Screencap is run by Dharma Loop LLC, a Wyoming company. It protects your recordings with private and password-protected links, and with optional end-to-end encryption in the Mac app. This page says what each protection does and what it does not cover, so you can decide how to use Screencap safely.
- An encrypted recording on our servers is titled "Encrypted recording" and a date. Your real title is replaced.
- We cannot see the video, audio, thumbnail or real title. They stay scrambled.
- We can see the details around it: length, resolution, account, created and viewed times, comments and view counts, and viewer IPs in server logs.
- The link works, but the key stays with you. The part after the # is never sent to our servers.
- In short: we can see the details around a recording, not what is in it, unless someone gives us the full link in an abuse report.
Who runs Screencap?
Screencap is operated by Dharma Loop LLC, a Wyoming LLC in the United States. You can reach us at [email protected]. Our Privacy policy and Terms are the legal versions of what this page explains.
We have not had an independent security audit, and Screencap holds no security or compliance certifications. What we can offer is a short list of protections you can check for yourself, because the code is public.
How does Screencap end-to-end encryption work?
With the setting on, your Mac encrypts each recording before it is uploaded, and the key never leaves the share link. The key is a random string in the part of the link after the # sign, for example /s/abc123#k=.... Browsers never send that part of a link to a website, so it does not reach our servers.
The steps look like this.
- Turn it on. In the Mac app, open Settings, then General, and switch on "End-to-end encrypt recordings". It is off by default.
- Record as usual. The app makes a new random key for every recording and encrypts the video, its segments and the thumbnail on your Mac.
- Share the full link. Send the whole link, including the part after the #. Anyone who has it can watch. Without that part, the page cannot play the video.
The encryption format is public, and it is described in the open source repository linked at the bottom of this page. Your browser also keeps the key for your own recordings on that device, so your dashboard can play them.
What can Screencap see, and what can't it see?
For an encrypted recording we cannot see the video, but we can see the details around it. The table sets this out.
| We can see | We cannot see |
|---|---|
| The recording's length and resolution | The video and audio |
| The account that made it, and when it was made and viewed | The thumbnail image |
| Comments, reactions and view counts | The real title (it is replaced with "Encrypted recording" and the date) |
| The list of segments the recording is made of | The key in your link |
| The IP addresses of people who load it, in server logs | What your screen showed |
Because of these details, we do not call this "zero-knowledge". We do not know what is in the video. We do know that it exists.
What do you lose when a recording is encrypted?
Anything that needs our servers to read the video stops working. Encrypted recordings have no transcripts, no AI titles, summaries or chapters, and no preview image when you paste the link into a chat app. You also cannot download them from the browser or edit them in the browser.
Comments and reactions still work. The link needs a browser with MediaSource support to play.
If you lose the link and no device still has the key, nobody can recover the recording, including us.
Are screenshots and browser recordings encrypted?
No. Only recordings made with the Mac app, with the setting on, are end-to-end encrypted. Screenshots are uploaded without end-to-end encryption, and so are recordings made in the browser on Windows, Linux or Mac. All traffic still travels over encrypted connections, and the files sit in our storage, but we can technically read them. Treat these as you would any file you upload to a cloud service.
Can I make a Screencap link private?
Yes. You can set a recording to private, or protect it with a password, from its sharing settings. New recordings start as open to anyone with the link, unless your organisation's default is private. Check the setting before you send a link that matters.
Links do not expire. They work until you delete the recording or your account, so remove anything you no longer want shared. Our guide to sharing a recording privately ranks the options from most to least private.
Can viewers download or copy my recording?
Viewers do not get a download button, but a public video can still be captured. Anyone who can play a video can record their own screen while it plays. If that matters, use a private or password-protected link, or an encrypted one, and share it only with people you trust.
Is Screencap open source?
Yes. Screencap is released under the AGPL-3.0 licence, and the code is public at github.com/ques123/screencap-web. It is a fork of the open source Cap project. Some components keep their own licences.
You can build the Mac app yourself instead of trusting our download. The repository has a build script (scripts/build-from-source.sh) that needs Xcode, Rust, Bun, Node 20 or later and cmake, and the first build takes roughly 15 to 40 minutes. Our download page explains the steps. Our own download is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple.
One honest limit applies to every website that offers end-to-end encryption. The page that plays your video runs code from our site in the viewer's browser, and that code could in principle be changed to capture keys. The Mac app does the encrypting, so the app is the part to trust, and its source is open to inspection.
Where does Screencap store my data?
Recordings are stored on Cloudflare R2 in North America. Our app servers and database run on Hetzner in Germany. Sign-in uses an email one-time code, so we hold no passwords for accounts.
Recordings stay until you delete them, and you can delete any recording from your dashboard. Backups are kept for 30 days. If you ask us to delete your account, the data is removed within 30 days, and backups clear a further 30 days after that. The Privacy policy names the services we use.
How do abuse reports work with encrypted recordings?
Anyone can report a recording from the report form, and the same acceptable use rules apply to encrypted recordings as to any other. The reporter can choose to include the full link with its key. If they do, we store it with the report and a moderator can open the recording, and that access is logged.
Without the key we cannot watch an encrypted recording. We then act only on what we can see, such as the account and the details in the table above.
How do I report a security issue?
Email [email protected] with what you found and the steps to reproduce it. Because the code is public, you are welcome to include the file or line involved. To report a recording rather than a vulnerability, use the abuse form.
Questions
Is Screencap safe to use?
Screencap is run by Dharma Loop LLC, signs you in with an email one-time code, and stores recordings on Cloudflare R2. New recordings can be opened by anyone with the link, so switch sensitive ones to private, add a password, or turn on end-to-end encryption in the Mac app. We have not had an independent security audit and hold no security certifications.
Is Screencap end-to-end encrypted?
Only if you turn it on, and only in the Mac app. The setting is called End-to-end encrypt recordings, and it is off by default. Browser recordings and screenshots are not end-to-end encrypted.
Can Screencap see my encrypted recordings?
Not in normal use. The key sits in the part of the link after the # sign, which browsers never send to a server, so we store only encrypted video. We can still see details such as the length, resolution, account, timestamps, comments, reactions, view counts and the IP addresses of people who load the link. If someone reports a recording and includes the full link, a moderator can open it to review the report.
What happens if I lose the link to an encrypted recording?
The recording cannot be recovered. We never hold the key, so we cannot restore it. Keep the full link, including the part after the #, and keep your Mac too, because your dashboard plays the recording using a key saved in your browser.
Can people download my Screencap video?
Viewers do not get a download button. Someone who can play a public video could still capture it with other software, so use a private or password-protected link for anything sensitive.
How do I report a security problem?
Email [email protected] with what you found and how to reproduce it. The source code is public on GitHub, so you can also read the code involved.