Does it leave this computer?
On-Device Mode: no. Cloud Mode: yes, because you asked it to. That is the whole product. Encryption and a no-training policy do not keep it here.
You speak
Audio is captured by your microphone and held in memory. Walkie does not screenshot your screen.
Cloud or on-device processing
On-Device Mode runs a speech model on this computer. No account. Works with Wi-Fi off after the model downloads. Cloud Mode sends that clip to Walkie's proxy (Groq) for transcription and polish, then discards it.
Text appears
The text is pasted into the app you were in. Dictation audio is discarded unless you save a meeting. History is local; it also syncs in Cloud Mode until you delete it.
The checklist they actually use
This is the test, not the blog post. Answers are for On-Device Mode unless named otherwise.
Does it leave the device by default?
No, if you pick On-Device Mode. Skip the account. Cloud Mode is the moment something leaves.
Is raw content kept after the job is done?
Dictation audio is discarded. The text stays in local history until you delete it. Meeting recordings stay on disk as files you can delete. Cloud Mode does not keep dictation audio after the text comes back; Cloud meetings stay in your account until you delete them.
Is screen, clipboard, or file access required, or opt-in?
Accessibility is required to paste. Walkie does not screenshot. Cloud Mode reads text around the cursor so polish can format what you said. Meetings read the call app's window for names. Clipboard is write-then-paste, not a background reader.
Can I disable telemetry without breaking the product?
Yes. Share usage analytics is off in On-Device Mode. You can turn it off in Cloud Mode too. The app still dictates.
Can I delete it, and does delete mean delete?
Yes. Clearing history on this computer also tombstones the cloud copy. Deleting a meeting removes the local files and the cloud row. Deleting your account deletes the account data.
Can I run it offline?
Yes. On-Device dictation works with the network off, after models download, with no account. Update checks are a separate toggle. Cloud Mode, cloud voices, and Walkie's hosted Ask Agent need the network.
What Walkie never does
On-Device Mode vs Cloud Mode
This table is Walkie compared with itself. On-Device Mode is the quiet path. Cloud Mode is faster and formats better because it sends the clip — and, unless you turn it off, text around the cursor — to Walkie's proxy.
If the material cannot leave the machine, use On-Device Mode, skip the account, and leave analytics off. Do not put NDA or privileged work in Cloud Mode and call it local.
| Question | On-Device Mode | Cloud Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Does audio leave? | No, for dictation | Yes — Groq via Walkie's proxy, then discarded |
| Network | None for dictation after models download | TLS to the proxy. A request still left the machine |
| Third parties | None for dictation. Signed-in devices still heartbeat | Cloudflare + Groq. Analytics only if the switch is on |
| What is kept | Text in local history; meeting WAVs on disk, unencrypted | Dictation audio not retained; Cloud meetings stored until you delete them |
| Who can read it | Whoever has the computer. Not Walkie, if you skipped the account | Walkie staff do not read dictations. A legal demand could reach account data and synced history |
| Subpoena | Unsigned On-Device: nothing on our servers to hand over | Account, settings, and Cloud history are data we could be compelled to produce |
| Screen / other apps | No screenshots. Accessibility is to paste. Meetings can read the call app for names | Also reads text around the cursor so polish can format the sentence |
Regulated work
On-Device Mode is the mode for work that cannot go to a vendor. Cloud Mode is not a privacy mode with extra encryption. Walkie is not certified and does not sign a BAA.
Healthcare (HIPAA)
Walkie is HIPAA-ready, not HIPAA-certified, and does not sign Business Associate Agreements. Cloud Mode sends audio to a transcription provider. If your work requires a BAA, or that PHI never hit a third party, use On-Device Mode — skip the account, keep the network off. That removes the question instead of answering it.
Legal & financial
Privilege and MNPI stay on the machine only in On-Device Mode. Cloud Mode is a third party in the room, even with zero retention after the response. If a matter cannot go to a vendor, do not pick Cloud Mode.
Software development
On-Device Mode does not upload your code. Cloud Mode sends the dictation and can send the text around the cursor — which is often the code or the comment you were in. Use On-Device Mode on proprietary work.
Air-gapped and restricted networks
On-Device dictation works offline after the model download, with no account. Turn update checks off if the network must stay dark. Cloud Mode, cloud voices, and the hosted Ask Agent will not run there.
The EU AI Act
Walkie is an AI system under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, and we build it to the transparency obligations in Article 50. There is no certificate to hold up for a system like Walkie, so instead here is exactly what it does, what it refuses to do, and where it tells you.
