Privacy policy

Who we are

Audiotape (https://www.audiotape.app) is run by The Audiotape Organization, LLC d/b/a Audiotape, a Maryland limited liability company (“we”). Questions, or a request to see or delete data: privacy@audiotape.org.

Audiotape uses YouTube API Services

Every music video plays in YouTube's own embedded player, and Audiotape uses YouTube API Services (the YouTube Data API) to find each song's official music video. When a video plays, YouTube provides it and may collect information about that playback (for example through cookies). The cassette labels show video thumbnails loaded straight from YouTube's servers, so YouTube also sees those requests. Both are covered by the Google Privacy Policy. By using Audiotape you're also using YouTube, so the Google Privacy Policy applies to that part.

If you sign in with Google, Google tells us only your name, email address and profile picture, and we use them only to set up and sign in to your Audiotape account (the picture isn't shown anywhere). Audiotape never reads anything else from your Google account, including your YouTube history, subscriptions or playlists. If you have ever given any app access to your Google account, you can review or remove that access on Google's security settings page.

What we collect

• Your account, if you make one. Your email (to send your sign-in codes, or as Google gives it to us if you sign in with Google), your first and last name, a username you pick, your birthday and your country. We ask for your birthday to make sure you're 13 or older; the only other thing it's used for is one collector pin (below). We ask for your country (filled in from where you sign up, and yours to change on your Account) so your tapes pick the hits people know there and videos that play there. Your name, email, birthday and country are never shown to anyone; the only thing other people see is your username, on mixtapes you choose to share. If you change your username, we keep the old one so links you already shared still find you, and nobody else can take it. If you pick the music genres you like (when you sign up, or on your Account), we keep them to pick tapes for you; they're never shown to anyone. We also keep which mixtapes are yours and whether each is private, link-only or public. If you made mixtape requests in the same browser before signing up, they're moved into your account.
• Sign-in cookies. When you sign in, your browser keeps a session cookie so you stay signed in. It's only used for that.
• Thumbs up / down. If you rate a song during a mixtape, we save the rating, the reason you picked (if any), which song of which mixtape it was, and how far into the song you were. To let you change your mind, your browser keeps a random ID (stored as audiotape:client) that is sent with each rating. It isn't linked to your name, email or any account.
• Tape reviews. When a mixtape ends we ask how it was. If you answer, we save your stars (½ to 5), anything you write on the review page, which mixtape it was, and the same random browser ID, so a second answer from that browser replaces the first. It isn't linked to your name, email or any account. If you made the mixtape and watch it to the end while signed in, we note when, and the next day we email you once asking how it was, with a link to the review page. We ask once per mixtape.
• Mixtape requests. If you type a theme into the box on the home page, we save the theme, the time, and the same random browser ID (to stop one browser sending hundreds). If you choose to leave your email, we save it with that request and use it only to send you the link if your mixtape gets made, and once to tell you when recording opens (we promised to). We don't add it to our news emails and we don't share it. If you're signed in, the request is linked to your account, so we see your username with it and the mixtape lands in your Collection, private. Because we made that mixtape, we can still open it to check it plays properly; we never open private mixtapes you made yourself.
• Invites and shared links. Every account has an invite code, and mixtapes you share carry it. If you arrive on a shared mixtape or a friend's link, we keep a cookie (at_invite) for 30 days with their code (if the link had one), which mixtape the link was for, and whether it was shared from a share sheet, a copied link or the QR code at the end of a mixtape. If you sign up, we note that on your account so we can tell which mixtapes and ways of sharing bring people to Audiotape; with a friend's code it also gives you a discount and, once you pay, gives them a stamp toward a free month. They see how many friends joined and paid, not who.
• Collector pins. If you collect pins, we keep which pins you have, when you got each one and which of your mixtapes it came from. Pins are worked out from what you make (the songs, years and genres on your mixtapes, the title, color and opening you pick, what it's for, your called shots, your score if you play trivia while it records, whether you printed Tape Bingo cards for a mixtape or paired your phone as its remote, how many songs you've swapped on your mixtapes), how long you've been a member (and whether you came back after leaving) and how many friends you invited joined and paid. They are never worked out from what you watch or how long you watch. When you start recording a mixtape we save your time zone, so pins like “recorded after midnight” use your own clock, and one pin checks whether a song on your mixtape came out the year you were born. Only you see your pins, unless you share them: then a picture of the pins you picked, with your username, how many pins you have and the title of the mixtape they came from, is saved at its own link that anyone with it can open. It goes when you delete your account.
• Your own votes, in your browser. The player remembers which songs you rated (stored as audiotape:votes:…) so the buttons show your choice. This stays on your device.
• Your Tape Bingo card, in your browser. Each phone deals its own card and remembers it and the squares you marked (stored as audiotape:bingo:…). This stays on your device.
• Song requests. If you make a request list (for a wedding or party), we keep its name and the songs guests add, with the first name a guest types if they type one. Only you see who asked for what; guests need no account, and their browser remembers the songs it sent (stored as audiotape:requests:…). Deleting the list, or your account, deletes them.
