Avlok works two ways, and you choose between them. By default, everything you search stays on your computer. When you want your photos inside an AI assistant on the web, you turn on Cloud AI Access and pick what to share. This page explains both, and exactly what leaves your device in each.
By default, Avlok keeps your library on your device. The only thing that ever leaves is a small thumbnail, sent once when a photo is first processed, used, and discarded. Nothing about your library is stored on our servers.
When you turn on Cloud AI Access, that changes by your choice: small thumbnails and short descriptions of the folders you select are stored on our servers, so assistants on the web can search them. You can turn it off, and that data is deleted.
This is how Avlok works out of the box, and, apart from the one-time 7-day Cloud AI Access trial, it is the only way the free tier works.
What stays on your device
Your original photos, always. The search index. The people you have named, the places and trips Avlok works out, and the words spoken in your videos. All of it lives on your machine. (If you turn on Cloud AI Access, the text of the transcripts for the videos you share syncs too, so assistants and your other devices can search what was said; the audio itself never leaves your device.)
What leaves, once
To make a photo searchable, Avlok sends a small thumbnail (224 pixels square, with location and camera details stripped) to be processed. It is read in memory, turned into something searchable, and discarded immediately. It is never stored.
When you connect Claude Desktop, the assistant reads this local index directly. Nothing about that search goes to the cloud. The local server is read-only and makes no network calls of its own.
If you want your photos available inside Claude on the web, ChatGPT, or another assistant, and across your devices, you turn on Cloud AI Access. This is opt-in, and it is included with Pro and Family.
What gets stored
For the folders you choose, small thumbnails and short text descriptions are stored on our servers. If you also use people grouping, the names you assign (and which shared photos each named person appears in) sync too, so an assistant can find photos of a person; the face data itself never leaves your device. Your recent assistant searches are kept briefly (up to twenty, deleted after seven days) so you can reopen them in the app.
What never gets stored
Your full-resolution photos. Those never leave your device, in either mode. The cloud only ever holds the small thumbnail and the description.
You choose the folders
Cloud AI Access is folder by folder. Folders you do not include stay on your device and never sync. Folders you mark private are excluded entirely.
You can turn it off
Disable Cloud AI Access whenever you like. Your cloud data is kept for 14 days in case you change your mind, then permanently deleted.
| Local (default) | Connected (Cloud AI Access) | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution photos leave your device | Never | Never |
| Stored on our servers | Nothing about your library | Thumbnails and descriptions for chosen folders |
| Works with | Claude Desktop | Claude on the web, ChatGPT, others |
| Across devices | No, tied to that computer | Yes |
| Available on | Every tier, including Free | Pro and Family |
| You choose what is included | The whole local library is searchable on-device | Folder by folder |
In either mode, you can mark a folder as private. Private folders are hidden from every assistant, local and cloud alike, and require a separate app password to view. They never sync to the cloud under any setting.
For the complete legal detail, including service providers and your rights under GDPR and CCPA, see the full privacy policy.
