Cloud dictation doesn't remove your confidentiality risk — it puts it on you. Dictara transcribes client material entirely on your Mac: no disclosure, no processor agreement, nothing a seizure or a bankruptcy estate could ever reach. Your client privilege never leaves your desk.
The §203 problem
Since the 2017 reform of §203 StGB, sending client material to a cloud provider isn't outright forbidden — but the law shifts a full compliance burden onto you. Every provider must be bound to confidentiality in writing, briefed on criminal liability, carefully selected, and continuously monitored; for US providers you'd have to prove a comparable level of protection a US tool essentially never delivers. Local processing makes that entire catalogue moot — because the disclosure that triggers the law never happens.
Your confidentiality under BRAO and §2 BORA can't be delegated away by any cloud contract. Handing a recording to an outside transcription service is the kind of disclosure (Offenbaren) the statute is built around. With Dictara nothing is handed over — there is no outside party.
A data-processing agreement addresses GDPR. It does nothing for the criminal side. You can sign every AVV in the world and the §203 question still stands. The clean answer isn't a better contract — it's no processor at all, because the audio never leaves your machine.
Protection against seizure (§97 StPO) is strongest for material you actually hold. A transcript on a third-party server sits outside your control and can be reached directly. Dictara keeps every dictation and meeting on your Mac — in your possession, with no server to subpoena.
This is a general risk overview, not legal advice.
This simple
Tap the right Option key in your document.
A clause, a full brief, or a client call. Nothing lost.
Clean, punctuated text appears at your cursor — offline.
Privacy by architecture
Other dictation and meeting tools sell you security checklists because they hold on to everything you say. Dictara flips that: speech recognition (NVIDIA Parakeet) and speaker separation run entirely on your Apple Silicon chip. Audio and text never leave the device — not even the transcription. There's no server holding anything. So there's nothing to leak, hack, subpoena, train on — or liquidate.
Cloud AI startups are VC-funded and grow on other people's money. Some get huge, some fail. And when one fails, its data becomes part of the bankruptcy estate: an asset, sellable to a third party your client never agreed to. In 2025, 23andMe's data on 15 million people went into exactly that kind of auction. Now imagine that data is your clients' dictated case files, contracts and privileged notes.
Dictara has no server that could ever fall into a bankruptcy estate. Your client's confidence is theirs — and nobody else's business.
Recognition, speaker separation, special words and diary stay on-device. Optional AI workflows use tools you connect yourself.
No email, no login, no calendar access. There's simply no profile and no processor to vet or to leak.
The only network contact is an optional, anonymous version check. Never a word of client content.
Built by CW Apps GmbH in Berlin, where data protection is culture, not a footnote.
How it compares
| Dictara | Cloud dictation (e.g. Wispr Flow) | Cloud meeting tools (Otter, Fireflies) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where client audio is processed | 100% on your Mac | Vendor's cloud | Vendor's cloud |
| §203 "disclosure" to an outside party? | None — nothing leaves the device | Yes — triggers the compliance catalogue | Yes — triggers the compliance catalogue |
| Processor agreement (AVV) needed? | No processor at all | Yes — and it only covers GDPR | Yes — and it only covers GDPR |
| Reachable by seizure / subpoena? | No server to subpoena | Server can be compelled | Server can be compelled |
| If the vendor goes bankrupt, the data… | Nothing — nothing sits with a vendor | Cloud store = potential bankruptcy estate | Cloud store = potential bankruptcy estate |
| Bot visible in the call? | No | — | Yes |
| Model | One-time licence (free in Early Access) | Subscription | Subscription |
As of June 2026. Vendor terms change — verify before deciding.
With Dictara, confidentiality isn't a "privacy mode" you switch on — it's the architecture. There's no cloud for anyone to keep your client's words in.
The model
The Offline Edition runs entirely on your Mac — no metered usage, no hour packs, no recurring cost. During Early Access, Dictara is free. After that: a one-time licence per machine, no subscription, no auto-renewal, nothing to cancel. Buy once for the firm's Macs — and it stays yours.
Pricing to follow — Early Access locks in the best deal.
DictaraOffline.dmg · ~2.4 GB, all models built in — no download on first launch · drag to install · notarized by Apple · macOS 12+, Apple Silicon.
Questions
Sending client material to a cloud transcription provider can constitute disclosure (Offenbaren) to an outside party. Since the 2017 reform it isn't outright forbidden, but you must bind the provider to confidentiality in writing, brief them on criminal liability, select and monitor them carefully, and for US providers prove a comparable level of protection. Local processing removes that entire burden because the disclosure never happens. (This is a general risk overview, not legal advice.)
A data-processing agreement addresses data-protection law (GDPR). It doesn't heal the criminal-law side: your professional confidentiality under BRAO and §2 BORA, and §203 StGB. With Dictara there's no processor to bind in the first place, because nothing leaves your Mac.
Protection against seizure (§97 StPO) is strongest for material in your own custody. A recording sitting on a third-party server is outside your control and can be reached directly. Dictara keeps dictations and meeting transcripts on your Mac as Markdown — in your possession, with no server to subpoena.
Yes. Speech recognition (NVIDIA Parakeet) and speaker separation run on-device on your Apple Silicon chip. Audio and text never leave the device — not even the transcription. The only network contact is an optional, anonymous version check; never content.
Free during Early Access. After that, a one-time licence per machine — no subscription, no hour packs, no recurring cost. Everything runs locally, so there's no metered usage and nothing to renew.
Download Dictara and dictate for free — 100% offline, across your whole Mac. Nothing to disclose, nothing to subpoena, nothing to sell off.
Notarized by Apple · no account · free in Early Access · Made in Germany 🇩🇪
Also for confidential work: medical dictation that never leaves your Mac · the private Wispr Flow alternative · back to the overview