PiBye archive

Archive: Does Claude Desktop send your files to Anthropic?

This article describes an earlier version of PiBye, released as Sidebar. PiBye now uses Import → Review → Use with AI → Restore, with explicit file handoff and no automatic Claude connection. Ordinary Claude Desktop reads local folders you attach, then sends that conversation content to Anthropic (or, in third-party deployments, to the endpoint you configured). “On my Mac” is not the same as “never leaves this Mac.” Redact before the folder is attached.

Published 10 September 2026

Two different “local” claims

Claude Desktop runs on your computer. It can open folders you connect. Anthropic’s own documentation is explicit that when the model runs in Anthropic’s cloud, the agent’s work — including files opened through the desktop app — is processed on Anthropic’s servers.

That is not a bug. It is how a hosted model works. “Desktop” means the files are not dragged into a browser tab by you. It does not mean the bytes never leave.

Third-party Claude Desktop (Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Agent Platform, and similar) can send conversation content only to your configured endpoint. That is a different deployment. Most people asking this question are on ordinary Claude Desktop.

What to do with a client PDF

If the file has no personal information, attach it if your policy allows. If it has names, identity numbers, or accounts, those values will be in the prompt stream the moment Claude reads the file.

PiBye exists so the attached folder does not contain those values. You redact on the Mac. You approve the pages. Claude Desktop is pointed at the Vault. When it processes a document from that Vault, the redacted content goes to Anthropic — after you have already covered the identifiers.

This app versus Claude

Document processing works offline. PiBye contacts its download service for verified app updates without sending documents, mappings, or licence details. Your AI client and cloud backup settings have their own network behavior.

Do not mix the two. On-device redaction is the gate. Claude Desktop is the reader after the gate.

Questions this page answers

Does Claude Desktop keep my PDFs only on this Mac?

It can read them from disk. The text it uses in the chat is still processed as conversation content by Anthropic, unless you are on a third-party deployment that sends inference only to your own endpoint.

Does Anthropic train on my Claude Desktop files?

That depends on the product tier and the current privacy terms. Consumer terms have historically allowed use of inputs; Team and Enterprise terms often do not. Read the policy in force for your account. Do not assume.

How do I stop identifiers reaching Anthropic?

Do not attach the original. Attach a Vault of redacted, approved copies. The application that builds that Vault should not need the network at all.

PiBye is available now for macOS. The current PiBye workflow · Price.

Keep reading

Archive: Share a PDF with Claude Desktop without sharing PII
This article describes an earlier version of PiBye, released as Sidebar. PiBye now uses Import → Review → Use with AI → Restore, with explicit file handoff and no automatic Claude connection. Claude Desktop can help with a client file. It should not be handed the identifiers in that file. Redact and approve on your Mac, point Claude at a Vault of those copies, then Unredact the draft with the names filled back in.
Archive: Are chats with Claude attorney-client privileged?
This article describes an earlier version of PiBye, released as Sidebar. PiBye now uses Import → Review → Use with AI → Restore, with explicit file handoff and no automatic Claude connection. In United States v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y., February 2026), a court held that a defendant’s consumer Claude chats were not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product. Putting a client file into Claude is a third-party disclosure problem. Redaction does not turn that chat into a privileged communication.
Archive: Local AI versus uploading documents to Claude
This article describes an earlier version of PiBye, released as Sidebar. PiBye now uses Import → Review → Use with AI → Restore, with explicit file handoff and no automatic Claude connection. Local AI means the model runs on your hardware and the document never becomes a cloud prompt. Claude Desktop is not that. On-device redaction is a third design: detection stays on the Mac, then you deliberately share a covered copy with Claude.

Guides · Use PiBye with your AI of choice · Where the local boundary ends

How do I use PiBye with my AI?

Two ways. Copy the approved text into any AI chat, or connect Claude Desktop or the ChatGPT desktop app locally so they can read the approved copies you select. The connection runs on your Mac with no PiBye cloud relay, and the key to the real names never leaves your Mac. Your AI provider still processes what you share, which is the case with names and identifiers already replaced.

Can Claude or ChatGPT see my originals or mapping?

The PiBye connector does not give Claude or ChatGPT access to private Vault originals, restored files or mappings. You explicitly choose the approved Document copy to share. Values you choose to keep may remain identifying, so review the complete copy before sending it.

Does PiBye send my documents anywhere?

No. Your original documents never leave your Mac: PiBye prepares and restores them locally and has no cloud relay. Anything you choose to share with an assistant has already been redacted and reviewed by you. When you enable the optional local connection to Claude Desktop or the ChatGPT desktop app, that assistant can read the approved Markdown Documents you select and submit generated Markdown for review. Your AI provider processes whatever you share with it, remotely.