realsub

RealSub Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-08-13

RealSub is a real-time subtitle tool that runs entirely on your own computer. Speech recognition happens locally; your audio never leaves your machine. This document explains what data RealSub handles, when anything is sent to an outside service, and where things are stored.

1. What we do not do

• No telemetry, no usage statistics, no automatic crash reporting. RealSub never sends anything back to us in the background.
• No accounts. No sign-up, and we do not collect your name, e-mail address, or any identifying information.
• No microphone access. RealSub captures the sound your system is playing (or the sound of one application you select); it does not record microphone input.
• No advertising, no profiling, and no sale or sharing of personal data with third parties.

2. Audio and subtitles

• Audio is read through Windows system loopback capture (WASAPI loopback) and fed straight into a local speech recognition model in memory.
• Both the speech recognition model (Whisper) and the voice activity detection model (Silero VAD) are installed locally together with the application; recognition requires no internet connection.
• Audio is never uploaded to any server and is never sent to us.

3. Translation (the only feature that sends text outside)

Translation is enabled by default. When translation is on, the recognized subtitle text (text only — never audio) is sent to the translation service you selected in Settings in order to retrieve the translation. The available services and their recipients are:

Translation source in Settings	Text is sent to	Applicable privacy policy
Microsoft Translator (default)	Microsoft Bing translation service (www.bing.com)	Microsoft Privacy Statement
Google Translate	Google translation service (translate.google.com)	Google Privacy Policy
DeepL	DeepL (requires your own API key)	DeepL Privacy Policy
OpenAI-compatible endpoint	The address you enter yourself (any compatible or self-hosted service)	Determined by that service’s provider
Local translation	A translation service running on your own machine (127.0.0.1); it never leaves your computer	Not applicable

Notes about translation requests:

• A request contains only the subtitle text to translate and the target language. It contains no account information, no device identifier, and no audio.
• For the Microsoft and Google options, RealSub uses their public web translation endpoints. Whether those services log requests is up to them and outside our control.
• If you choose DeepL or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, the API key you enter is stored only in the local configuration file and is used solely to call the service you specified.
• With translation turned off, RealSub sends nothing to any external service and runs fully offline.
• The free version does not include translation, so no text leaves your machine when using it.

4. Data stored on your computer

The following is stored locally only and is never uploaded:

Content	Location
Configuration (interface, model, translation settings, including any API key you enter)	%APPDATA%\RealSub\config.toml
Runtime state (window position, trial start timestamp, etc.)	%APPDATA%\RealSub\state.toml
Application logs (for troubleshooting; under the default configuration they do not contain subtitle text)	%APPDATA%\RealSub\logs\
Transcript history (subtitle text and timings) and optional audio recordings (MP3)	%APPDATA%\RealSub\history\

• History and recording are features you can turn off in Settings. Existing records can be deleted from the History window, or by deleting the folders above.
• Old history is pruned automatically according to the retention period you set.
• Uninstalling does not automatically remove %APPDATA%\RealSub; delete that folder manually if you want everything gone.

5. The Steam version

• RealSub is distributed through Steam. The Steam client itself handles your account, purchase, and playtime data; that is governed by the Valve Privacy Policy, and we have no access to your Steam account information.
• The only things RealSub reads through the Steam interface are: whether the full-version DLC has been purchased, whether Steam is currently logged in, and the Steam server time (used for trial timing so that changing the system clock has no effect).
• RealSub stores one file, trial.dat, in Steam Cloud. It contains nothing but the timestamp of your first run (a single number), so that the trial period stays consistent when you move to another computer. It contains no subtitles, no audio, and no personal information.

6. Diagnostic export

RealSub offers an “Export diagnostics” button. It creates a local zip file only when you click it and never sends it anywhere automatically. Whether to send it to us is entirely your choice. The zip contains:

• config.redacted.toml — your configuration, with any API key replaced by ***;
• state.toml — window position, trial timing, and similar runtime state;
• logs/ — logs of the last 3 sessions (model loading, device switching, errors; under the default configuration, no subtitle text);
• env.txt — application version, Windows version, Python version, GPU model, compute device, license state, and the install paths of the CUDA runtime libraries.

All four items are scrubbed of your user name and the paths containing it before they are written into the zip: your user profile directory is replaced by the literal %USERPROFILE%, and any remaining path of the form C:\Users\yourname\... becomes C:\Users\***\.... You can still open the zip and review it before sending.

7. Children’s privacy

RealSub is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children (in fact, the software collects no personal information at all).

8. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update the date at the top of this page and mention it in the release notes.

9. Contact

For privacy questions, contact: realsub.support@gmail.com (you can also use the developer contact information on the Steam store page).

— RealSub