them. It never changes anything in the Contacts app and never sends your contacts anywhere.
  • Your email sign-in (a Google sign-in token, or an app password for other providers) is stored in your Mac's Keychain, never in a file.

Google user data

If you sign in with Google to send email from Gmail, Buckshot requests these permissions:

  • Send email on your behalf (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send): used only to send the messages and attachments you write in Buckshot, to the recipients you pick, when you press Send.
  • Your name and email address (openid, email, profile): used to show which account you're sending from, to put your name in the From line, and as your Buckshot account. Buckshot's server receives your email address (and Google's proof that it's yours) so it can look up your plan. See “Your Buckshot account” below.
  • People you've emailed, as saved by Gmail (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/contacts.other.readonly): Gmail automatically saves the people you email (your “Other contacts”, the addresses Gmail suggests as you type). Buckshot reads only their names and email addresses, and uses them for two things: suggestions while you type in a send-out's “To” field, and Import from Gmail on the Contacts page, which adds the people you pick to Buckshot's contacts. The list is read directly from Google to your Mac and kept in memory only while Buckshot is open; people you add are saved with your other contacts on your Mac. Buckshot does not read the contacts you saved in Google Contacts, or any phone numbers, photos or other details, and never changes anything in your Google account. You can turn suggestions off in Settings ▸ Email ▸ Suggestions from Gmail, and hide any address you don't want suggested (that list stays on your Mac).
  • Files Buckshot creates in your Google Drive (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file): used only when your files are too big to attach to an email (over Gmail's 25 MB limit). Buckshot uploads those files to a “Buckshot” folder in your own Drive, shares them so anyone with the link can view them, and puts the link in the email, the same way Gmail handles large attachments. This permission only covers files Buckshot itself created: Buckshot can't see, open or change any other file in your Drive. The uploaded files stay in your Drive until you delete them.

Apart from the names and email addresses of your “Other contacts” described above, Buckshot does not read, search, download, change or delete any of your email, saved contacts or other Google data. It cannot read your inbox, and it does not store the content of your Gmail account. Apart from your email address being used as your Buckshot account, your Google data is never sent to the developer or to Buckshot's server. It is never sold, never used for advertising, and never shared with or transferred to anyone, except that the messages you send go to the recipients you chose, through Google.

Buckshot's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

How your data is protected

Buckshot protects your Google user data and other sensitive data in these ways:

  • Kept on your Mac: your email, contacts, “Other contacts”, files and Drive files are never copied to Buckshot's server or to the developer. Google data goes straight from Google to your Mac and is used there.
  • Encrypted in transit: every connection Buckshot makes, to Google and to Buckshot's server, uses HTTPS (TLS encryption). Buckshot doesn't allow unencrypted connections.
  • Secure sign-in: Google sign-in uses Google's own page in your web browser with OAuth 2.0 and PKCE, so Buckshot never sees your Google password. The sign-in token is stored encrypted in the macOS Keychain, which only Buckshot can read, never in a plain file, and is deleted when you sign out.
  • Least access: Buckshot asks only for the narrowest Google permissions it needs: it can send email but not read your inbox, can see only the Drive files it created, and reads only the names and email addresses of your “Other contacts”. It never changes or deletes anything in your Google account.
  • Protected on your Mac: data Buckshot saves stays in your user account's folder, protected by your Mac login, and by FileVault disk encryption if you have it turned on. Buckshot runs with macOS's Hardened Runtime, which stops other code from tampering with it. “Other contacts” are kept in memory only while Buckshot is open.
  • Buckshot's server: the server holds only your account email address, your plan and the counts described below, never Google data such as email, contacts or files. It is hosted on Cloudflare, which encrypts stored data, checks Google's proof of who you are before giving out any account information, and is accessible only to the developer.
  • No sharing or selling: no person reads your Google data, and it is never sold, used for advertising, or used to train AI models.

Your Buckshot account and plan

Buckshot uses the Google account you sign in with as your Buckshot account; there's no separate password. Buckshot's server stores:

  • Your email address and your plan (free, trial, subscription or lifetime, and when it renews or ends).
  • How many send-outs you've made each week, and how many people each went to, so the free plan's limits can be applied. Only the numbers are stored: never who you sent to, what you wrote, or which files.

Payments are handled by our reseller and merchant of record, Paddle. Paddle collects your payment details under its own privacy policy; Buckshot never sees your card number. Paddle tells Buckshot's server which email address bought which plan, and when a subscription renews, changes or ends.

We keep this information while you have a Buckshot account and delete it on request (see Contact below).

iMessage

iMessages are sent by the Messages app on your Mac, using your own Apple account. Buckshot asks macOS for permission to control Messages for this purpose only.

Delivered / Read (optional, off by default): if you turn this on, Buckshot reads the delivered and read times of the iMessages it sent, from Messages' own records on your Mac (read-only). macOS requires Full Disk Access for this. Buckshot doesn't read your conversations, and this information never leaves your Mac.

Scheduled send-outs are stored on your Mac with copies of their files, which are permanently deleted after they're sent or cancelled.

Email open tracking (optional)

If you turn on Track opens for a send-out, each email carries a tiny invisible image from Buckshot's server. When the recipient's mail app loads it, the server stores a random code, the time, and the mail app's name (its "user agent"), for up to 120 days, so Buckshot can show you "Opened". No names, email addresses or message contents are stored. Only your copy of Buckshot can read your opens.

Anonymous usage counts

To see how Buckshot is used, it sends anonymous counts to Buckshot's server: each time Buckshot opens; after each send-out, how many people it went to, whether by iMessage or email, how many files and whether it was scheduled; if a send-out couldn't reach someone, the type of error (for example "not signed in" or "no internet connection") and how many people it missed; and when you schedule a send-out, make a drip or a list, import contacts (how many) or finish the tour. Each one includes the Buckshot and macOS versions. The only identifier is a random number made on your Mac, not tied to your Google account, and the developer sees each Mac only as "Tester 1", "Tester 2" and so on, with no way to tell whose Mac it is. No names, phone numbers, email addresses, contacts, message text, file names or files are ever included, and these counts are kept for up to about 13 months. You can turn this off in Settings ▸ Sending & Files ▸ Share anonymous usage counts.

Feedback after a send-out

After a send-out, Buckshot may ask "Anything annoying about that send-out?". Answering is optional. If you click Send, Buckshot's server stores what you typed, the name you chose to give (if any), the Buckshot and macOS versions, how many people the send-out went to and by which channel, and the same random number used for usage counts, so the developer can read it and improve the app. Nothing is sent if you click Skip. Please don't include anything private in your answer; to have an answer removed, email us (below).

Removing your data

  • Disconnect Google: in Buckshot, open Settings ▸ Email ▸ Sign Out. This deletes the sign-in token from your Keychain. You can also remove Buckshot's access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
  • Delete your account: email us (below) from the address you sign in with, and we'll delete your account and plan from Buckshot's server.
  • Delete everything else: quit Buckshot and delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Buckshot, then delete the app.

Children

Buckshot isn't directed at children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.

Contact

Buckshot · support@buckshotapp.com