Privacy
What a Zcash viewing key reveals in a local tracker
A viewing key grants visibility without spending authority. That makes it useful for research, but it still deserves careful handling.
A Zcash viewing key lets compatible software inspect covered wallet activity without possessing the spending key. ZEC Buying Price imports a mainnet Unified Full Viewing Key, or UFVK, through ZcashLightClientKit. It does not ask for your seed phrase and cannot sign transactions.
View-only does not mean public. The history a viewing key reveals can be sensitive even when the key cannot authorize a payment.
Why a unified key matters
Zcash has multiple receiver types and value pools. A Unified Full Viewing Key packages supported viewing components into one encoded key. Which components and accounts are present affects the activity that software can see.
ZIP 316 defines Unified Addresses and Unified Viewing Keys. The practical consequence for this app is straightforward: do not assume one imported key covers every account, pool, or wallet you have ever used.
Where the app stores information
The current app stores the imported viewing key in macOS Keychain. An optional CoinGecko API key is also stored there. Scan state, cached prices, and transaction choices are saved under ~/Library/Application Support/ZECBuyingPrice/.
That local directory is separate from Keychain. It can contain financial history even though it is not a spending credential. Consider who can access your Mac, your local files, and your backups.
Which services are contacted?
The app connects to a configurable TLS lightwalletd endpoint to scan wallet activity. The default endpoint is zec.rocks:443. It also requests historical market prices from CoinGecko.
The application’s price requests contain the asset and date rather than the viewing key or transaction identifier. That limits what the price service receives from this request path. It does not make network use anonymous: services can still observe connection information such as your IP address.
For the exact data flow, inspect the wallet scanner and historical-price client.
What to paste during setup
Use your wallet’s supported method to obtain a mainnet UFVK. Wallet export features differ, so follow the documentation for the wallet you actually use. A public receiving address is not a replacement for this key. A seed phrase is not required.
Paste the key into the installed application on your Mac. The website has no key-import form. Choose a birthday date before the wallet’s first activity; an optional birthday height takes precedence. See setup for the application flow.
Reading the privacy boundary correctly
This app separates visibility from spending authority. It does not prove that your operating system, backups, selected endpoint, or every dependency is free of risk. Keep that distinction clear when sharing screenshots or diagnostic files: a screenshot can expose the same history you wanted to keep local.
Read the privacy and network behavior page for the website and application boundaries. For acquisition results, also check why an average may be incomplete.
About these field notes
Megabyte develops ZEC Buying Price. These guides explain the application’s behavior and cite external documentation where needed. The alternatives article compares documented workflows; it is not an independent product certification.