Walkie never guesses how anyone felt
It does not infer, describe or score anyone's emotion, mood, tone of voice, attitude or state of mind, and it will not do it even if you ask it to outright. Inferring emotion in a workplace is prohibited by the Act, and it is refused in the model instructions themselves, not just left out of the interface.
Walkie never judges people
It will not rate a job candidate, rank a colleague, or assess anyone's competence or performance from a recording. It reports what was said and who said it. That is a deliberate limit: building the other thing would make Walkie a high-risk system under the Act, and we would rather not build it.
Walkie never identifies anyone by their voice
Speaker names come from your calendar invitation and from the text the call app puts on your own screen. No voiceprint is computed, compared or stored. An unrecognised voice stays a numbered speaker until you name it.
When you are talking to AI, it says so
Ask Agent and meeting chat are labelled as AI before you ask anything and on every answer, along with the reminder that AI can be wrong. Ask Walkie whether it is a person and it will tell you it is not.
AI-written text is labelled as AI-written
Meeting notes, decisions and next steps say they were written by AI: in the app, in every export and PDF, and on the page other people see when you share a meeting with them. Quoted speech is marked as coming from the transcript.
Synthesized speech is marked as synthesized
Audio that Read Aloud generates carries machine-readable metadata identifying it as text-to-speech rather than a recording of a person, so a file that leaves Walkie can still be told apart from a real voice.
Nothing you record trains a model
Not your audio, not your transcripts, not your notes. Our processing providers are contractually bound to the same, and they are named on our privacy page.
One thing the Act leaves to you: whether you may record the other people on a call. That depends on where everyone is sitting, and in many places it depends on everyone agreeing. Telling people at the start of the call costs one sentence.
What we collect
Skip the account and pick On-Device Mode: the app does not send usage data, history, or transcripts. Update checks are a separate toggle, off if you turn them off.
- If you sign in — email, a random device id, app version, OS, and a device heartbeat so your device list stays current
- Settings sync — preferences, without API keys, Slack tokens, or MCP env. History, snippets, dictionary, and custom words upload only in Cloud Mode
- Usage analytics — off in On-Device Mode unless you turn them on. Feature counts only — not what you said, not your email, not the app you were in
- Cloud Mode dictation — the audio of that clip, plus the app name and (unless you turn it off) text around the cursor. Not retained after the text is returned
- Cloud meetings — audio, transcript, and notes, stored until you delete them
On-Device dictation audio never goes to Walkie. Signed-in On-Device still syncs settings (not transcripts) and heartbeats the device list.
For full legal details, see our Privacy Policy.
Security FAQ
Is my audio ever sent to a server?
Only in Cloud Mode, for Cloud meetings, or for cloud Read Aloud voices. On-Device dictation stays on this computer. The first-run tour plays a cloud voice once so you can hear it.
What is Cloud Mode?
Cloud Mode sends audio to Walkie's proxy for transcription and polish. Free users get 2,000 words/week; paid plans are unlimited. It is not a local mode with a nicer name. If it must not leave, use On-Device Mode.
Can I use Walkie for HIPAA-regulated work?
On-Device Mode is the mode to evaluate: no account, no audio upload. Walkie is not HIPAA-certified and does not sign a BAA. Cloud Mode sends audio to a provider. Ask your compliance team; do not take this page as a BAA.
Does Walkie work offline?
On-Device Mode does, after the model download, with no account. Turn update checks off if you need the network dark. Cloud Mode needs internet.
Does Walkie capture screenshots or read my screen?
No screenshots. Accessibility is required to paste. Cloud Mode reads text around the cursor. Meetings read the call app's UI for speaker names. That is not a keylogger, and it is not 'never reads other apps.'
What happens to my transcription history?
It lives in a local database you can clear. In Cloud Mode it also syncs to your account. Clearing it on the computer tombstones the cloud copy. On-Device Mode does not upload history.
Does Walkie have SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification?
No. Cloud Mode does send audio through our proxy, so the 'our servers never receive voice data' line would be false. We are not certified. On-Device Mode is the control that does not depend on a certificate.
How is Walkie free if it's private?
On-Device Mode runs on your machine. Cloud Mode uses cloud infrastructure and is free up to 2,000 words/week.
Wi-Fi off, no account, it still types.
Download Walkie, pick On-Device Mode, skip sign-in. That is the privacy product. Cloud Mode is there when you want speed.