Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains what information is collected when you use soundtools.io (the "Site"), how it is used, who receives it, and the choices you have.
Who We Are
The Site is operated by XAAX INC., a Wisconsin corporation ("SoundTools," "we," "our," or "us"). XAAX INC. is the controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy.
Email: contact@soundtools.io
Your Audio Files Never Leave Your Device
Every SoundTools tool, including the AI and voice tools, processes audio entirely in your web browser. Files you open, recordings you make with your microphone, and text you type into our tools are not uploaded to our servers. We cannot see, store, or access them, and they are never shared with our analytics or advertising partners.
- Microphone: Some tools ask for permission to use your microphone. Your browser asks you first, and recordings are processed only on your device.
- AI models: AI tools download model files from our own content delivery network (cdn.soundtools.io). Model files and your tool settings are saved in your browser's storage so they don't need to be downloaded again. This data stays on your device, is used only to run the tools you choose, and can be deleted at any time by clearing this Site's data in your browser settings.
Information Collected Automatically
Even though your audio never leaves your device, some information is collected automatically when you visit the Site:
- Hosting and security (Cloudflare): Cloudflare, our hosting and content delivery provider, receives your IP address, browser type, device type, the pages and files requested, and the date and time of each request. This is used to deliver the Site and AI model files and to protect the Site from abuse and attacks.
- Analytics (Google Analytics): Google Analytics collects the pages you view, time spent on the Site, browser and device information, and your approximate location (city, region, and country), which is derived from your IP address. We use this to understand how visitors use the Site and to improve it.
- Advertising (Setupad and its advertising partners, including Google): When an ad is shown, Setupad and the advertising companies that bid for and serve it receive your IP address, browser and device information, the page you are viewing, and cookie or device identifiers. They use cookies, web beacons (small tracking pixels), and similar technologies to show ads, limit how often you see them, measure them, prevent fraud, and, where permitted, personalize them based on your visits to this and other websites.
We do not require an account, and we do not collect your name, email address, or payment details through the Site. If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message.
How We Use Information
- Operating the Site: To deliver pages and AI model files and to keep the Site secure
- Analytics: To understand how visitors use the Site and improve our tools
- Advertising: To display advertisements that keep the Site free
- Communication: To reply to messages you send us
- Compliance: To comply with legal obligations and protect our rights
Advertising
The Site is free because it is supported by advertising. Ads are delivered through Setupad (Setupad SIA, Riga, Latvia), an advertising technology company. When a page loads, Setupad runs a real-time auction in which advertising exchanges and networks ("advertising partners"), including Google, bid to show an ad in each ad space on the page. Some ads are short videos; video ads start muted.
Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites.
Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
Our advertising partners may place and read cookies on your browser, and may use web beacons or your IP address to collect information as a result of ads being served on the Site.
Users may opt out of personalized advertising by Google by visiting Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info or, in Europe, www.youronlinechoices.com.
To learn more, see Setupad's Privacy Policy, How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services, and Google's Advertising Privacy Policy.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Cookies are small text files stored on your device. Web beacons (also called pixels) are tiny images or scripts that record when a page or ad is viewed. We and our service providers and advertising partners use cookies and similar technologies, such as browser storage, for the following purposes:
- Strictly necessary: Cloudflare may set security cookies (for example,
__cf_bm) to protect the Site from automated abuse. These are required for the Site to work securely. - On-device tool storage: Cached AI model files and your tool settings, stored in your browser so the tools load faster. This data never leaves your device.
- Analytics: Google Analytics cookies (names beginning with
_ga) that help us understand how visitors use the Site. - Advertising: Cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies set or used by Setupad and its advertising partners, including Google, to show, limit, measure, and personalize ads and to prevent ad fraud.
You can block or delete cookies and clear site data in your browser settings. Blocking strictly necessary cookies or on-device storage may stop some tools from working.
