Last updated: 2 September 2026
The short version #
Onwords does not collect anything.
Your voice is recognised by software inside the app, running on your own computer. Your script is stored on your own computer. The app has no account system and no analytics, and nothing you say or write is ever transmitted to Chaos Created or to anyone else.
The rest of this policy explains that in detail, and covers the places where Microsoft’s own services are involved: checking your Microsoft Store licence, the optional AI rewrite on Copilot+ PCs, and the Store itself.
Who we are #
Onwords is produced by Chaos Created Limited, 51 Newfoundland Way, Portishead, Bristol, United Kingdom. If you have any questions about this policy, get in touch at https://chaoscreated.com/get-in-touch-with-us/
Your voice #
Onwords listens through the microphone you select, and converts what it hears into text so it can follow your place in your script.
- Speech is recognised entirely on your own computer. Onwords includes its own speech recognition software (an open-source neural model), which runs on your computer’s processor. You can instead choose the speech recognition engine built into Windows, from the View menu; that also runs locally.
- We do not use online speech recognition. Onwords does not use any cloud speech service, and does not use the “Online speech recognition” feature in Windows settings.
- Audio is never recorded or saved. Sound from your microphone is processed as it arrives and then discarded. Onwords does not write audio to disk, and has no facility to do so.
- Recognised text is never transmitted. The words the app recognises exist only in memory while the app is running, unless you turn on the optional diagnostic log described below.
Onwords only listens while you have pressed Start Listening. It does not listen in the background, and it does not listen when it is not running.
Your scripts #
The script you paste into Onwords is saved on your own computer, so that it is still there next time you open the app. It is stored as an ordinary file in the app’s data folder in your Windows user profile (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Onwords for a direct download; the app’s own package folder for a Microsoft Store install), alongside a small settings file that remembers things like window size and your chosen engine.
You can delete those files at any time, and doing so removes the saved script. They never leave your computer. They are not encrypted, and are readable by anyone who can already read files in your Windows user account.
The AI rewrite (Copilot+ PCs only) #
On a Copilot+ PC, Onwords offers to rewrite your script in a different style. This uses the language model built into Windows on those machines (Microsoft’s Phi Silica, through the Windows AI APIs). When you use it:
- Your script is processed on your own device. The model runs on your computer’s AI processor. Onwords does not send your script to Chaos Created, to Microsoft, or to anyone else.
- Nothing changes until you accept it. The rewritten text is shown to you first, and your script is replaced only if you choose to replace it.
- Windows may need to download the model once. On some machines Windows fetches the language model the first time it is used, through Windows Update. That download is handled by Windows, not by Onwords, and contains no information about you or your script.
- Windows applies its own on-device content safeguards to this model. That is a function of Windows and is covered by Microsoft’s privacy statement.
The feature does not appear on computers that lack the hardware for it.
What Onwords sends over the internet #
Nothing about you, your voice or your script — ever.
Onwords has no servers of its own. It has no account system, no update check, no analytics and no crash reporting, and it works with no internet connection at all: speech recognition, tracking and everything else run offline.
There are three ways it interacts with Microsoft’s services, none of which carries your script or your speech:
- Licence check. If you installed Onwords from the Microsoft Store, the app asks Windows whether your copy is a free trial or a full licence, so it can show how many trial days remain. This uses Microsoft’s Store licensing service and is covered by Microsoft’s privacy statement. If the check cannot be completed — for example, offline — Onwords carries on working normally.
- Buying Onwords. Choosing Upgrade to Paid hands the purchase to the Microsoft Store. Chaos Created never sees your payment details.
- The AI rewrite model, described above, may be downloaded once by Windows.
Clicking Support, Learn More or Privacy Policy in the app hands a web address to your normal browser and asks it to open the page. Onwords does not fetch anything itself, and sends no information about you along with the request. Once your browser opens our website, that visit is covered by the website’s own privacy policy: https://chaoscreated.com/privacy-policy/
Microphone permission #
Onwords needs permission to use your microphone in order to work at all. Windows controls this permission, and you can withdraw it at any time in Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone. If you withdraw it, Onwords will be unable to follow your speech, but everything else continues to work.
Optional diagnostic logging #
Onwords includes a diagnostic feature that records what the speech engine heard, to help investigate problems with how the app follows your voice.
It is switched off unless you deliberately turn it on, from Help → Recognition Logging in the app. When on, it writes the recognised text (never audio) to recognition-log.txt in the app’s data folder on your own computer, along with the date, time and which engine was in use. The file is capped in size; when it fills, the older part is kept as one previous file and the rest discarded. Help → Open Log Folder shows you where it is and how large it is. That file is never transmitted anywhere. Switch logging off the same way, and delete the files to remove the record.
If you send us a diagnostic log while asking for support, you are choosing to share its contents with us. Only send one if you are comfortable with the text it contains, and we will use it only to investigate the problem you have reported.
If you install Onwords from the Microsoft Store #
Where Onwords is distributed through the Microsoft Store, Microsoft handles the download, installation and any purchase. Microsoft collects data about that in line with its own privacy statement, which we do not control: https://privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement
Chaos Created may see aggregate, anonymised information from Microsoft about installs and ratings. This does not identify individual users, and does not include anything about how you use the app.
Windows itself #
Onwords runs on Windows and uses components supplied by Microsoft, including the Store licensing service, the optional Windows speech recognition engine and the optional Windows AI language model. Windows may collect its own diagnostic data about applications running on your device, according to your Windows diagnostic data settings. This is a function of Windows rather than of Onwords, and is controlled in Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback.
Children #
Onwords is a general-purpose tool and is not directed at children. Because it collects no data at all, it does not knowingly or unknowingly collect data from anyone, including children.
Your data protection rights #
Rights under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 — such as access, correction, erasure and portability — apply to personal data held by an organisation about you.
Chaos Created does not receive, hold or process any personal data through the Onwords application. Your scripts, your voice and your recognised speech remain on your own computer, under your control, and can be deleted by you at any time. There is therefore no data held by us for those rights to be exercised against in respect of the app.
If you contact us for support, we hold whatever you choose to send us, and you may ask us to delete it at any time via https://chaoscreated.com/get-in-touch-with-us/ Our website is covered separately by https://chaoscreated.com/privacy-policy/
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy #
If we change how Onwords handles information, we will update this policy and change the date at the top. Any future version of the app that sends information anywhere — for example an optional update check — would be described here before release, and we would tell you about it clearly in the app.
