Privacy and security

Puffin Proxy sees a lot of sensitive traffic, so it is built to keep it on your Mac.

Your data stays local

• There is no telemetry. Puffin does not send usage data or captured traffic anywhere.
• Captured requests and bodies are stored on your Mac, in Puffin’s own folder, and you can clear them at any time.
• Exports can redact Authorization, Proxy-Authorization, Cookie and Set-Cookie values.

The certificate key

• Every install creates its own root certificate. No key is shared between users or shipped in the app.
• The key is kept in your login Keychain and never leaves the Mac.
• One click removes the certificate and its trust settings.
• Decryption is opt-in per host, so the certificate is only used for hosts you list.

Fail open

If the Puffin app is not running or cannot be reached, your traffic goes straight through. Quitting or crashing Puffin does not break your network connection.

Narrow reach

• Only the apps you choose are captured.
• You can turn capture off at any time, from the menu bar or by removing the proxy configuration in System Settings.
• Puffin only talks to itself on your Mac. The connection between its parts stays on your Mac and is protected so other programs cannot use it.

Not in scope

Puffin does not defeat certificate pinning, and it does not decrypt HTTP/3. See HTTPS and the certificate.