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Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 6, 2026

Overview

Soundings (formerly Earprint) ("we", "us", "our") is a music discovery application that learns your taste from your listening and rating history. This policy explains what information is collected, where it lives, how it is used, and your rights over it.

The short version: your personal data — ratings, listening history, and preferences — never leaves your device. It is stored exclusively in your browser's localStorage. We have no user accounts and no server-side database of user data.

No User Accounts

Soundings does not require you to create an account. There is no sign-up, no username, and no password for the application itself.

The one exception is Spotify: if you choose to use Spotify as your music source, you will be asked to log in with your existing Spotify account via OAuth. That login is handled entirely by Spotify — Soundings receives only a temporary access token and never sees your Spotify password. YouTube mode requires no login at all.

Your Listening History and Ratings

Soundings uses your activity to recommend music it thinks you will find interesting. Your play history and ratings are stored in your browser's localStorage. To generate recommendations, a summary of your listening history is sent to a language model through our backend. This data is used solely to produce your recommendations and is not stored on our servers or shared with any third party beyond the language model provider.

  • Play history: Tracks you have played or skipped, used to surface new recommendations.
  • Ratings: Explicit thumbs-up/thumbs-down or star ratings you assign to tracks, artists, or albums.
  • Preferences: Settings such as your preferred music source (Spotify or YouTube) and UI options.

Because this data lives only in your browser, clearing your browser's site data or switching browsers will remove it. Soundings has no way to restore it.

Exporting Your Data

You can download a complete copy of your ratings and listening history at any time as a JSON file from the app settings. This gives you full portability of your data — you own it and can inspect, back up, or delete it freely.

YouTube API Services

Soundings uses the YouTube API Services to search for and play music videos. By using Soundings's YouTube mode, you are also subject to Google's terms and privacy policy:

You can revoke Soundings's access to YouTube data via the Google security settings page.

Information We Collect

We distinguish between data that stays on your device and technical data our servers may briefly see:

Stored only on your device

  • Play history, ratings, and listening preferences (localStorage)
  • UI settings and playback state (localStorage / sessionStorage)
  • Spotify access token (browser cookie, scoped to this domain)

Sent to our backend (not stored)

  • Listening history summary: To generate recommendations, a summary of your play history and ratings is sent to a language model through our backend. This is used only to produce your recommendations and is not retained on our servers.
  • YouTube API search queries: Your search terms are forwarded to the YouTube Data API to return results. We do not log or store them.
  • Technical request logs: Standard web server logs (timestamps, HTTP status codes, IP addresses) may be retained briefly for debugging and are then deleted. They contain no music preference data.

How We Use Your Information

  • Your local history and ratings are used entirely on your device to personalize recommendations.
  • Search queries are forwarded to YouTube or Spotify solely to fulfill your request.
  • Your Spotify token is used to authenticate playback API calls on your behalf.
  • Technical logs are used only for debugging and are not linked to any individual.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your information. We do not use your data for advertising. No user profiling is done on our servers.

Cookies and Local Storage

Soundings stores information on your device using:

  • HTTP cookies: Used only to store your Spotify authentication token. Scoped to this domain; not used for cross-site tracking.
  • localStorage: Used to store your play history, ratings, and preferences. This is the primary store for all personalization data and never leaves your browser.
  • sessionStorage: Used for temporary state such as pending share links. Cleared when you close the tab.

Soundings itself places no third-party tracking cookies. YouTube and Spotify may set their own cookies when their players or auth flows are active, subject to their own privacy policies.

Data Sharing

Search and playback requests are forwarded to the YouTube Data API and/or Spotify Web API to fulfill what you asked for. No other sharing occurs. We do not share any data with analytics providers, advertisers, or data brokers.

Data Retention

Your personal data (history, ratings, preferences) persists in your browser's localStorage until you clear it or use the in-app delete option. We hold no copy of it. Server-side technical logs are retained briefly for debugging and then deleted. Spotify session cookies expire when the token expires or you log out.

Beta Notice — Future Changes

Soundings is currently in beta. If the beta is successful, we plan to offer optional user accounts. At that point, users who choose to create an account would be able to store their ratings on our servers (for backup and cross-device access) and, in aggregate and anonymised form, ratings may be used to improve recommendations for all users. Any such change will be announced in advance, will require explicit opt-in, and this policy will be updated to reflect it.

Children's Privacy

Soundings is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions or concerns about this privacy policy can be directed to:

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