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Privacy & Security

Privacy & Security

CyberPaste is designed with privacy as a core principle. All data stays local on your machine, with multiple features to protect sensitive information.

Local-First Architecture

Data Storage

All clipboard data is stored locally:

  • Database: SQLite at %APPDATA%\CyberPaste\cyber_paste.db
  • No cloud sync: Data never leaves your machine
  • No analytics: Zero telemetry or usage tracking
  • No account required: No sign-up, no server communication

What Stays Local

Data Location
Clipboard history Local SQLite database
Settings Local config file
AI API keys Local encrypted storage
Ignored apps list Local settings
Search index Local database

What Leaves Your Machine

The only data that leaves your machine is:

  • AI requests — Clip content sent to your configured AI provider
  • Update checks — Anonymous version check against GitHub Releases

Ignored Applications

Why Ignore Applications?

Some applications handle sensitive data that shouldn't be stored in clipboard history:

  • Password managers (KeePass, Bitwarden, 1Password)
  • Banking applications
  • Medical records software
  • Any app with confidential information

How to Ignore Applications

  1. Go to Settings → Privacy → Ignored Applications
  2. Click Add Application
  3. Either:
    • Browse for the executable (.exe)
    • Type the process name manually
  4. The app is added to the ignore list

Ignore Matching

CyberPaste checks both:

  • Process name — e.g., keepass.exe
  • Full executable path — e.g., C:\Program Files\KeePass\keepass.exe

Matching is case-insensitive.

Managing Ignored Apps

Action Description
Add Browse or type executable
Remove Select app → Remove
Edit Modify process name or path

When an ignored app is the source of a clipboard event:

  • The clip is not stored
  • No notification is shown
  • The clipboard event is silently discarded

Ghost Clip Filtering

What Are Ghost Clips?

Ghost clips are clipboard events with no meaningful content:

  • Empty clipboard clears
  • Single whitespace characters
  • Single control characters
  • Zero-length content

Configuration

Enable ghost clip filtering in Settings:

  • Ignore ghost clips — Discard clips with no meaningful content
  • Reduces database clutter
  • Improves search quality

Data Retention

Automatic Deletion

Configure how long clips are retained:

Option Description
Days Auto-delete clips older than N days
Max items Keep only the N most recent clips
Unlimited Never auto-delete

What Is Protected from Auto-Delete

  • Pinned clips — Never deleted automatically
  • Favorite clips — Can be configured for protection

Manual Deletion

  • Delete individual clips (Delete key or context menu)
  • Bulk delete multiple clips
  • Clear all history (with confirmation)

Database Security

SQLite WAL Mode

The database uses Write-Ahead Logging:

  • Better performance for concurrent reads/writes
  • Automatic crash recovery
  • Data integrity guarantees

No Encryption at Rest

The SQLite database is not encrypted by default:

  • Standard SQLite file format
  • Can be opened with any SQLite browser
  • For sensitive environments, consider OS-level encryption (BitLocker)

Database Location

%APPDATA%\CyberPaste\cyber_paste.db

Export and Backup

Export Data

Export your clipboard history for backup:

  1. Go to Settings → Data
  2. Click Export
  3. Choose location and format

Import Data

Import previously exported data:

  1. Go to Settings → Data
  2. Click Import
  3. Select the export file

Data Portability

  • Export format is standard JSON
  • Can be processed by other tools
  • Full content and metadata included

AI Privacy

When using AI features:

  • Only the selected clip content is sent
  • No history or metadata is included
  • Communication is direct between your machine and the AI provider
  • For maximum privacy, use local Ollama models

API Key Storage

AI provider API keys are:

  • Stored locally only
  • Never transmitted except to the provider's API
  • Can be cleared at any time