The note you file may be much shorter than the conversation
A client may mention work pressure, finances, family circumstances, or a difficult week while explaining how they feel. Only a small part of that discussion may be relevant to the massage note. An online scribe that processes the whole recording still receives the wider conversation.
For example, a final note might say that the client reported increased upper-back tension after a demanding week. The recording could contain the details of an employment dispute or family situation behind that description. Removing those details from the final note does not remove them from what was already uploaded.
This is why comparing only the privacy of the finished note misses an important part of the decision.
A shorter summary and local processing make different choices
Dictating your own summary limits the material you give the scribe to the account you choose. Keeping the scribe offline determines whether the software company receives that account. You can use either input method with local drafting.
If you prefer recording the appointment, the recording and transcript can stay on your device. If you already dictate a recap into an online tool, you can keep that habit while changing where it is processed. You do not have to give up the writing help to remove the company-held clinical copy.
Ask what happens before the finished note appears
A promise not to train on notes does not answer whether the recording is uploaded. A promise to delete audio does not answer how long the transcript remains. These are different forms of the same client conversation, and a useful privacy answer names each one.
For an existing online-scribe user, this is the distinction to bring into the comparison: does the company protect a copy it receives, or does the app avoid sending it the clinical material at all?
Astralcyte's privacy policy explains that transcription and drafting happen on your device and that the app does not send recordings, transcripts, or notes to the company. The company cannot leak a client conversation from servers that never receive it.
Keep the drafting routine you find useful
Choose SOAP or narrative, edit the draft locally, and retain the note in the encrypted vault or copy it into your existing client record. A spoken summary can still be the input if that is how you already work.
The practical change is who receives the client's words. You can keep getting a first draft while keeping both the details you file and the details you leave out off the scribe company's servers.