Privacy Policy — Quietful

This Privacy Policy explains how Quietful collects, uses, retains and shares information, and the choices and rights available to you. Quietful is a product of Outhaul LLC ("Outhaul," "Quietful," "we," "us," or "our"). This policy applies to the Quietful iOS app and quietfulapp.com.

1. Information we collect

We collect the following categories of information:

Device identity and integrity information. Quietful creates a device-scoped identifier and credential so the app can authenticate, maintain your history and enforce abuse controls. We store a cryptographic hash of the credential, the attestation method and key identifier, and related integrity records such as an App Attest public key, assertion counter, status and timestamps. This identity is pseudonymous, but it is persistent within Quietful and linked to your app activity. Quietful has no account, login, username or account email address, and the app collects no email address.
Location. With your permission, the app sends your current coordinates to find nearby venues and match a reading to the right place. A reading submission includes the precise coordinates where it was taken. If you add a venue, its name, category and location are stored as venue information and may appear on the public map. Quietful does not collect location in the background. See Section 4.
Noise readings. A submitted reading includes its venue; average, minimum and maximum estimated dBA; duration; busyness; sensory and work-friendly tags; capture time; precise capture coordinates; averaged raw dBFS; calibration-profile version; Bluetooth-input status; and a retry identifier. We also derive the distance from the venue, a noise tier and a moderation status. The reading is linked to your device identity unless you use the deletion action described in Section 11.
Sounds to avoid. Your sounds to avoid are saved on your phone and sent with venue searches to filter results. Quietful does not save the list in its app database.
Other content and activity. This includes venue details you add, feedback categories and messages, an optional venue association for feedback, reports and any optional report details, blocked-contributor relationships and earned badges. These records are linked to your device identity.
App usage information. Each request to our backend creates a record of the route pattern, request method, response status, response time, time of the request and, where available, the Quietful device identity. It does not contain the request body, raw URL, search text, IP address or precise coordinates. See Section 7.
Website, network and communication information. Our website and network providers process standard request and security information such as IP address, browser and operating-system details, page URL, performance timings and signals used to detect automated abuse. Our network provider processes app request URLs, including search parameters, to deliver and secure the service. Quietful does not store search parameters in its app analytics database. If you contact us, we receive your email address and the contents and metadata of your message.

2. Microphone access

Quietful accesses the microphone only while you are actively taking a reading that you start in the app. The app estimates loudness on your device over a 15-to-60-second window and produces average, minimum and maximum estimated dBA values.

We do not record, store or transmit audio. No audio clip, recording or raw waveform leaves your device or is saved by Quietful. Microphone samples are processed temporarily in memory to derive loudness. Microphone access ends when the reading finishes or you cancel it.

3. Decibel readings are indicative, not calibrated

Readings come from consumer phone microphones, which are not certified measurement instruments and vary by device, case and how the phone is held. Quietful's decibel numbers, tiers and averages are indicative estimates for planning purposes only, not calibrated acoustic measurements. Do not rely on them for hearing-safety decisions, compliance or any purpose requiring a certified sound-level meter.

4. How we handle location

Quietful uses location to sort and find nearby venues, associate a reading with a venue, check that a reading was taken near that venue, and place a venue you add on the map. We use a location you send for nearby search without saving it as a location record in our app database. Our network provider processes the request URL to deliver and protect the service.

We keep a reading's precise capture coordinates during a 48-hour validation window. Once that window has elapsed, a scheduled process removes the coordinates and retains the venue-level association and the distance from the venue. The in-app deletion action removes precise capture coordinates sooner. A venue location that you add is retained as part of the venue listing, although deletion severs the link between your device and that listing.

5. How and why we use information

We use the information described above to:

Provide nearby search, venue listings, noise histories and hourly patterns;
Accept, validate, publish and moderate readings and other contributions;
Maintain your device-scoped history, badges and blocks;
Authenticate the app and detect spam, fraud, abuse and fabricated data;
Measure reliability and use of the app and website, and improve them;
Respond to support, privacy and legal requests; and
Comply with law and protect Quietful, its users and the public.

