What does your work app send off your computer? How to find out

Almost every work app sends something off your computer. That isn't a problem in itself: sync, sharing and AI can't work without it. The useful question is not "does it send data?" but "what does it send, when, to whom, and can I control it?"

You can answer that for any app in a short sitting, if you know which questions to ask and where to look. This guide gives you six questions, the places the answers usually live, and a worked example from PlexiDesk, a local-first workspace that keeps your work on your computer first and publishes its answers in one place.

Your content and usage data are different things

Start by separating two kinds of data, because they raise different questions.

Your content is what you make and say: documents, notes, tables, messages, files, and the questions you ask an AI. The questions here are where it is stored, who can read it, and where it travels when you sync, share or use AI.

Usage data, often called telemetry or analytics, is information about how the app is used: which version you run, how many of something you have, whether a feature was opened. The questions here are what exactly it contains, whether it ever includes titles or text, whether you can switch it off, and who receives it.

An app can be careful with one and careless with the other, so check both.

Six questions to ask any work app

1. What usage data does it send, and can you turn it off? Look for a plain list of what is included, not just "anonymous data", and a switch you can find without searching.
2. What does sync send, and who can read it on the server? Encrypted in transit is one thing. Whether the service can read what it stores is another. Look for a straight answer on both.
3. What does sharing make public? Find out whether a shared link opens for anyone who has it, whether it can expire, and how you stop sharing.
4. Where do AI requests go? Do they go straight from your computer to the AI provider, or through the app's own service? And what content travels with each request?
5. Are there third-party trackers in the app? Analytics and advertising code from other companies can sit inside an app. The app and its website can differ here, so ask about the app itself.
6. Can you take everything with you? You should be able to export your whole workspace in a form you can read, and delete your account.

Where to look for the answers

• The privacy policy. It should say what the company collects, why, and who it shares data with. Read the sections on usage data and service providers first.
• The settings. Look for a privacy, data or account tab. A usage data switch belongs here, along with any sync options.
• The help centre. The clearest apps have one page that goes feature by feature through what is sent and where.
• The moment you act. A good share dialog tells you who can open a link before you create it. Read it.
• Your computer's own privacy settings. They show which apps can use your microphone, camera and screen.

If you can't find an answer, ask the company in writing. A sentence such as "we take your privacy seriously" is not an answer to any of the six questions.

A worked example: PlexiDesk's privacy settings

PlexiDesk puts most of its answers in one guide, Privacy settings and what leaves your computer. Here are the six questions again, answered for PlexiDesk.

1. Usage data. In Settings, on the Data tab, under Privacy, a box starts Share anonymous usage data. It is on to start with. Usage data is a summary of counts: your PlexiDesk version, Mac or Windows, how many widgets, rooms and desks you have, how many focus sessions you finished and their total minutes, how many AI requests you made, how much text they used and an estimate of what they cost, and your progress through the getting-started steps. It never includes the titles or contents of your desks, documents, messages or files. The same box covers error reports: if something in the app goes wrong, PlexiDesk sends the technical details, such as the error message, where in the app it happened and your version, on the same schedule as the usage summary. Both are sent just while you are signed in, and when you untick the box they stop at once. The box applies to the computer you change it on.

2. Sync. While you are signed in, your rooms, desks, widgets, tables, calendar time blocks, Attention items and files go to your PlexiDesk account, along with your documents while Documents sync is on. That is how they appear on your other computers. Sync is encrypted in transit, and the server can read what it stores for the features you use. To keep documents on one computer, untick Sync documents to your account on the same tab (Sync your work across devices).

3. Sharing. What you share goes to the people you share it with, through PlexiDesk. A public link can be opened by anyone who has it, so treat it like any public link. When you make a link to a desk, you choose when it expires, from 48 hours to never, and the desk's share sheet lists its links, each with a Stop this link working button (Sharing and invites). Messages, calls and meetings go to the people in the conversation.

4. AI. On PlexiDesk AI credits, your request goes through PlexiDesk to Anthropic. With your own Anthropic key, it goes straight from your computer to Anthropic (AI settings). Either way, it carries the content needed to answer. Features that use a key you added for another service, such as Cloud voice transcription, send their request straight from your computer to that service. One detail shows why it pays to read the whole page, in any app: when AI suggests a set-up for a new desk, the request can include a few pages you visited recently in browser widgets, so its suggestions fit what you were doing.

5. Trackers. The guide says plainly that the PlexiDesk app has no third-party trackers or advertising trackers.

6. What stays, and taking it with you. Your settings, your API keys, your Vault of passwords, your mail password and the history of pages you visited in browser widgets stay on your computer, and your keys, the Vault and the mail password are stored encrypted (Add your own API keys). Mail travels straight between your computer and your mail provider. To take your work with you, the Backup & data section of the same Data tab has Export my work (JSON), which writes your workspace to one file you can read and take elsewhere. The files you keep in Files are listed in it rather than copied into it, and the export says so.

Choices you can make today

You don't need to change much. A few minutes with the answers above is enough to set things the way you want them. In any app, and in PlexiDesk as the example:

• Decide on usage data. If you would rather not share it, untick Share anonymous usage data under Settings, Data, Privacy. Do it on each computer you use.
• Choose what syncs. Sync is what lets your work appear on every computer you sign in on. If your documents belong on one machine, untick Sync documents to your account on that computer. It covers all the documents in your personal workspace, not one at a time.
• Choose the route for AI. If you want AI requests to go straight to the provider, add your own Anthropic key and choose Your own key under AI · source. Bring your own AI key explains the trade-offs.
• Tidy your shared links. Look through what you have shared and stop sharing anything that no longer needs to be out there. In PlexiDesk, a desk's links are listed in its share sheet under Links to this desk.
• Keep your own copy. Export your workspace now and then, so you hold a copy you control whatever happens to any service.
• Read the policy once. The Privacy Policy has the detail behind the guide. A short read now saves guessing later.

If you want the background to all of this, Local-first, explained describes where your work lives in PlexiDesk and why, and the Files, sync and privacy section of the product page sums up what stays on your device and what sync does.