Privacy Policy

Our philosophy

GateShell is built by Hefty Innovations on the belief that your server credentials and terminal sessions are among the most sensitive data you own. We designed GateShell so that we cannot access any of it, because there is nothing for us to access. GateShell has no analytics, no telemetry and no user accounts, and nothing in the app connects through us, with one narrow, opt-in exception for delivering server alerts, described in full below.

What we collect

Nothing.

GateShell does not collect, transmit, or store any personal information, usage data, crash logs, or analytics. We do not know who uses GateShell, how often they use it, or which servers they connect to. There are no third-party analytics SDKs, no tracking frameworks, and no advertising identifiers in the app.

Where your data lives

• Server configurations (hostnames, ports, usernames) are stored on-device using Apple SwiftData and optionally synced across your devices via iCloud private database. iCloud uses end-to-end encryption; not even Apple can read your synced data.
• Passwords and SSH private keys are stored exclusively in the Apple Keychain, which is hardware-encrypted and isolated from other apps. Keychain items may sync via iCloud Keychain with the same end-to-end encryption guarantees.
• Terminal session logs (if you enable recording) are saved on-device in the GateShell app container. They never leave your device unless you explicitly export them.
• Biometric data (Face ID / Touch ID)is processed entirely on-device by Apple's Secure Enclave. GateShell only receives a yes/no response from the system. It never sees raw biometric data.

Purchases and subscriptions

GateShell Pro subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple via StoreKit. We do not receive or store your credit card details, billing address, or payment history. Apple provides us only with an anonymized transaction identifier and subscription status necessary to unlock Pro features. Apple's privacy policy governs all payment processing.

SSH Connections

All SSH, SFTP, and port forwarding connections are established directly from your device to your server. No relay, proxy, or middlebox of ours sits in that path, so we cannot observe, intercept, or log your network traffic. Your connection is encrypted end-to-end by the SSH protocol between you and your server.

Server alerts and push notifications

GateShell has one optional feature that touches a server of ours, and this is it. If you install the self-hosted agent on your own server and turn on alerts, that agent needs to deliver push notifications to your device. Apple requires every push to be signed with the developer's key, so the agent cannot reach Apple directly. It forwards the notification through a small relay we run at gateshell.com, which signs it and hands it to Apple.

What passes through that relay: your device's Apple push token, and the notification itself, which contains the name you gave the server and, for the silent refreshes that keep your widgets current, its CPU, memory, and disk percentages. The relay forwards them to Apple and the request ends. We keep no database of device tokens, no account, and no notification history. Our delivery logs record only whether a push succeeded, the last six characters of the device token, and how long it took, and never your server names or alert text.

What never passes through it: passwords, SSH keys, terminal output, file contents, or commands. And if you do not install the agent, or leave alerts off, nothing is ever sent to us at all. Every other part of GateShell continues to run with no server of ours anywhere in the path.

Children's privacy

GateShell is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect any information from anyone, children included, because the app collects no data.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we will update the date above and note the change. Because GateShell has no user accounts, we have no way to reach you about it, so please check this page periodically.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at support@heftyinnovations.com.

GateShell is a product of Hefty Innovations.