Where European privacy law applies, we process data to provide Quietful, protect the service, meet legal duties and, where required, with your consent. You can withdraw a device permission at any time, but this does not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal.

6. Device integrity checks

Quietful uses Apple's App Attest and DeviceCheck features to confirm that requests come from genuine Apple devices and unmodified copies of the app. App Attest creates a stable key identifier for an app installation; the DeviceCheck fallback supplies a device token for validation. Quietful uses this information only to authenticate the app, recover a device identity where supported and prevent abuse. It is not an advertising identifier and is not used to track you across apps or websites. Apple processes the attestation or DeviceCheck information needed to provide these integrity checks.

7. Analytics and the website

Quietful's app analytics are computed server-side from requests our backend already receives. The raw record contains the route pattern, method, response status, response time, request time and the device identity when the request is authenticated. We compile raw records into daily totals, such as readings submitted per day. We normally prune raw request analytics after 90 days once the daily totals have been saved. Daily totals contain no device identifier and are retained for trend analysis. We do not embed a third-party analytics or advertising SDK in the app and do not use this information for advertising or cross-app tracking.

Our website host provides aggregate traffic and performance analytics and security tools. Its scripts process the page URL, browser and operating-system details, performance and device signals, and standard request information such as IP address. The provider uses these signals to produce aggregate reports and detect automated abuse. We do not set cookies for advertising or analytics. A cookie may be set where it is strictly necessary to secure and deliver the site.

Quietful does not currently send app or backend crash reports to an outside error-monitoring service.

8. Contributions, visibility and moderation

Approved readings may be shown to other users with their dBA values, time, duration, busyness and tags, and are used in venue-level statistics. We do not show a reading's precise capture coordinates or Quietful device identity to other users. A venue name, category and location you add may be published after moderation. People add sound tags to readings. Search can hide venues where a sound you selected has been reported often enough in recent approved readings.

We review readings, venues, feedback and reports to identify spam, harassment, abuse and fabricated data. Reports can include the target, reason and details you provide. A block stores a relationship between your device and the blocked contributor's device so their readings can be hidden from your view. We may remove content or restrict a device that violates our Terms of Service.

9. Venue claims

Venue claiming is not available.

10. How we share information

We disclose information only for the purposes described in this policy:

Infrastructure, database, backup and network providers process app requests, stored app data and standard network information so they can host, secure and deliver Quietful. Our hosting provider runs our backend servers and database. Our network provider carries app requests between the app and our servers. Our backup provider stores encrypted database backups.
Website hosting, analytics and security providers process the website information described in Section 7 to deliver the site, produce aggregate reports and prevent automated abuse.
Email and communication providers handling our support mailbox may process messages you send us.
Apple processes the information needed to provide App Attest and DeviceCheck integrity checks.
Other Quietful users and the public receive approved contribution and venue information as described in Section 8.
Authorities and other parties may receive information where we reasonably believe disclosure is required by law or needed to protect the rights, safety or property of Quietful, our users or the public.
A successor or transaction participant may receive information as part of a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganisation or sale of assets, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising or use it to serve targeted advertising.

11. Your choices and rights

Quietful provides the following controls in the app's Profile settings:

Export your data. The export contains your Quietful device ID, readings still linked to that device and venues it added. It includes any precise reading coordinates that have not yet been coarsened. It does not include every operational record listed in Section 12.
Delete my data. This irreversible action unlinks the device from its readings and venues and removes each reading's precise capture coordinates and retry identifier. Readings and venues remain in Quietful, no longer linked to this device; each reading keeps its venue, time, loudness values, duration, busyness and tags. The action does not delete the device record, badges, feedback, moderation reports, blocks, raw usage records or the short-lived ledgers described in Section 12.

