#Introduction
This Cookie Policy explains how Birchwood Group LLC ("Birchwood Group", "we", "us", or "our") uses cookies, browser storage, and similar technologies in connection with the ArcScribe voice recorder and speech to text Chrome extension and the ArcScribe website at https://usearcscribe.com.
ArcScribe is a privacy-first product, and our use of cookies reflects that. The extension itself is built around local browser storage rather than tracking cookies, which means the sensitive material you create, your recordings and transcripts, lives on your device and is not tied to advertising trackers. Our website and secure checkout use a small, purposeful set of cookies to function properly and to keep payments safe. This document describes each category, what it does, how long it lasts, and how you can manage or disable it.
We wrote this policy in plain English so you can understand exactly what is happening in your browser. If you only remember one thing, remember this: ArcScribe does not use cookies to build advertising profiles or to track you across the web.
Note: Disabling certain necessary cookies can prevent parts of the website or checkout from working. This policy explains which cookies are essential and which are optional so you can make informed choices.
#Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Purpose
- Scope
- Definitions
- What Cookies Are
- How ArcScribe Uses Cookies and Storage
- Cookie Types
- Necessary Cookies
- Functional Cookies
- Performance Cookies
- Analytics Cookies
- Preference Cookies
- Security Cookies
- Third-Party Cookies
- Browser Storage: Local and Session
- Consent
- Managing and Disabling Cookies
- Effect on Functionality
- Retention
- User Responsibilities
- Company Responsibilities
- Examples
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Contact Information
- Future Policy Changes
- Conclusion
#Executive Summary
- The extension relies on local storage, not tracking cookies. ArcScribe saves your recordings, transcripts, folders, tags, and settings in local browser storage on your device.
- The website and checkout use a small set of cookies. These are mostly necessary and security cookies that let pages load correctly and payments complete safely.
- No advertising trackers. We do not use cross-site advertising cookies or sell data collected through cookies.
- You are in control. You can view, block, or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time.
- Necessary cookies keep things working. Some cookies are essential; disabling them can break parts of the site or checkout.
Best practice: Review your browser's cookie and site-data settings periodically. Modern browsers give you fine-grained control over which sites can set cookies and let you clear them whenever you like.
#Purpose
The purpose of this Cookie Policy is to be transparent about the technologies we use to store and read small pieces of information in your browser, to explain why we use them, and to give you the knowledge and tools to control them. Transparency about cookies is part of building the trust that a microphone-enabled productivity tool must earn.
#Scope
This policy covers:
- The ArcScribe website at https://usearcscribe.com.
- The secure checkout used to purchase ArcScribe Pro, operated through our billing processors.
- The local and session storage used by the ArcScribe extension to function.
This policy does not cover third-party websites you may visit through links, which operate under their own cookie policies, and it does not cover the internal workings of Google Chrome itself, which are governed by Google's terms.
#Definitions
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cookie | A small text file stored in your browser by a website you visit, used to remember information between requests or visits. |
| First-party cookie | A cookie set by the website you are visiting (for example, the ArcScribe website). |
| Third-party cookie | A cookie set by a domain other than the one you are visiting, such as a payment provider. |
| Local storage | Browser storage that persists on your device until cleared, used by ArcScribe to hold your library and settings. |
| Session storage | Browser storage that lasts only for the duration of a browser tab or session. |
| Session cookie | A cookie that expires when you close your browser. |
| Persistent cookie | A cookie that remains until it expires or you delete it. |
#What Cookies Are
Cookies are small text files that a website can place in your browser. When you return to that website, or move between its pages, the browser sends the cookie back, which lets the site recognize your session, remember a preference, or keep a secure checkout working. Cookies cannot run programs, and they cannot read files on your computer. They are simply small pieces of stored information.
Related technologies include local storage and session storage, which also live in your browser but are designed to hold larger amounts of data for the website or extension that created them. ArcScribe uses these storage technologies to keep your recordings and transcripts on your device.
Cookies are often categorized by who sets them (first party or third party), how long they last (session or persistent), and what they do (necessary, functional, performance, analytics, preference, or security). The sections below walk through each category as it applies to ArcScribe.
#How ArcScribe Uses Cookies and Storage
There are two different environments to consider, and they behave differently.
Inside the extension. ArcScribe is built around local browser storage. Your recordings, transcripts, folders, tags, favorites, and settings are stored locally so your library persists between sessions. The extension does not depend on advertising or tracking cookies to do its job, and it does not follow you across websites.
