However, Audacity has denied these claims. This came as a shock to Audacity's massive userbase, who immediately began criticizing the platform for wanting to "spy" on users and sell their data. Even more concerning, it also insinuates that your information could be subject to review by law enforcement, and occasionally sent to the company's headquarters in Russia. After all, it's a desktop app that doesn't have any tangible online functions.The update to its Desktop Privacy Notice implies that Audacity will collect information about your operating system, country, and your CPU. Until that fork arrives, privacy-conscious users might want to find alternative software, or at least block Audacity from accessing the internet. It wouldn't be surprising to see the community take Audacity in that direction. Some users have been calling for a fork of the software, a new version of the app based on the source code. Engadget has contacted Muse Group for comment.Īll is not lost for Audacity users who value their privacy and pre-teens who tinker with audio in the app. The General Public License prohibits restrictions on software use. That, as Foss Post notes, may violate the license under which Audacity is distributed. Several other points in the privacy policy have raised some eyebrows, including asking under-13s not to use Audacity. That leaves users open to identification through law enforcement or government data requests. The policy states users' IP addresses are "stored in an identifiable way" for a day before they're hashed. However, Muse Group is "occasionally required to share your personal data with our main office in Russia and our external counsel in the USA." Muse Group noted that whenever personal data is "transferred outside the EEA to countries that are not deemed adequate by the European Commission, your Personal Data receives an adequate level of protection in accordance with. Users' personal data is stored on servers in the European Economic Area (EEA). You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu. The policy says Muse Group will capture "data necessary for law enforcement, litigation and authorities' requests (if any)." It may share personal data with "any competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third party where we believe disclosure is necessary." Data may be shared with potential buyers too. The data it collects on law enforcement grounds is more vague. According to the policy, processing that data is in the "legitimate interest" of the company "to offer and ensure the proper functioning of the app." ![]() As reported by Foss Post, the policy notes Muse Group is collecting details about users' operating system version, processor, country based on IP address, crash reports and non-fatal error codes and messages. The privacy policy was updated on July 2nd, following Muse Group's acquisition of Audacity in April - Muse Group also owns Ultimate Guitar and notation app MuseScore. The open-source software is now collecting user data for "app analytics" and "improving our app" as well as "for legal enforcement." Recent changes to the Audacity privacy policy have led to some users calling the audio-editing app spyware.
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