Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how DeskJoin ("DeskJoin," "we," "us," or "our") handles information in connection with DeskJoin Remote, its pages at deskjoin.app/remote, software downloads, update services, and support communications (the "Service"). DeskJoin Remote lets a Controller view, and where supported control, a Host computer reachable on the same local network.

Windows and macOS editions can act as either a Controller or a Host. Android and iOS editions are Controller-only and cannot make the phone or tablet available as a Host. Platform availability, protocol compatibility, permissions, and features vary by version.

2. Information processed on your devices and local network

To discover a Host, establish trust, and run a remote session, the apps may process and exchange:

• Discovery information: device name, device and operating-system type, app and protocol version, available roles and capabilities, session or device identifiers, local network addresses, and service records. A device name may contain a person's name and may be visible to nearby devices during discovery.
• Pairing information: device certificates, public-key fingerprints, six-digit verification codes, pairing decisions, and remembered trust records used to recognize a previously paired device.
• Screen video: encoded frames representing the Host display, including anything visible on that display while a session is active.
• Remote input: pointer positions, mouse buttons, scrolling, keyboard input, modifier keys, and input-reset messages sent when you choose View and control.
• Cursor and audio: Host cursor appearance and, when enabled and supported, system-audio configuration and audio samples.
• Session information: requested mode, display dimensions, codec and connection capabilities, connection health, timing, start and stop messages, and technical errors.
• Local settings and diagnostics: remembered devices, connection and audio preferences, update settings, and technical logs stored on the device.

Remote-session content is exchanged directly between the devices you select. DeskJoin does not receive or store your local discovery records, screen video, input events, or system audio through the remote connection. DeskJoin Remote does not intentionally create screen recordings or audio recordings. The person operating the Controller and other software on either device may still capture or retain content independently.

3. Information sent to DeskJoin or our service providers

Software update checks

The macOS app may use Sparkle to check DeskJoin's HTTPS update feed and download signed updates. Update requests expose routine connection information such as IP address, request time, and technical request headers, which may include app or operating-system version information, to DeskJoin and its hosting provider. Update checks do not include screen video, input, audio, or local pairing records. Windows 0.5.0 uses WinSparkle with an HTTPS update feed and Ed25519-verified installer downloads. Automatic checks follow the preference selected in About.

App pairing and connection success counts

Versions with reporting, including Windows 0.5.0 and the macOS implementation, send background HTTPS events after a new Host pairing succeeds and after an authorized Host connection, including reconnects. Each request identifies the event through its reporting endpoint and contains a random event identifier used for deduplication, not a persistent person or device identifier. It does not contain your name, email address, device identity, device name, pairing keys, screen content, input, or audio. These best-effort events provide aggregate usage counts, not a count of unique users or devices currently online. Reporting failures are logged locally and do not interrupt the remote session.

We store event identifiers, event types, counts, receipt times, and daily and cumulative totals in our Cloudflare-hosted database. Cloudflare processes routine connection metadata, including the source IP address, for delivery and rate limiting; our workflow counters do not store IP addresses. App reporting is separate from the direct local remote session.

Website visits and downloads

Our hosting and content-delivery providers may process IP address, browser or user-agent information, requested page or file, referring page, and request time to deliver and protect the website, downloads, and update feed. The Remote product page sends a page identifier to DeskJoin's website counter, and download-button clicks increment separate macOS, Windows, and Android counters. We retain daily and cumulative totals without a visitor identifier. These totals measure page events or clicks, not unique people or completed installations, and do not include remote-session content or local device names.

Embedded videos

The Mac mini without a monitor guide embeds a YouTube video using YouTube's privacy-enhanced domain. Loading the embedded player or playing the video may send network, browser, and interaction information to Google and YouTube under Google's Privacy Policy. Remote pages do not load the Google Ads tag; that does not prevent connections made by the embedded video.

Support communications

If you contact support, we receive your email address and the message, diagnostics, screenshots, or attachments you choose to send. Review and redact diagnostic material before sharing it. Do not send passwords, pairing codes, private screen content, local network addresses, or other confidential information.

4. Why we use information

Information is processed to discover nearby devices; establish and remember pairing; stream a Host display; deliver remote input and optional audio; maintain and troubleshoot a session; store your local preferences; deliver the website, downloads, and updates; understand aggregate pairing, connection, page, and download activity; respond to support requests; protect the Service; and meet legal obligations.

Where applicable law requires a legal basis, we rely on providing the service you request, legitimate interests in operating and securing the Service, legal obligations, and consent where required.

