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Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how MessagePane ("we," "our," or "us") handles information in connection with the MessagePane Mac application and the messagepane.app website. Please read it carefully. If you have questions, contact us using the support form on our website.

1. Scope

This policy covers:

  • The MessagePane app distributed through the Mac App Store.
  • The messagepane.app website, including the support contact form.

2. What we do not do

  • We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for advertising or marketing.
  • We do not require you to create an account or log in to use the app.
  • We do not receive your .eml or .msg email files — they are never transmitted to our servers under any circumstance.
  • We do not embed analytics SDKs, tracking pixels, or advertising frameworks in the app or on this website.
  • We do not collect crash reports or telemetry automatically from the app; any diagnostics go through Apple's standard App Store reporting.

3. The MessagePane app — local processing by default

All core features of MessagePane operate entirely on your Mac:

  • Opening, viewing, printing, and converting .eml and .msg files.
  • Displaying message metadata, headers, participants, and timestamps.
  • Saving attachments and exporting to PDF, HTML, TXT, or the original EML format.
  • Recovering corrupted or incomplete email files when data can be salvaged.

None of these actions causes the app to contact any external server. Your files stay on your device.

4. Optional network features — under your control

MessagePane includes two optional features that may contact external servers. Both are off by default and only activate when you choose to enable them.

Remote image loading

HTML email messages often reference images hosted on external servers. By default, MessagePane does not load these images, protecting you from remote tracking pixels and unwanted network requests.

If you choose to enable remote image loading for a message, the app will contact the image host URLs found in that message in order to display those images. These requests are made directly from your Mac to the external image servers — they do not pass through our servers, and we do not see or log them. The privacy practices of those external servers are governed by their own policies.

Remote header verification

MessagePane can optionally perform remote lookups to help verify email header information (for example, checking DNS or authentication records related to the message's origin).

When you initiate a remote header check, the app contacts the relevant external services to retrieve that data. These lookups occur only when you trigger them. We do not receive or log data from these lookups — the requests go from your Mac to the relevant external services.

You can choose not to use either optional feature and the app will remain entirely local.

5. This website

Browsing

We do not place tracking cookies or run analytics scripts on this website. Standard web server access logs may record your IP address, browser type, and the pages you request in order to operate the service; these logs are not shared with third parties for commercial purposes and are retained only as long as operationally necessary.

Support contact form

When you submit a support request, you voluntarily provide:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your message

We use this information solely to respond to your support request. We do not add you to any mailing list, share your contact details with third parties, or use this information for any purpose beyond resolving your inquiry. Submitted support messages are retained in our support mailbox for as long as reasonably needed to handle the request and any follow-up, after which they may be deleted.

Google reCAPTCHA

The support form uses Google reCAPTCHA v2 to prevent automated spam submissions. When the reCAPTCHA widget loads, Google may collect information about your browser and interaction with the widget in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy. We do not control Google's data practices. The reCAPTCHA secret key is stored server-side and is never exposed to your browser.

Google Fonts

This website loads fonts from Google Fonts. This may result in your browser making a request to Google's servers. Google's use of this data is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

6. Third-party services summary

  • Apple App Store — distributes the app; Apple's privacy practices apply to the download and purchase process.
  • Google reCAPTCHA — spam protection on the support form; governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google Fonts — web fonts for this website; governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Email / hosting provider — our hosting and SMTP infrastructure provider may process support form submissions in transit; we use TLS-encrypted connections.
  • External image and DNS servers — only contacted if you enable optional remote image loading or header verification in the app; governed by their respective policies.

7. Data security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect information submitted through this website. Support form submissions are transmitted over TLS-encrypted connections. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Children's privacy

MessagePane is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through our support form, please contact us so we can delete it.

9. Users outside the United States

MessagePane is operated from the United States. If you are located outside the US and choose to submit a support request, your information may be processed in the US. By using the support form, you consent to that transfer and processing.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the app or website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please reach out using the support form on our website.