Overview
Unearth is a Mac data-recovery app built by ARRcade. It was designed around a single guiding principle: everything stays on your Mac. The app works entirely offline — it makes no network connections, has no backend, and never transmits anything to ARRcade or any third party.
This Privacy Policy explains what Unearth does with information when you use it. The short version: nothing leaves your device. Unearth reads your disk locally and recovers files to a destination you choose on your own machine. That is all.
Unearth collects no personal data. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting that leaves your Mac. The app makes zero network connections. ARRcade has no visibility into how you use Unearth, what files you recover, or when.
What We Collect
Unearth does not collect any personal data. No analytics. No telemetry. Here is the full picture:
| Data Type | Collected? | Accessible to ARRcade? |
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | Not Collected | No |
| Usage analytics | Not Collected | No |
| Files scanned or recovered | Not Collected | No |
| Disk or volume contents | Not Collected | No |
| Location data | Not Collected | No |
| Device identifiers | Not Collected | No |
| App preferences | On Device Only | No |
Unearth does not use analytics SDKs, advertising networks, crash reporters that phone home, or any other third-party service that might send data off your Mac.
Your Files Never Leave Your Mac
Unearth reads your storage devices locally — at a low level — to locate and recover deleted or lost files. Every part of this process happens entirely on your Mac:
- Unearth reads source disks in read-only mode. It does not write to, modify, or reformat the disk being scanned.
- Recovered files are written only to the destination you choose on your own Mac.
- No file names, file contents, directory listings, or metadata are transmitted anywhere.
- No network connection is made at any point during a scan or recovery.
- There is no ARRcade server, cloud service, or third-party storage that ever receives your data.
Unearth makes zero network connections at runtime. There is no server to receive your data, no analytics endpoint, and no background service that phones home. The only external communication is the standard anonymous App Store metrics Apple collects from all Mac App Store apps — see below.
Permissions Unearth Asks For
Deep disk access is fundamental to data recovery. Unearth requests one privileged permission to do its job. Here is exactly what it is and why it is needed:
- Privileged disk-read access (via a user-approved helper tool). To find and recover files that the filesystem no longer tracks, Unearth must read storage devices at a low level — bypassing the macOS filesystem layer. This access is granted only when you approve the installation of a privileged helper tool via a macOS system prompt. The helper runs with elevated privileges solely to perform this read operation. It is read-only with respect to the source disk, operates only locally, and is used only for recovery. It does not transmit any data off your Mac.
macOS requires a user-approved privileged helper for low-level disk access. Unearth's helper is granted this access for one purpose only: to read raw disk sectors locally so your files can be recovered. The helper never makes network connections, never writes to the source disk, and is fully removed if you uninstall Unearth.
App Store-Supplied Data
Unearth is distributed through the Mac App Store. Apple receives standard anonymous app metrics — crash reports, app launch counts, and aggregate usage data — from all apps distributed through their platforms. ARRcade has access to these aggregated, anonymised metrics through App Store Connect, but has no access to any information that identifies individual users through these channels.
For details on what Apple collects, see Apple's Privacy Policy.
Your Rights
Because Unearth stores no personal data beyond your on-device preferences, you have complete control at all times.
- Access: There is no personal data to access — we hold none.
- Deletion: Uninstalling Unearth removes all local preferences permanently. No data exists on ARRcade servers because none was ever sent.
- Portability: No personal data exists to port.
For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), this design means your GDPR rights are inherently satisfied — no formal request to us is required because no personal data is processed.
For California residents: Unearth does not sell personal information, so CCPA opt-out rights do not apply. There is no personal information to sell.
Children's Privacy
Unearth is a data-recovery utility designed for adults and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Because Unearth collects no personal data from anyone, this is inherently satisfied.
Changes to This Policy
If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and note the change in the accompanying app update on the Mac App Store.
Given Unearth's architecture — no data collection, no servers, no accounts — the scope for meaningful change is narrow. Any change that introduced data collection would require explicit, informed opt-in from users.
Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy or how Unearth handles data? We are happy to help.