On the website and checkout. When you visit the ArcScribe website or complete a purchase, a small number of cookies help the pages load correctly, remember basic preferences, and keep the payment process secure. These are described in the category sections below.
Note: The most sensitive part of ArcScribe, your voice content, is handled by local storage on your device, not by cookies. Cookies are relevant mainly to the website and checkout experience.
#Cookie Types
The table below summarizes the categories of cookies and storage that may be used across the ArcScribe website, checkout, and extension, along with whether they are essential.
| Category | Essential? | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Yes | Core website and checkout functionality. |
| Security | Yes | Fraud prevention and secure sessions. |
| Functional | Sometimes | Remembering choices to improve the experience. |
| Preference | No | Storing non-essential preferences such as display options. |
| Performance | No | Understanding aggregate site performance. |
| Analytics | No | Measuring aggregate, non-content website usage, if enabled. |
| Local and session storage | Yes (extension) | Holding your recordings, transcripts, and settings on your device. |
#Necessary Cookies
Necessary cookies are essential for the website and checkout to function. Without them, basic actions such as navigating pages securely or completing a purchase may not work. Because they are strictly necessary to deliver a service you have requested, they are typically exempt from consent requirements, but we still disclose them here for transparency.
Examples of what necessary cookies do:
- Maintain a secure session while you browse the ArcScribe website.
- Enable the secure checkout flow so a purchase can complete.
- Remember essential state needed for a page to render correctly.
You can block necessary cookies through your browser, but doing so may prevent parts of the website or checkout from working.
#Functional Cookies
Functional cookies help the website remember choices you make to give you a smoother experience, such as a preference you set during a visit. They are not strictly necessary, but they make the site more convenient. Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential functional cookies, and you can withdraw that consent at any time through your browser or any cookie controls we provide.
#Performance Cookies
Performance cookies, if used, help us understand how the website performs in aggregate, for example whether pages load quickly and without errors. They are concerned with the health and speed of the site, not with the content of your recordings. Any performance measurement we use is designed to be privacy preserving and focused on aggregate signals.
#Analytics Cookies
Analytics cookies, if enabled, help us understand aggregate, non-content usage of the website, such as which pages are visited most often. We do not use analytics to read or measure the substance of your recordings or transcripts, which never touch the website in the first place. Where the law requires consent for analytics cookies, we will ask for it before setting them, and you may decline without losing access to the core website. We favor privacy-preserving approaches and keep any analytics footprint minimal.
#Preference Cookies
Preference cookies store non-essential settings that personalize your experience on the website, such as remembering a display choice between visits. These are optional. Disabling them simply means the site will not remember those preferences, and you may need to set them again on your next visit.
#Security Cookies
Security cookies help protect you and us by supporting secure sessions, detecting and preventing fraudulent activity, and keeping the checkout process safe. These cookies are an important part of protecting your payment and your account verification. Because they are essential to security, disabling them can prevent secure functions from working.
#Third-Party Cookies
Some cookies may be set by trusted third parties that provide specific functions, most notably our billing processors, ExtensionPay and Stripe, which power the secure checkout for ArcScribe Pro. These third parties use cookies to process payments securely and to prevent fraud, under their own privacy and cookie policies. We do not permit third-party advertising networks to set tracking cookies through ArcScribe, and we do not use third-party cookies to build advertising profiles of you.
Warning: Blocking all third-party cookies in your browser may prevent the secure checkout from completing, because payment providers rely on their own cookies to keep transactions safe.
#Browser Storage: Local and Session
Beyond cookies, ArcScribe uses browser storage technologies that are central to how the extension works.
- Local storage persists on your device and holds your recordings, transcripts, folders, tags, favorites, and settings so your library is available across sessions. This storage stays on your device and is not transmitted to Birchwood Group in normal use.
- Session storage holds temporary information for the duration of a tab or session, which helps the interface behave smoothly while you use it, and is cleared when the session ends.
Because your content lives in local storage, clearing that storage or uninstalling the extension can remove your recordings and transcripts. Export anything you want to keep before clearing browser data.
#Consent
Where the law requires consent for non-essential cookies, we ask for it before those cookies are set, and we make it straightforward to decline. Strictly necessary and security cookies do not require consent because they are essential to deliver the service you requested, but we still list them for transparency.
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time by adjusting your browser settings or any cookie controls we provide on the website. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that already occurred, and it does not remove strictly necessary cookies.
