Last updated 13 August 2026
ArtFetcher has no accounts, no analytics and no tracking. The developer collects nothing about you and operates no server that the app talks to. Your settings, caches, logs and downloaded images stay on your Mac.
There is one exception, and it is off until you turn it on: AI Mode. When it is on, ArtFetcher will identify an image by uploading it to Anthropic, OpenAI or Google. See below for more details.
ArtFetcher runs in the macOS App Sandbox.
What it keeps for itself lives inside its own container on your Mac at
~/Library/Containers/com.artfetcher:
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Settings, including any API keys you enter | Remembering your configuration between launches |
| Your last search terms | Restoring the search form when you reopen the window |
| Cached artist identities | Avoiding repeat lookups for artists you have already searched |
| Daily log files | Letting you see, and report, what happened during a search |
API keys are stored in the app's settings file in plain text inside that container.
Images you download are not stored in the container. They are written to the folder you chose.
Moving ArtFetcher to the Trash does not take the container with it.
You can do so by deleting the folder
~/Library/Containers/com.artfetcher yourself. This removes the
settings file, your API keys, the caches and the logs in one go. Images you have
already downloaded are not touched.
Deleting the container is local. It does not reach anything an AI service already holds - see below for that.
When you run a search, the artist name, painting title and year you typed are sent to the museum and cultural-heritage services listed below so they can be queried for matching artworks. Matching images are then downloaded from those services.
These requests contain your search terms and your computer's IP address, as any web request does. They do not contain your name, an account identifier, or anything else identifying you. Each service handles the request under its own privacy policy.
The Smithsonian Institution requires an API key. This key is sent with every request to the Smithsonian.
AI Mode is switched off when you install ArtFetcher. Turning on AI Mode lets ArtFetcher identify an artwork from a picture. This feature requires you to supply your own API key for either Anthropic, OpenAI or Google.
While AI Mode is on, the image you ask ArtFetcher to identify is uploaded to whichever of those services you selected, as well as your API key.
Three things start an upload:
The capture shortcut uploads as soon as you finish selecting a region on the screen, with no further confirmation. You turn that off here: Settings → AI Preferences → Automatically search when capturing with the shortcut. The capture remains in the search gallery until you delete it.
A watched folder does not automatically upload. When an image whose name begins with "Screenshot" appears in one, ArtFetcher loads that image and brings the search gallery to the front. The image stays on your Mac until you ask for it to be identified.
If you do not want any images uploaded to Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, switch AI Mode off.
Requests to OpenAI, Anthropic or Google carry the image, the instruction to identify it, and your API key. Like any web request it also carries your computer's IP address. Nothing else about you is sent - but because the key identifies your account with that company, this upload is not anonymous to them, unlike the museum searches above.
All three hold the image for a period after answering, and their terms differ. These are their published positions, not ours, and they are the companies' to change:
The API key is yours, not ArtFetcher's. There is no ArtFetcher key, no server of ours in between: the application stores the key you enter on your Mac and sends requests straight from it to the company you chose. Your use of that key is subject to that company's API terms, including any conditions they set on who may use the API, from where, and for what purpose. ArtFetcher neither checks nor enforces those conditions - meeting them is between you and them:
Switching AI Mode off stops every upload described here. So does clearing the API key: without one there is nothing to send a request under, and the attempt fails before the image leaves your Mac.
Switching off AI Mode has no effect on any image already sent. An upload is one-way: once the image is with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google it is held under your account with that company, on their terms, for as long as those terms say - and ArtFetcher, which never had a copy and runs no server, has no way to recall or delete it. To have it deleted sooner, or to find out what is held, ask that company directly through the account your API key belongs to.
ArtFetcher asks for macOS Screen Recording permission only so that the capture-a-region shortcut can photograph the area you select. Captures happen only when you invoke that shortcut. ArtFetcher reads and writes only the folders you pick yourself.
ArtFetcher is not directed at children and collects no information from anyone. Note that art collections may include classical works containing nudity.
artfetcher.com serves static pages, sets no cookies and runs no analytics. The web host keeps standard server access logs, as web servers ordinarily do.
If this policy changes, the revised version will be posted here with a new date above.
Questions about this policy: info@artfetcher.com