Songitude is a location-based audio experience: it plays different sounds depending on where
you are physically standing. This policy explains exactly what data is involved.
Your location, in plain terms: we request access to your location only to deliver
the audio experience (playing the right sounds for where you're standing) and to sort the
"soundwalks near you" list. Your location is used in real time on your device — we do
not collect it, transmit it to our servers, store it, log it, sell it, or share it.
Location data
When you play a soundwalk, the app (or web player) reads your device's location continuously
to decide which sounds you should hear. This processing happens on your device. The
"walks near you" ordering is computed on your device using your most recent location. At no
point is your location sent to Songitude's servers or any third party.
Background location
A soundwalk is meant to be heard with the phone locked and in your pocket. So while a walk
is playing, the app keeps reading your location with the screen off, for the same
single purpose: choosing what you hear as you move. Location access starts when you press
play and stops when you stop the walk, quit the app, or the walk ends. When nothing is
playing, the app does not read your location at all.
On Android this runs as a foreground service, which is why a persistent notification is
shown while a walk plays. That notification is the lock-screen transport (pause, skip) and
the only notification the app ever shows — we send no alerts, reminders or messages.
Compass heading
Some soundwalks are designed to be played anywhere: when you open one, the app reads your
compass heading once so it can arrange the walk around you facing the direction you're
facing. Like your location, the reading is used on your device at that moment and is never
collected, stored or transmitted.
What we do store
The only personal data we store is for creators who publish walks:
Google account email — used solely to check that you're approved to publish, and
recorded as the owner of walks you publish so you can manage them.
Walk content you upload — the audio, map shapes, title, creator name, and description
you choose to publish. These are made publicly available in the app's catalog by design.
Your artist page — the display name, biography and page colour you choose to enter.
These are published as part of your walks' credits by design.
Rights confirmation — the moment you tick the box confirming you have the rights to
the material you're publishing is recorded alongside the walk, as a record of that
confirmation.
If you only listen, you don't sign in and we store nothing about you.
No tracking or ads
Songitude contains no advertising, no analytics/tracking SDKs, and no third-party trackers.
Third-party services
Amazon Web Services (S3, Lambda) — hosts published walks and runs a small serverless
function that verifies a creator's Google sign-in when publishing. It never receives your location.
Google Sign-In — used only to authenticate approved creators. Governed by Google's
privacy policy.
Map tiles (OpenStreetMap / CARTO) — used to draw the map on iOS and the web.
Standard tile requests do not include your precise location.
Google Maps SDK — draws the map in the Android app. The SDK requests map imagery
for the area on screen and is governed by
Google's privacy policy; the app never
passes your location to it beyond what is needed to draw the map you are looking at.
Server logs — like any web server, the walk catalog records standard request logs
(IP address, file requested, time) when a walk is downloaded. These are used only to keep
the service running and are not linked to you or to your location.
Permissions the apps ask for
Location (precise, and in the background) — to play the right sounds for where
you are, while a walk is playing. See above.
Notifications (Android) — solely so the playback notification can be shown while
a walk plays. Nothing else is ever sent.
Network — to download walks from the public catalog. Walks are downloaded in full
before you set off, so nothing streams while you walk.
Every permission can be declined or revoked in your device settings; the app degrades rather
than breaks, and it never asks for a permission it does not need for the feature in front of
you.
Your data, and deleting it
Listeners have nothing stored about them, so there is nothing to delete: uninstalling the app
removes the walks and settings cached on your device. Creators who publish walks can delete
any walk they own from the editor, and can ask us to remove their account email and artist
page entirely by emailing the address below.
Children
Songitude is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
We may update this policy; material changes will be reflected here with a new date.