These in-app actions are the reliable way to identify information belonging to a device, because the device identity lives in the app and is not tied to your name or support email. An email address alone does not let us locate a device's information. If you need help with an access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or portability request not covered by the in-app controls, use the business contact in Section 18. If possible, include the device ID shown in your export and enough detail to identify the record. We may need to verify the request and may be unable to associate an email request with device data when the identifying information is unavailable.

You can revoke microphone or location permission in iOS Settings to stop future access, although features that require the permission will no longer work. You may also report a reading or venue in the app to request review or correction.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal data; receive a portable copy; restrict or object to processing; withdraw consent; and complain to a data-protection authority. We will respond as applicable law requires. We do not discriminate against anyone for exercising a privacy right.

12. Data retention

Readings are retained indefinitely as part of a venue's noise history. Precise capture coordinates become eligible for removal after the 48-hour validation window and are removed by a daily scheduled process, or sooner when you use the deletion action. The venue association and calculated distance remain. A reading's device link remains until you use the deletion action.
Venues you add are retained as public map data. The link to your device remains until you use the deletion action.
Raw app-usage records are normally removed by a scheduled job after 90 days, once daily totals have been saved. Daily totals contain no device identifier and are kept for trend analysis.
Submission, venue-creation and unblock ledgers contain a device identity, a timestamp and, for submissions, a venue. They remain through a 48-hour retention window to enforce abuse limits, including after an in-app deletion, and a daily scheduled process then prunes eligible records.
Badges, feedback, moderation reports and blocks currently have no fixed automatic deletion period. We retain them to preserve app state, enforce restrictions, resolve reports and operate the relevant features.
Temporary attestation challenges expire after five minutes and become eligible for pruning 24 hours after expiry. The persistent device and attestation record has no fixed automatic deletion period.
Support and privacy communications have no fixed automatic deletion period. We retain them for as long as needed to respond, keep appropriate business records and meet legal obligations. Website analytics and security information is kept under the website provider's applicable retention settings.
Backups may contain information until they rotate out under our normal backup schedule, which currently keeps four weekly full backup sets, up to 14 daily differential windows and 35 days of daily logical backups. Data restored from a backup remains subject to the deletion and coarsening processes described here.

13. California privacy notice

Quietful collects the categories of personal information described in Section 1: identifiers; precise geolocation; internet or other electronic activity; correspondence; and content and other information you submit. Search requests can include your chosen sounds to avoid. We use them to filter the response and do not save the list in our app database. Our network provider processes the request URL. Precise geolocation is sensitive personal information under California law. We collect these categories from you, your device and the platform and providers used to deliver Quietful. We use and disclose them for the business purposes in Sections 5 and 10 and retain them as described in Section 12. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. We use precise location only to provide the requested nearby, reading and venue features and for the validation, moderation and security purposes described in this policy.

We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, including information about people under 16. Because we do not sell or share information for those purposes, Quietful does not offer a sale or sharing opt-out. A California resident may request access, correction or deletion using Section 11. An authorised agent may contact us under Section 18; we may ask for proof of authority and verification of the resident's identity or device association.

14. Children's privacy

Quietful is not directed to children under 13. Quietful does not ask for a user's age. A parent or guardian who believes a child used Quietful should contact us under Section 18. In-app deletion on that device unlinks contributions but leaves some operational records, as described in Section 11. We cannot locate device-linked information from a message alone, so include the device ID from the app's export where possible.

15. Security

Our safeguards include encryption in transit, restricted infrastructure access, device attestation, hashed app credentials, rate limits, limited request logging, location coarsening and encrypted backups. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that information will never be lost, misused or accessed without authorisation.

16. International processing

Quietful and its service providers may process information in the United States, the European Union and other countries where they operate. Those countries may have different privacy laws from your home country. Quietful is available only where the app is offered. Privacy rights and transfer safeguards depend on the place where you live.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Quietful changes. We will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when this policy changes and give any notice required by law.

18. Contact us

Outhaul LLC is responsible for the processing described in this policy and is the data controller where that term applies. For privacy questions or requests, use the business email on our Contact page.