> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mavioapp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Privacy Mode Setup

> Configure on-device processing to keep your meeting recordings, transcripts, and AI analysis completely private.

Mavio's privacy mode processes everything on your device -- recordings never leave your computer, and no data is sent to cloud servers. This guide walks you through enabling, configuring, and understanding privacy mode.

## When to use privacy mode

Privacy mode is designed for situations where data confidentiality is critical:

* **Legal conversations** -- attorney-client privileged discussions
* **Medical meetings** -- HIPAA-sensitive patient information
* **Board meetings** -- confidential financial or strategic discussions
* **HR matters** -- sensitive employee conversations
* **NDA-covered calls** -- meetings with strict non-disclosure requirements

## Prerequisites

* Mavio **desktop app** installed (privacy mode requires local processing)
* macOS 12+ or Windows 10+ with at least 8 GB of RAM
* Approximately 2 GB of free disk space for the on-device AI models

<Warning>
  Privacy mode is available on the desktop app only. The meeting bot, browser extension, and mobile app require cloud processing and cannot operate in privacy mode.
</Warning>

## Enable privacy mode

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the desktop app settings">
    Launch the Mavio desktop app and navigate to **Settings > Privacy & Security > Privacy mode**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Download the on-device models">
    Click **Enable privacy mode**. Mavio will download the required AI models for on-device transcription and summarization. This is a one-time download of approximately 1.5 GB.

    The download includes:

    * Speech-to-text model for transcription
    * Speaker diarization model for identifying speakers
    * Summarization model for generating meeting notes

    <Note>The initial download may take several minutes depending on your internet connection. After this, privacy mode works completely offline.</Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose your privacy mode behavior">
    Select how privacy mode activates:

    * **Always on** -- all recordings are processed locally, no exceptions
    * **Per-recording toggle** -- choose privacy mode each time you start a recording
    * **Schedule-based** -- automatically enable privacy mode during specific calendar events (e.g., meetings tagged "confidential")
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure data retention">
    With privacy mode, you have full control over where data is stored:

    * **Local storage location** -- choose the folder where recordings and transcripts are saved
    * **Auto-delete after** -- automatically remove recordings after a set period (7, 30, 90 days, or never)
    * **Encryption** -- enable AES-256 encryption for all locally stored files
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test privacy mode">
    Start a test recording with privacy mode enabled. You will see a green shield icon in the recording controls indicating on-device processing. After stopping, verify:

    * The transcript appears in Mavio without any network requests
    * The recording file exists in your chosen local directory
    * No data appears in the cloud dashboard (unless you explicitly sync it later)
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What works differently in privacy mode

| Feature                | Cloud mode                | Privacy mode                       |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Transcription accuracy | 95%+ (cloud models)       | 90%+ (on-device models)            |
| Processing speed       | 2-5 minutes               | 5-10 minutes (depends on hardware) |
| Language support       | 40+ languages             | 12 languages                       |
| Mavio AI chat          | Full cross-meeting search | Single-meeting queries only        |
| Sharing                | Instant link sharing      | Manual export required             |
| Speaker identification | Advanced cloud model      | Basic on-device model              |

<Tip>
  For the best on-device transcription quality, use a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later) or a Windows machine with a dedicated GPU. These hardware configurations significantly speed up local processing.
</Tip>

## Syncing privacy mode recordings to the cloud

If you decide a privately recorded meeting is safe to share, you can manually push it to the cloud:

1. Open the meeting in the Mavio desktop app
2. Click **Sync to cloud** in the top-right corner
3. Confirm that you want to upload the recording and transcript
4. The meeting will then appear in the web dashboard and be available for team sharing

This is a one-way, explicit action. Mavio never syncs privacy mode recordings automatically.