#Managing and Disabling Cookies
You are always in control of cookies through your browser. Common controls include:
- View and delete cookies. Every major browser lets you see the cookies stored for a site and delete them.
- Block cookies. You can block all cookies, block third-party cookies only, or block cookies from specific sites.
- Clear on exit. Many browsers can automatically clear cookies and site data when you close the browser.
- Manage site data. You can clear local and session storage for a site, which for the extension means clearing your ArcScribe library.
Consult your browser's help documentation for exact steps, since menus vary between Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers.
Note: Clearing site data or cookies for ArcScribe may remove your locally stored recordings and transcripts. Back up important content first.
#Effect on Functionality
Disabling cookies has different effects depending on the category:
| If you disable ... | The likely effect is ... |
|---|---|
| Necessary cookies | Parts of the website or checkout may stop working. |
| Security cookies | Secure functions and payments may fail. |
| Functional cookies | The site may not remember certain choices. |
| Preference cookies | Personalized display settings will not persist. |
| Performance or analytics cookies | We may have less insight into aggregate site health, but your experience is otherwise unaffected. |
| Extension local storage | Your recordings, transcripts, and settings may be removed or fail to persist. |
We design ArcScribe so that declining optional cookies never blocks you from the core value of the product.
#Retention
Cookie lifespans vary. Session cookies expire when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain until they reach their expiry date or you delete them. Necessary and security cookies generally last only as long as needed to perform their function. Local storage used by the extension persists until you clear it or uninstall the extension. Where our processors set cookies for checkout and fraud prevention, those cookies follow the processors' own retention schedules.
#User Responsibilities
You can manage your cookie and storage experience by:
- Reviewing and adjusting your browser's cookie and site-data settings.
- Clearing cookies and storage when you want a fresh state, after backing up important content.
- Understanding that blocking necessary or security cookies may break parts of the website or checkout.
- Backing up transcripts before clearing extension storage.
#Company Responsibilities
Birchwood Group commits to:
- Using cookies only for legitimate, disclosed purposes.
- Keeping the extension free of advertising and cross-site tracking cookies.
- Requesting consent for non-essential cookies where the law requires it.
- Explaining clearly which cookies are essential and which are optional.
- Keeping this policy accurate as our practices evolve.
#Examples
Example 1: Completing a purchase. A user buys ArcScribe Pro. During checkout, security cookies set by the payment processor help verify the transaction and prevent fraud. These are necessary for the payment to complete safely.
Example 2: Using the extension offline-first. A user records several notes. Their transcripts are saved in local storage on their device. No advertising cookie is involved, and nothing about the content is sent to a tracker.
Example 3: Clearing browser data. A user clears all site data to troubleshoot a browser issue and, without meaning to, removes their ArcScribe library. Because they had exported their important transcripts first, nothing critical was lost. This is why we recommend backing up before clearing storage.
#Frequently Asked Questions
Does ArcScribe use cookies to track me across the web? No. The extension relies on local storage, not tracking cookies, and we do not use cross-site advertising cookies.
What cookies are essential? Necessary and security cookies that keep the website and checkout working and safe. Disabling them can break those functions.
Will disabling cookies delete my recordings? Cookies are not where your recordings live. However, clearing the extension's local storage or site data can remove recordings and transcripts, so back them up first.
Do third parties set cookies through ArcScribe? Only trusted processors for secure checkout (ExtensionPay and Stripe). We do not allow advertising networks to set tracking cookies.
How do I control cookies? Use your browser's cookie and site-data settings to view, block, or delete cookies, and to clear storage.
#Contact Information
- Company: Birchwood Group LLC
- Product: ArcScribe
- Email: support@bwg.llc
- Website: https://usearcscribe.com
- Company website: https://www.bwg.llc
#Effective Date, Version, and Last Updated
- Effective Date: July 19, 2026
- Version: 1.0
- Last Updated: July 19, 2026
#Future Policy Changes
We may update this Cookie Policy as our website, checkout, or extension evolve, or as legal requirements change. When we make a material change, we will update the version number and the "Last Updated" date, and where appropriate we will provide notice. Your continued use of the website or extension after an update takes effect indicates acceptance of the revised policy.
#Conclusion
Cookies are a small but important part of running a website and a secure checkout, and we use them sparingly and honestly. The heart of ArcScribe, your voice content, stays in local storage on your device, not in tracking cookies, and we never use cookies to profile or follow you across the web. If you have any questions about how we use cookies or browser storage, contact us at support@bwg.llc. Thank you for trusting ArcScribe.