• Phones in the room. When a mixtape plays on a big screen, phones can join it with a code (at audiotape.tv) to send reactions, request songs, guess each song's year (or month), vote for the Song of the Night and check Bingo squares. For that we keep the room (which mixtape, which song it's on, which songs have played, how many reactions were sent), the first name you type (it shows on the TV with your reactions, and with the most guesses right), the songs you request, your guesses and your vote. Your phone keeps a key for the room (stored as audiotape:room:…, so a reload picks up where you were; it stops working when the room closes) and the name you typed (stored as audiotape:remote-name, so you needn't type it again). Rooms aren't linked to guests' accounts. If you're signed in on the TV, the room notes your account, so your own phone, signed in too, can be the remote (and if you pair a phone as the remote, we note which mixtape it was for, for your pins), and we delete them, with the names, requests, guesses and votes in them, two days after they open. When someone shares the night's recap, it gets its own page (the Song of the Night, the top songs, vote counts, how long the mixtape ran, how many reactions were sent and guesses were right), which stays up: no names and nothing about who voted for what, and only for a mixtape anyone with its link can watch. When the remote turns a song up or down in its first seconds, we keep how loud that music video should be (just the video and a number, nothing about the room or who), so it starts at the right volume next time.
• Where you left off. The player remembers which song a mixtape was on (stored as audiotape:spot:…), so if the page closes you can pick up from that song. If you're signed in, we also keep it with your account (the mixtape, the song number and when), so another screen can pick it up, and your Collection can show what you played lately. We only use it for that, and delete it after a week or with your account.
• Videos that won't play. If YouTube's player refuses a video, the player tells us so we can fix the mixtape: which video, which song of which mixtape, the error YouTube gave, and the same random browser ID (so one browser counts once). It isn't linked to your name, email or any account, and it's deleted after 90 days.
• Standard server logs. Our hosting provider records technical details of requests, such as IP address and browser type, to keep the site running and secure.
• Visit counts. We use Vercel Web Analytics to count visits: which page, the site that sent you, your country, and your browser and device type, and Vercel Speed Insights to measure how quickly pages load and respond on your device. Neither uses cookies, identifies you or follows you across sites.
• Bot checks. When you record a tape or open checkout, Vercel BotID checks in the background that the request comes from a person's browser and not a script, by looking at technical signals from your browser. It sets no cookies, asks you nothing, and isn't used to identify you.
• How people use Audiotape. We use PostHog to see how people find and use Audiotape, so we can make it better: which pages they visit, the site that sent them, their country, browser and device type, and a few steps along the way (signing in, pressing REC, opening checkout, pressing play on a tape or a demo tape, dealing, winning or printing Tape Bingo cards, a phone joining a room, requesting a song, guessing a song's year or month (and whether it was right), voting for the Song of the Night or sharing its recap, sharing a picture of your pins, a tape being recorded or not working out, a payment and what it was for, a refund, changing or cancelling a plan), plus errors the site runs into in your browser (what went wrong and where in our code), so we can fix them, and errors on our servers. The first time you visit we ask whether PostHog can use a cookie. If you say yes, it keeps a random ID in a cookie so it can tell your visits apart, and once you're signed in we link that ID to your account's ID (never your name or email). If you say no, it uses no cookies and keeps nothing in your browser but your answer: PostHog works out a visitor count from a daily code that can't be traced back to you. Your choice applies to this browser; clearing its cookies asks again. Steps your account takes (signing in, recording a tape, a payment, a plan change) are counted under your account's ID either way. We never send PostHog your name, email, what you typed for a tape or its songs, and we don't use it for ads.
• Short-link clicks. Shared tapes use short links on audiota.pe. When one is clicked we count it: which tape, whether it was shared from a share sheet, a copied link or the QR code at the end of a mixtape, the site the click came from (just its name, like instagram.com), and whether it was a link preview. The count itself keeps nothing that identifies who clicked: no cookies, no IP address. The page the link opens sets the invite cookie above.
• News emails. We only send news (new Originals, new features, offers) if you ask for it: a box at sign-up, unticked unless you tick it, or the switch on your account page. Every news email has an Unsubscribe link, and turning it off on your account page works too. We keep which news emails we sent you, so nobody gets the same one twice. New accounts also get a few getting-started emails over their first couple of weeks (and new Tape Club members two about membership), whether or not they asked for news; each has the same Unsubscribe link, and they stop if you unsubscribe. If you unsubscribe, or an email to you bounces or is marked as spam, we keep your email address on a do-not-email list so it stays that way, even after you delete your account. Emails about your own account and tapes (sign-in codes, “your tape is ready”, trades, the review request) aren't news and still come.
• Tape trades. When you trade tapes with a friend, they see your username, the hint and any note you leave for them, and the tape you made once the trade opens. We email each of you a reminder near the end of the week and when a tape arrives.
• Gift packs. When you buy a gift pack, you give us each guest's name and the idea for their tape, and, only if you want us to send it, their email address. A guest's name goes on their tape and their card, and anyone with their gift link sees it. We use a guest's email address once, to send them their tape with your note, and replies to it go to you. A guest who opens their link before the tape is recorded can leave their own email address, and we use it once, to tell them it's ready. We never add guests to our news emails, never share their addresses, and remove them when you delete your account. We note when a guest first presses play, so you can see it on your gift pack's page. If you ask us to suggest ideas, we send a guest's name, the line you wrote for them and anything you type about them to Anthropic's Claude to write the ideas, but never their email address.
• Following. When you follow someone, we keep who you follow so their public tapes can show up in your Collection and on the home page. Only you can see who you follow: nobody is told you follow them. You see how many people follow you, and nobody else does; nobody ever sees who. When someone you follow makes a tape public, we email you about it, at most once a day; turn that off on your account page. Unfollowing removes it, and deleting your account removes it all.