Who Receives Your Information
We do not sell your personal information for money. Personal information is disclosed to:
- Cloudflare, Inc.: Hosting, content delivery, and security. Cloudflare's Privacy Policy
- Google LLC: Analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google Ad Manager and Google's ad exchange, through Setupad). Google's Privacy Policy
- Setupad SIA: Advertising technology that runs the ad auctions and delivers ads on the Site. Setupad's Privacy Policy
- Advertising partners: Advertising exchanges, networks, and the advertisers and agencies that bid through them, which receive the information described under "Advertising" when they bid on or show an ad.
- Authorities: When required by law
International Transfers
XAAX INC. is based in the United States. Cloudflare and Google are U.S. companies, and Setupad is based in the European Union; our advertising partners are located in many countries. If you visit from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States and in other countries where these providers operate.
How Long Information Is Kept
- Your audio files: Never received by us, so never stored by us.
- Google Analytics: User-level and event-level data is automatically deleted after 2 months. Aggregated reports, which do not identify individual visitors, are kept longer.
- Advertising data: Retained by Setupad and each advertising partner under its own privacy policy. Advertising cookies remain in your browser until they expire or you delete them.
- Hosting and security logs: Retained by Cloudflare under Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
- Emails you send us: Kept as long as needed to respond to you and for our records, then deleted.
Your Rights and Choices
EEA, UK, and Switzerland
You have the right to request access to, correction of, or erasure of your personal data; to restrict or object to its processing; and to data portability. Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.
United States
Depending on the state where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information is collected about you, to access it, to correct it, to delete it, and to opt out of its sale, sharing, or use for targeted advertising. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.
California Privacy Notice
This section applies to California residents and supplements the rest of this Privacy Policy. It covers the 12 months before the date at the top of this page.
- Categories of personal information collected: Identifiers (IP address, cookie and device identifiers); internet or other electronic network activity information (pages viewed, time on the Site, interactions with ads); approximate geolocation derived from your IP address; and inferences about your interests that advertising partners may draw from your browsing.
- Sources: Your browser and device, when you visit the Site; and our service providers and advertising partners, as described above.
- Purposes: Operating and securing the Site, analytics, advertising (including targeted advertising), replying to messages, and legal compliance.
- Sold or shared: Allowing advertising partners to collect identifiers, internet activity, and approximate geolocation through cookies and similar technologies for targeted advertising is treated as "selling" or "sharing" under California law. These categories are sold or shared with advertising partners (advertising exchanges, networks, advertisers, and Setupad) to show and measure ads, including ads based on your activity across other websites.
- Disclosed for a business purpose: Identifiers, internet activity, and approximate geolocation are disclosed to service providers (Cloudflare, for hosting and security; Google, for analytics) to operate and improve the Site.
- Sensitive personal information: We do not collect or use sensitive personal information. Your audio, recordings, and text never leave your device.
- Consumers under 16: We do not have actual knowledge that we sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.
- Your rights: You have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, sell, and share; to delete it; to correct it; to opt out of its sale or sharing; and not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights.
- How to opt out: Use Ads Settings or AboutAds.info, or email us with the subject line "Do Not Sell or Share."
- How to make other requests: Email contact@soundtools.io with the subject line "Privacy request" and tell us which right you want to exercise. Because the Site has no accounts, most information about visitors is held by our providers and partners under pseudonymous identifiers. To act on a request to know, delete, or correct, we may ask for information that lets us match you to that data, such as a cookie identifier from your browser; we will not ask for more than we need. You may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf; we may ask the agent for proof of your signed permission.
How to Exercise Your Rights
Email contact@soundtools.io with the subject line "Privacy request." Because the Site has no accounts, we don't know who our visitors are, and most of the data involved is held by our providers and advertising partners in pseudonymous form. We will help where we can and point you to those providers' own tools, such as Google's Ads Settings and My Activity.
Opt-Out Options
- Personalized Google ads: Visit Ads Settings
- Google Analytics: Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
- Interest-based ads from other vendors: Visit AboutAds.info or YourOnlineChoices
- Browser settings: Block or delete cookies and clear site data
Children's Privacy
The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. See our Terms of Service for the minimum age to use the Site. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
Data Security
The Site is served over HTTPS and protected by Cloudflare's security services. Because your audio is processed on your own device, it is never exposed to our servers. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page and update the date at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact:
XAAX INC.
Email: contact@soundtools.io