Privacy notice
Provider: Jason Burt ("we"). Contact: [to be filled].
1. What stays on your computer
Tether runs on your computer. These stay there:
- Your projects, the files the AI agent reads and changes, and its work history.
- Your tasks, results and conversations.
- Passwords and keys you store in Tether's vault, which are kept encrypted.
- Your settings and your sign-in key for Fincher, which is kept encrypted.
They are kept in a private folder that only your user account can read. Other websites and other devices on your network cannot use Tether's local interface. Tether records changes to your connections, shows them in Settings, and sends you a notification.
We do not receive your projects, files or conversations.
2. What leaves your computer, and when
| When | What is sent | To whom | Can you turn it off? |
|---|---|---|---|
| You run an AI coding agent | What the agent needs to do the task, including files it reads | The AI provider you chose for that agent, under your own account with them | Choose a different agent, or don't run one |
| Planning in Cloud mode | A short piece of text, such as a goal or a summary, with passwords and keys removed first | Our planning service, which uses Google Cloud or Cloudflare to write the answer | Yes: choose Local only |
| You sign in with Fincher | Your Fincher account identity, to check it is you | Fincher | Sign out in Settings |
| You use Tether from your phone | Connection details needed to link your devices. The content is encrypted between your devices | Tailscale | Don't connect your phone |
| Notifications are on | A signal that something happened, with no task text | Your browser or phone maker's notification service | Turn notifications off |
| Tether identifies an app or package | The public name of the app or package | Public sources such as app stores and package registries | Don't use the lookup feature |
| You switch on optional tools (feedback, design review) | What that tool needs | That tool's provider | Leave them off. They are off by default |
Each outside service is listed with its own terms on the Subprocessors page.
In Local-only mode, planning does not use the planning service. Nothing is sent to it.
3. The planning service
When Cloud mode is on, Tether asks our planning service for short pieces of text: a suggested next step, a summary, a backlog item.
- Before text leaves your computer, Tether removes passwords, keys and other credentials it recognizes. The service removes them again on arrival.
- The service answers the request and does not store what you sent or what it answered.
- It keeps a record that a request happened: when, which kind of request, roughly how large, and which account made it. It does not keep the text. Those records are kept for up to 30 days.
- Google Cloud and Cloudflare act for us in producing the answer. Under the commercial terms we use, they do not use this content to train their models. The processing location may vary and is not fixed to one country.
- The service does not run the coding agent and cannot see your files.
4. How long things are kept
| Information | Where | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks, results, conversations | Your computer | Until you delete them |
| Worktree copies of your projects | Your computer | Until you clean them up in the app |
| Notification subscriptions | Your computer | Until you turn notifications off |
| Sign-in sessions | Your computer | 90 days after last use |
| Planning service request records (no text) | Our service | Up to 30 days |
| Your Fincher account | Fincher | As set out in Fincher's own notice |
We plan to add automatic clean-up periods for tasks and logs on your computer, set by you. This notice will change when they exist.
You decide what happens to anything on your own computer. Deleting it there removes it from Tether.
5. Your controls
- Switch Planning between Cloud and Local only at any time.
- Sign out of Fincher in Settings. This removes the stored key from your computer.
- Delete tasks, conversations and stored secrets in the app.
- Ask us for a copy of, or deletion of, the information we hold about you (your account and planning records) by writing to the contact above.
- Remove Tether by uninstalling it and deleting its data folder.
6. Who this is for
Tether is a business tool and is not meant for children under 16.
7. Professional and confidential material
If you work with confidential or privileged material, read the Responsible use page. Use Local-only mode for matters where no text may leave the computer.
8. Changes
When we change this notice we change the version and date below, and Tether asks you to look at it again. Older versions are kept so you can see what changed.
9. Contact
Write to [to be filled] for privacy questions or requests.
Version 2026-11-07 · Last updated 2026-11-07