5. Device access and permissions

• Local network: required to discover and communicate with nearby Hosts and Controllers. Windows Firewall or the operating system may ask whether DeskJoin Remote can communicate on the network.
• Screen Recording: required on a supported Mac Host to capture the display being shared.
• Accessibility: required on a supported Mac Host to apply remote keyboard and pointer input. If this permission is missing, a connection may be limited to viewing.
• System audio: captured only when you enable the option and the Host platform supports it. macOS 13 or later is required for a Mac to provide system audio in the current macOS trial.
• APK installation: Android may ask you to allow your browser or file manager to install the Controller downloaded directly from the DeskJoin website.

Denying or removing a required permission prevents the related feature from working.

6. How we share information

The purpose of DeskJoin Remote is to send the selected Host's screen and optional audio to the Controller and, in control mode, send input back to the Host. Connect only to devices you recognize and trust. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Limited website, download, update, operational, and support information may be handled by providers that host, deliver, secure, or maintain those services. We may disclose information where reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect rights and safety, respond to valid legal requests, or complete an organizational transaction subject to applicable protections.

7. Retention

• Screen video, input, and audio: processed during a session and not retained by DeskJoin. Ending a session cannot remove screenshots, recordings, typed content, or other copies made independently on either device.
• Pairing and preferences: device identity, public-key fingerprints, remembered trust, and app settings may remain locally until you forget a device, reset the app, remove its data, or uninstall it. Exact behavior varies by platform and version.
• Local diagnostics: technical logs may include device names and identifiers, local addresses, pairing and connection status, app versions, and errors. The current macOS app rotates local log files and prunes files older than its five-day retention window when cleanup runs. Logs are not attached to the automatic success-count reports. Review them before sending them to support.
• Website totals: aggregate page and download counters may be retained as daily and cumulative totals.
• App workflow reports: event types, counts, receipt times, and random event identifiers are retained for usage analysis and retry deduplication; the reporting database has no automatic expiration for these records. Daily and cumulative totals may also be retained. These records do not contain remote-session content.
• Operational and support records: retained as reasonably needed for delivery, security, troubleshooting, support history, legal compliance, and dispute resolution.

8. Your choices and privacy rights

You can choose View only instead of View and control, leave system audio disabled, disconnect or quit the app, disable the Host, forget a paired device, revoke operating-system permissions, change the device name shown during discovery, manage update preferences, and remove local app data. Use the operating system's app-removal and firewall settings to prevent future access.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or obtain a copy of personal information we control, object to processing, withdraw consent, or complain to a data-protection authority. Contact us below to make a request. Verification and legal exceptions may apply. We cannot retrieve or delete session content that remains only on your devices.

9. Security and local-network notice

The current macOS 0.9.3 protocol uses mutual TLS 1.2 for pairing and control messages, keyboard and pointer input, cursor data, heartbeats, and optional system audio. A new or changed device identity requires the users to compare a six-digit verification code and accept it on both devices. Remembered peers are checked against locally stored public-key fingerprints.

Video limitation: in macOS 0.9.3, encoded screen video uses a separate local TCP channel. Its port and one-time 256-bit token are exchanged through the paired TLS control channel, and the connection is restricted to the same network peer, but the video payload itself is not encrypted. Someone able to capture traffic on an untrusted or compromised local network could potentially observe screen content. Active interference protection is also weaker than on the TLS channels.

DeskJoin Remote does not currently provide an internet relay or remote wake. Use it only on a trusted, secured local network; compare pairing codes carefully; keep each operating system and DeskJoin Remote version current; disable the Host or end the session when access is no longer needed. Development previews have not completed production security or compatibility validation. No system can be guaranteed completely secure.

10. International processing

Website, download, update, support, and operational information may be processed by DeskJoin or service providers in countries other than where you live, where data-protection laws may differ. Where required, legally recognized safeguards apply. This is separate from the local remote-session traffic exchanged directly between your devices.

11. Children's privacy

DeskJoin Remote is a general-purpose utility and is not directed to children under 13 or the minimum age required by local law. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

12. Third-party links and software

The macOS app incorporates Sparkle and the Windows app uses WinSparkle for updates. The website embeds YouTube in a guide and may link to external operating-system documentation or other websites. Operating-system services, external websites, embedded video providers, network equipment, backup software, security tools, and apps used during a remote session have their own terms and privacy practices. This Policy does not govern information those services collect independently.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy as DeskJoin Remote's platforms, protocols, security design, or legal requirements change. Revisions will appear on this page with an updated date, with additional notice for material changes where required by law.

14. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints concerning DeskJoin Remote, contact DeskJoin at support@deskjoin.app.

Product website: DeskJoin Remote.