Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 5, 2026

Summary

Your hosts entries and profiles stay on your Mac. SaneHosts does not upload that data to SaneApps servers. The app may send limited anonymous product events, such as app version, OS version, distribution channel, and Basic vs Pro status, so product health can be understood at a high level.

Data Collection

The SaneHosts app does not collect:

Personal information
Your hosts entries or profiles on SaneApps servers
Crash reports
Your admin password

Local Storage

SaneHosts stores the following data locally on your Mac:

Profiles: ~/Library/Application Support/SaneHosts/Profiles/
Backups: ~/Library/Application Support/SaneHosts/Backups/
Blocklist cache: ~/Library/Application Support/SaneHosts/BlocklistCache/
Preferences: Standard macOS UserDefaults

This stays on your Mac during normal use.

Network Access

SaneHosts accesses the network only when:

You explicitly import a blocklist from a remote URL
You choose a protection level or blocklist that has not already been cached or bundled locally
Checking for app updates via Sparkle (can be disabled in Settings)
Sending a few simple anonymous product events, such as Basic vs Pro launches and license activation
Opening checkout or license delivery through Lemon Squeezy when you choose to buy Pro

Anonymous product events can include the event name, app version, build, OS version, platform, distribution channel, and Basic vs Pro status. Your hosts entries and profile contents are not sent to SaneApps.

System Access

SaneHosts needs administrator permission to modify /etc/hosts. macOS handles that through its normal password prompt. SaneHosts does not store your password.

Third-Party Services

SaneHosts uses:

Sparkle: For checking app updates. Only checks for updates from sanehosts.com. No personal content is transmitted.
SaneApps distribution service: Receives a few simple anonymous product events. These do not include your hosts entries, profile contents, personal files, device identifiers, or account identifiers.
Lemon Squeezy: Processes Pro purchases and license delivery. This applies to checkout, not to hosts entries or profile contents.
Cloudflare Web Analytics (website only): The public website uses privacy-first aggregate traffic stats without analytics cookies or analytics fingerprinting. This applies to the website only, not the app.
Google Fonts (website only): Some public website pages load fonts from Google. This applies to the website only, not the app.

Remote Imports

If you import a hosts file from a URL, SaneHosts fetches the URL you chose, rejects oversized imports, processes the content on your Mac, and keeps the resulting entries local unless you export or share them yourself.

100% Transparent Code

SaneHosts publishes its source code for full transparency. You can review the code at github.com/sane-apps/SaneHosts. Licensed under PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 — free for personal use and experimentation.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email [email protected] for private questions, or open an issue on GitHub for public docs or code discussion.