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Privacy & Data Collected

i.e., is WhatPulse safe, and what does it collect?

WhatPulse takes data security and privacy seriously. All collected data is stored locally on your computer, and sent via secure connections to our website. Access to data is restricted according to your account privacy settings. Only authorized WhatPulse personnel could access it, only upon your request. Additionally, users have control over the data collected and can configure the software to exclude specific applications or types of data from being tracked.

Activity Tracking without Content Intrusion​

WhatPulse is designed to respect user privacy by tracking only the activity and usage patterns of applications, without accessing or recording the content within those applications. This means that while WhatPulse collects data on how long an application is used, the frequency of keystrokes, mouse clicks, and other usage metrics, it does not capture the specific content being typed, viewed, or manipulated within those applications. For instance, WhatPulse will know that a user spent three hours using a word processor and the number of keystrokes made, but it will not record the actual text typed. This approach ensures that sensitive information and personal content remain confidential, while still providing valuable insights into usage patterns for productivity analysis and optimization.

One nuance since WhatPulse 6.3: the app can record window titles (the text in an application's title bar, like a document name or website title) to break down your time per document or site. Titles are metadata about where you spent time, not what you typed, but they can still be personal - which is why title tracking comes with a dedicated privacy layer: turn it off entirely, exclude specific applications, or filter titles by content. Incognito and private browser windows are always hidden. See Window title privacy.

If you would like to learn more about how WhatPulse counts keystrokes technically, see our Is WhatPulse a keylogger? article.

Accumulated Keystroke Tracking for Enhanced Privacy​

WhatPulse further ensures user privacy by tracking keystrokes in an accumulated manner rather than logging the order in which keys are typed. This means that while WhatPulse keeps count of the total number of keystrokes within a specific timeframe, it does not record the precise sequence of keys pressed. All data is aggregated with a maximum granularity of an hour, ensuring that the specifics of what was typed are not captured or stored. As a result, the typed content is not recorded verbatim and cannot be recalled or reconstructed, maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of the user's activities while still providing valuable metrics on overall keyboard usage.

Data and Metrics Collected​

Below are specifics about the data the WhatPulse software collects. As mentioned before, all data is aggregated with a maximum granularity of an hour.

Keyboard & Mouse Input​

  1. Most frequently used keys in total and per application.
  2. Most frequently used key combinations.
  3. Most frequently used mouse buttons (left, right, middle) in total and per application.
  4. Coordinates (X & Y) of mouse clicks.
  5. Total distance moved (measured in inches).

Network​

  1. Total data sent and received per network interface, per application, protocol (TCP & UDP), port number, and geographical country.
  2. WhatPulse has no insight into the network traffic itself, only the headers of said traffic.
  3. WhatPulse is not in the critical path of network traffic, receiving copies of network packets on a sidecar.

Uptime​

  1. Uptime in seconds per computer.
  2. Uptime in seconds per open application, and in-focus application.
  3. Focused uptime in seconds per application (when you're active).
  4. Times of detected computer reboots.
  5. Since WhatPulse 6.3: uptime and input per window title (for example, the name of the document or website you were working in). This can be turned off, limited per application, or filtered by content - and titles from incognito and private browser windows are never recorded. See Window title privacy for all controls.

Application Metadata​

  1. For applications opened and used for at least 60 seconds, WhatPulse collects metadata of the said application.
    • Application name, path, vendor, description, version number, icon image, and md5 hash.

Computer Metadata​

  1. Operating system details: platform (x86, or arm64), type (Windows, macOS, Linux), and version.
  2. Input hardware details: keyboard and mouse devices (type and vendor)
  3. Hardware inventory: computer model, CPU type, amount of memory, graphics cards, number of monitors and their resolution, network adapters (name, MAC & IP address)
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