Security & Privacy

Exactly what happens to your audio and transcripts at every step. No marketing fluff — just how it actually works.

Three Levels of Privacy

Standard

Every user, every plan — including free
  • HTTPS (TLS 1.3) for all data in transit
  • Audio deleted immediately after processing
  • Transcripts stored in our database
  • We can read stored transcripts
  • Data never sold or used for training
  • Delete your data anytime

Private Transcript

Pro+ Available on Pro and Business plans
  • Everything in Standard, plus:
  • Transcript encrypted in your browser (AES-256-GCM) before saving
  • We store only encrypted data — we cannot read it
  • Key derived from your password, never sent to us
  • ⚠ Audio is still processed on our servers during transcription

Private Cloud / Self-Hosted

Full isolation — from $99/mo
  • Audio never leaves your infrastructure
  • Transcription runs on your GPU
  • No data sent to STT.ai servers
  • Air-gapped support available
  • True end-to-end privacy

What Actually Happens to Your Data

A transparent, step-by-step breakdown of how your audio and transcript are handled.

Standard (all users)
1
You upload audio or record live
Your file is sent over HTTPS (TLS 1.3) to our GPU server for transcription.
2
Audio is processed in memory
Our AI models transcribe your audio on the GPU. The audio is held in memory during processing — never written to disk — and deleted from memory immediately after.
3
Transcript is stored in our database
The text transcript, timestamps, and speaker labels are saved so you can access them later. We can read this data (this is how search, AI summaries, and sharing work).
4
You can delete everything anytime
Delete individual transcripts or your entire account from Privacy Settings. Deletion is permanent and immediate.
With Private Transcript enabled

Steps 1-2 are the same — your audio must be processed on our servers to generate the transcript. The difference is what happens next:

3
Transcript is encrypted in your browser before saving
After transcription, the result is returned to your browser. Your browser encrypts it with AES-256-GCM using a key derived from your password (PBKDF2, 100K iterations). The encrypted blob is then sent to our servers for storage. We never see or store the encryption key.
4
We store only encrypted data
Our database contains only the encrypted blob. We cannot decrypt it. If our database were breached, your transcripts would be unreadable.
Important: Private transcript protects the stored transcript. During the transcription process itself, your audio is processed on our servers in order to generate the text. If your threat model requires that audio never touches third-party servers, consider Private Cloud or Self-Hosted.

What We Can and Can't See

We CANNOT see (with Private Transcript)
  • Your stored transcript text
  • Speaker names or labels (stored)
  • Timestamps or word-level data (stored)
  • Your encryption key or password
We CAN see (even with Private Transcript)
  • Your audio during processing (deleted after)
  • File name, size, duration (metadata)
  • Language detected, model used
  • Timestamp of transcription
  • Your account info and billing

Technical Details

Encryption algorithmAES-256-GCM (authenticated encryption)
Key derivationPBKDF2 with SHA-256, 100,000 iterations
IV (nonce)Random 12 bytes per encryption (never reused)
Key storageNever stored — derived from password on each session
Transport encryptionTLS 1.3 (HTTPS) + HSTS (1 year, preload)
Audio retentionProcessed in memory, never written to disk, deleted immediately
ImplementationWeb Crypto API (browser-native, no external libraries)
Source codegithub.com/sttaigit/stt-encryption (MIT license)

Private Transcript Trade-offs

Private transcript is opt-in because encrypting the stored transcript limits some features:

Works with encryption
  • Viewing your transcripts
  • Exporting (TXT, SRT, VTT, etc.)
  • Downloading
  • Editing (decrypted in browser)
Not available with encryption
  • Server-side search across transcripts
  • AI summaries and chat (server can't read data)
  • Public sharing via link
  • Team workspace collaboration

Need Audio to Never Leave Your Servers?

Private transcript protects the transcript at rest, but audio still passes through our GPU during processing. If your compliance or security requirements demand that audio never touches third-party infrastructure, these are your options:

Private Cloud

$499/mo

Dedicated GPU server managed by us. Your audio never leaves your isolated environment.

  • Dedicated A100 GPU
  • Isolated — no shared infrastructure
  • Audio processed on your hardware only
  • Full API access + SLA
Learn More

Self-Hosted

$99/mo

Docker image. Your servers. Your GPU. Nothing leaves your network.

  • Docker — runs on any NVIDIA GPU
  • Air-gapped support — no internet required
  • Model updates included
  • Full control, full privacy
Learn More

Our Commitments (All Users, All Plans)

  • Audio files are never stored permanently. Processed in GPU memory, deleted immediately after transcription.
  • Your data is never used for AI training unless you explicitly opt in via Voice Lab.
  • We don't sell your data. Ever. To anyone.
  • All traffic encrypted in transit via TLS 1.3 with HSTS.
  • Delete your data anytime from Privacy Settings or by deleting your account.
  • Encryption code is open-sourceaudit it yourself (MIT license).

Open-Source Encryption

Our encryption library is fully open-source under the MIT license. Don't trust us — verify the code. No trust required, just math.

View on GitHub | View Source

Ready to transcribe securely?

Upload your first file free. Private transcripts available on Pro and Business plans.

Start Transcribing

Preguntes més freqüents

Upload your audio or video file to STT.ai. Select your preferred AI model and options, then click Transcribe. Your transcript will be ready in minutes. Export as TXT, SRT, VTT, DOCX, JSON, or PDF.

Yes! STT.ai offers 600 free minutes per month for all users. No signup required for your first transcription. Paid plans with more minutes and features start at $5/month.

Exactitud depèn del model IA que escolliu i qualitat d' àudio. Els millors models aconsegueixen una taxa d' error de paraula del 5- 7% de punts de referència, que vol dir que 9395% + precisió. Neteja l' àudio amb un soroll mínim de fons produeix els millors resultats.

STT.ai offers 10+ models including Whisper Large V3, NVIDIA Canary, and more. You can compare results from different models on the same file.

Després de transcri transcrivir, exportar la teva transcripció com a fitxers de subtítols SRT o VT. Això treballa amb YouTube, Vimeo, i totes les plataformes de vídeo més importants.

Yes. STT.ai automatically identifies and labels different speakers using AI speaker diarization. Works across all models and languages.

La majoria de fitxers es transcri transcriben en menys de 5 minuts. Un fitxer d' àudio d' 1 hora generalment triga 23 minuts amb els nostres models més ràpids.

STT.ai supports 20+ audio and video formats including MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM, and AVI. Export as TXT, SRT, VTT, DOCX, JSON, or PDF.

Sí. Els fitxers d' àudio es processen i s' esborraran després de la transcripció. Les vostres dades no s' usen mai per a l' entrenament. L' encriptatge del client és lliure en tots els plans de l' encriptatge l' encriptatge el xifrarà amb una clau que només teniu. Durant el procés, el servidor gestiona l' àudio en text pla. Apreneu de la nostra seguretat.

Yes. STT.ai offers a REST API with Python and Node.js SDKs. Free tier includes 100 minutes/month.

Yes. STT.ai includes a built-in transcript editor where you can correct errors, rename speakers, and adjust timestamps.

Totes les transcripcions reben un enllaç únic. Exporta a DOCX o PDF per al correu electrònic. Pro plans ofereixen enllaços per contrasenya i permanents.

STT.ai supports 1,300+ platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, SoundCloud, and more. URL transcription works only with publicly available audio and video. DRM-protected content (such as Spotify premium episodes, Netflix, Disney+, etc.) cannot be transcribed. For DRM content, download the file separately and upload it directly.