The short version
- We keep what it takes to play your glyphs and run your account — nothing more.
- We do not sell your data, and we do not use your recordings to train AI or in advertising.
- When you scan, the camera feed is processed on your phone. No image or video is uploaded.
- Anyone who can scan a glyph can hear its recording. Treat a glyph like a key.
- You can download or delete your recordings at any time.
What we collect
Recordings
The audio you record or upload. We convert it to a compact Ogg Opus file and store it on our servers, because that is where a scan fetches it from. We keep a recording's length and size alongside it.
Your account
Your email address and a securely hashed password — we can never read the password itself. We also store the glyphs you have kept, the style you chose for each, and when you kept them.
Payments
Payments are handled by PayPal. We receive a confirmation of each payment and keep a record of your credit top-ups and spending. If you save a card, PayPal stores it and gives us a reference token — we never see or store your full card number.
Scans
When a glyph is scanned, the scan page sends us only a one-way fingerprint of the glyph's key, never the key itself. We log whether the scan found a recording, so we can tell when glyphs stop reading well. We do not record the scanner's location, and no camera image is ever sent.
Technical data
While you are signed in, your session keeps your IP address and browser type, which we use to keep your account secure and to stop abuse such as password guessing. Sessions expire after a period of inactivity.
Messages
If you email us, we keep the conversation so we can help you and follow up.
How we use it
- To play a recording when one of its glyphs is scanned.
- To run your account, take payments and keep records the law requires.
- To send you messages you need: sign-in codes, password resets, receipts, and every notice promised in the Forever Promise. We do not send marketing email unless you have asked for it.
- To keep TraceSound secure and working, and to fix it when it does not.
Who can hear your recording
Anyone who scans one of its glyphs. That is the product working as intended — a framed print plays for every visitor. The key a glyph carries is long enough that it cannot be guessed, but it can be copied by anyone who photographs the glyph. Only put a glyph where you are comfortable for its recording to be heard, and never send a photo of one to someone you do not trust — including anyone claiming to be us.
Our team does not listen to recordings, except when you ask us to help with one, or when we must review a recording reported as breaking our Terms or the law.
Who we share it with
We only share data with the services that make TraceSound work, and only what each one needs:
- PayPal, to process payments and store saved payment methods.
- Our hosting and storage providers, which run our servers and hold recordings on our behalf.
- Our email provider, to deliver sign-in codes, receipts and notices.
- Production partners, if you order a physical product — the artwork and the details needed to make and deliver it.
We may disclose data if the law requires it. If TraceSound is ever handed to a successor under the Forever Promise, your recordings and account go with it, under a privacy policy at least as protective as this one — and you will hear about it first.
Cookies
We use only the cookies the site needs to work: one that keeps you signed in, and one that protects forms against forgery. There are no analytics or advertising cookies today. If we ever add any, we will update this policy first and ask for your consent wherever the law requires it.
How long we keep it
- Kept recordings: until you delete them or close your account. That is what “forever” means.
- Unpaid previews: 24 hours, then the audio is deleted.
- Your account: until you close it. Closing it deletes your recordings and removes saved payment methods.
- Payment records: as long as tax and accounting law requires, even after an account is closed.
Your rights
You can, at any time:
- Download your recordings and glyph artwork from My Glyphs;
- Delete a recording, or close your account, from your settings;
- Ask us for a copy of the data we hold about you, to correct it, or to restrict how we use it.
For anything you cannot do yourself, email [email protected] from the address on your account. We answer within 30 days, and usually much sooner. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
Keeping it safe
Everything between your device and TraceSound travels over an encrypted connection. Recordings are stored privately and are reachable only through a glyph's key, which never appears in a web address or our logs. Passwords are hashed, and access to our systems is limited to the people who need it.
Children
Accounts are for people aged 16 and over. Recordings of children are welcome — a first word, a laugh — when made and uploaded by a parent or guardian.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we use your data in a way that matters, we will email you before the change takes effect. The date at the top of this page always shows the latest version.