DATA / LOCAL / CONTROL

Privacy policy

Updated 13 October 2026

Syncabyte (iPhone), Syncabyte Desk (Mac), Syncabyte Web and Syncabyte Lite (both in a browser) are published by Machine Moving Image Creative Ltd. They have no account and no server of ours. Session logs stay on your devices and move only between the devices in your session, or where you choose to send them.

What a session log contains

The shoot name, frame rate, time zone and start and end times; each camera or recorder's name, model and link type; the name of the device that added it; and the time of every recording start and stop, timecode scan and marker. For a Bluetooth camera the log also holds the identifier your phone uses for that camera. A session log contains no pictures, video or sound.

Camera

The iPhone app uses the camera to read a timecode or master clock off a screen and to scan session codes. Frames are analysed on the device to find the numbers or code. They are not saved, added to your photo library or sent anywhere.

Bluetooth

The iPhone app uses Bluetooth to find and link to supported cameras and to hear when they start and stop recording. Bluetooth is not used for location or tracking.

Local network and nearby devices

Devices in the same session find each other nearby or on the same Wi-Fi and exchange the session log directly over an encrypted link. Your device's name is visible to the other devices in the session. The Wi-Fi camera check sends one request to the camera address you enter, to confirm the phone can reach it.

Time server

With an internet connection, each device asks Apple's public time server (time.apple.com) for the time when a session starts or is joined, and about every five minutes during it. This is a standard time request and carries no session data. Apple receives the request and your IP address under its own privacy policy. Without internet the apps use the device clock.

What stays on your devices

The iPhone app keeps session logs in its own folder, visible in Files > Syncabyte > Sessions. Syncabyte Desk saves live session logs to Documents/Syncabyte Sessions and writes sync maps where you choose. Each app also stores a random device identifier and your last-used frame rate. The Mac app reads the length, timecode and technical details of clips in the folders you choose. It does not change, copy or upload your footage. An exported sync map contains clip names and the file paths of your media.

Syncabyte Lite

Lite runs entirely in your browser. Session logs and the clip details it reads from the folders you choose are processed on your computer and are not uploaded. Lite stores nothing between visits and uses no cookies.

Syncabyte Web

Syncabyte Web runs entirely in your browser. It uses the camera, with your permission, to read a timecode or master clock off a screen; frames are analysed on the device and are not saved or sent anywhere. The session log, your name if you enter one, a random device identifier and your last-used frame rate are kept in the browser's storage on your phone until you close the session or clear the site's data. Nothing is uploaded and it uses no cookies. With a connection, it asks a small time service of ours, run on Cloudflare, for the current time when a session starts or is joined and about every five minutes after; the request carries no session data, and Cloudflare receives it and your IP address under its own privacy policy. A session link holds the session's name, frame rate and start time in the part of the address after the #, which browsers do not send to the website. The page is saved on your phone so that it works without a signal.

Sharing and cloud folders

You choose when to send a log and to whom. If you share it by message, email or AirDrop, or save files into a folder managed by iCloud or another cloud-storage service, that service handles the file under its own terms and your settings. Your backups may also include app data.

No collection or tracking

The apps have no account system, advertising, analytics, tracking or third-party SDKs. We do not collect personal data or receive your session logs. Apple may separately process purchase, App Store or operating-system diagnostics information under its own privacy policy and your settings.

Your controls

Camera, Bluetooth and Local Network access can be turned off at any time in Settings > Syncabyte on iPhone, or System Settings > Privacy & Security on Mac. Without camera access you cannot scan; without Bluetooth you can still add cameras by timecode scan. Delete session logs in the Files app or Finder. Deleting the app removes its stored identifier and settings. We cannot access or remotely delete files on your devices.

Support

If you email us, we receive the address and information you choose to send, including any session log you attach. We use it to answer your request and investigate the issue. We retain support correspondence while needed to resolve your request and maintain the support record, and delete it when no longer needed, subject to any applicable legal retention requirement. You can ask us to delete your support correspondence by emailing info@wearemachine.co.uk.

This website

These pages have no advertising, analytics scripts, embedded social widgets or contact form. The hosting provider necessarily receives connection information, such as an IP address and browser request, to deliver the website and operate its service.

Contact

Machine Moving Image Creative Ltd
info@wearemachine.co.uk