Checkout cookies. When you open checkout or update your card, Stripe's payment form loads and sets its own cookies to spot fraud and keep payments safe. They're Stripe's, they're needed for paying, and they don't load anywhere else on Audiotape. Stripe explains them in its cookie policy.

Audiotape sets no advertising cookies: only the sign-in cookies, the invite cookie, PostHog's cookie if you allow it, and Stripe's while you pay.

What we store about YouTube videos

To build mixtapes we keep each song's matched YouTube video ID and a few facts about the video (its length, the name of the channel that posted it, and whether it can be embedded). We re-check stored video information with YouTube at least every 30 days and remove what is no longer available. We never download or store the videos, their audio or their thumbnails.

To find where the music starts and stops in a video, we look the video up in SponsorBlock, a community database that marks the parts of videos that aren't music. We send it only the video's ID, never anything about you.

How it's used and shared

Account details are used only to run your account: signing you in and showing your mixtapes. Ratings are used only to make the mixtapes better: finding the songs and moments people didn't like. We send news emails only to people who asked for them, plus a few getting-started emails to new accounts. We don't sell data or share it with advertisers. It's stored with the service providers that run Audiotape: Vercel (hosting and visit counts), PostHog (how people use Audiotape, in the US), Supabase (database and sign-in), Cloudflare (checks that a sign-in by email comes from a person, not a bot; it sees your browser, never your email), Anthropic (its Claude AI plans each mixtape from what you type: the theme, what it's for and your answer if we ask “Did you mean…?”; it also sorts a mixtape's songs into genres for pins, and suggests gift pack ideas from a guest's name and what you write about them when you ask. It never gets your account's name or email) and Resend (sends our emails, from sign-in codes to news, so it handles your email address).

Keeping and deleting it

Your account and everything in it are kept until you delete it. Deleting your account (from your account page) removes your email, name, username (and any you had before), birthday, country, mixtapes, pins and requests straight away. If you unsubscribed from news, your address stays on the do-not-email list, so it's never emailed news again.

Mixtape requests, and any email you left with one, are deleted automatically after 12 months, or sooner if you ask.

Ratings are kept while they're useful for improving mixtapes. Clearing your browser's site data for audiotape.app removes the random ID and your saved votes from your device. To have your ratings or requests deleted from our database, email privacy@audiotape.org and tell us roughly when you played and which mixtape; we delete what we can match.

Children

Audiotape isn't directed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If someone under 13 tries to make an account, we delete it straight away and don't keep their details.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.