# Privacy and security

> What Cephable processes on your device, what leaves it, the permissions it asks for, and how to limit what the assistant can reach.

Source: https://help.cephable.com/docs/get-started/privacy-and-security

---

Cephable runs its speech, camera, and AI models on your device. This page covers what stays
there, what Cephable sends to its own services, the permissions the app asks for, and the
settings that limit what the assistant can reach.

## Processing happens on the device

Cephable's speech recognition, face and expression detection, and AI assistant run as local
models on the device. There is no cloud inference step — which is why voice controls keep
working with no network connection once the models have been downloaded.

| Data | Leaves the device? |
| --- | --- |
| Microphone audio | No |
| Camera video and frames | No |
| Text you dictate | No |
| Documents a workflow reads | No — unless a step you added reaches out |
| App Controls definitions | Yes — synced to your account so they follow you between devices |
| Account identity and license state | Yes |

### AI History is encrypted at rest

AI History, including workflow history, is stored locally and encrypted on disk. The
encryption key is held by the operating system's own secret store — the login keychain on
macOS, DPAPI on Windows — rather than sitting in plaintext beside the data, and history is
additionally bound to the signed-in Cephable account, so one account on a shared device
cannot read another's.

On macOS you see a keychain prompt the first time Cephable opens your history. Cephable
explains it beforehand; choose **Always Allow**. The item is named **Cephable Safe Storage**
and contains the key only, not conversation content. Windows does not prompt, since DPAPI
does not ask. If you are rolling Cephable out to others, mention the prompt in your rollout
communications — an unexplained keychain prompt reads as suspicious.

:::callout type="note" title="What syncing App Controls means"
Your command phrases and the actions attached to them are stored against your account so the
same controls appear on your other devices. If a control types a phrase, that phrase is part
of the definition. Documents a workflow reads are not synced.
:::

## What Cephable connects to

Cephable connects to its own services to sign you in, check your license, and sync your App
Controls, and it downloads its AI models once on each device. If your IT team needs to allow
Cephable through a firewall, the details are in
[Network requirements](/docs/it-admins/privacy-and-security#network-requirements).

## Permissions the app asks for

| Permission | Needed for | Optional? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Microphone | Voice commands and dictation | Yes |
| Camera | Head and face controls | Yes |
| Device Control and Data Access (macOS) | Sending input to other applications | No |
| Keychain (macOS) | Unlocking the encryption key for locally stored AI History | Yes |

Apple renamed that pane in macOS 27; on macOS 26 and earlier it is called **Accessibility**.

Cephable prompts for each at the point of first use and links directly to the relevant
system settings page. See [Permissions and access](/docs/troubleshooting/permissions).

## What the assistant can reach

Most of this is configurable, and it is usually what a security review focuses on.

**On the device.** The **AI Workspace Folder** setting scopes which folder the assistant's
file and command tools may use. With **Restrict the AI agent to this folder only** turned on,
it cannot read or change anything outside it. Left unset, the assistant can access the whole
computer — so this is worth setting as policy for a managed deployment.

**In the browser.** Some workflows use Cephable's own browser for web research and for
working in websites. **Automation Browser Visibility** controls whether you watch it work.

**Which apps and sites.** In a Cephable Pro organization, an admin can block or allow the
assistant per app or website with
[automation rules](/docs/it-admins/governance/automation-rules), organization-wide or per
member.

**Which tools.** Connectors are MCP servers that act with your own permissions against
whatever they connect to. In a Cephable Pro organization, an admin decides whether members
may add their own connectors, or only use ones the organization has published.

Organization admins set both of these in the [Cephable Portal](https://portal.cephable.com),
not in the desktop or mobile apps. See
[Security review and controls](/docs/it-admins/privacy-and-security) for the full list of
organization controls and where to get Cephable's security documentation.