Screen recording privacy: a practical checklist

Before recording: remove the data

• Create a dedicated demo account with synthetic names, messages, analytics and payment details.
• Enable Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode across the Mac and any mirrored device.
• Close email, chat, calendar, password managers, terminals and unrelated browser profiles.
• Clear recent-file menus, downloads and desktop clutter that may contain real names.
• Check the browser's bookmarks bar, autofill suggestions, profile avatar and open-tab titles.
• Use a neutral clipboard value before demonstrating paste.
• Confirm the selected window or screen and make a ten-second test.

If a piece of data never enters the recording, it cannot leak through a missed mask, transition frame or alternate export.

During the take: control accidental exposure

Move through a rehearsed path. Search boxes, file pickers and address fields can reveal recent private values even in a demo account. Avoid improvising into areas you did not inspect.

Cadre records shortcut combinations for optional keystroke overlays, but drops plain typed characters before they reach disk. That reduces one specific risk—a password typed during the take—but it does not make the visible screen private. Anything shown in pixels can still be in the video.

If private information appears, stop and note the time. When practical, reset and retake the section. A clean source is safer and often faster than tracking a moving secret with blur.

Before publishing: review the rendered file

1. Watch the complete export at normal speed with sound.
2. Watch again without sound and scan every transition, menu and notification area.
3. Listen without looking for names or details spoken in narration or system audio.
4. Verify every blur mask from several frames before it begins until several frames after it ends.
5. Check captions separately; transcription can surface a spoken detail you missed while listening.
6. Confirm the filename and metadata do not contain a customer, project or employee name.

When a local-first screen recorder helps

A local-first workflow keeps project media on the Mac and avoids uploading footage merely to edit or caption it. Cadre stores recordings locally, transcribes captions on-device with Whisper and serves its editing control surface on the loopback interface.

Local processing reduces exposure, but it does not replace device security, access controls, backups or a publishing review. Protect the Mac and the project folder according to the sensitivity of the material.

Read the exact product behavior on Cadre's privacy page.

Treat the AI agent as a separate system

Cadre's agent connection is local, but the agent you choose may send prompts or context to its own service. Keep instructions focused on editorial intent and avoid placing secrets in the prompt. Review the agent provider's data controls separately.

Agent edits in Cadre use the same validated, non-destructive store actions as manual edits. That preserves undo and makes the timeline inspectable, but you still own the final review before export and publication.

Frequently asked questions