Sound Meter privacy policy

Sound Meter measures how loud it is around you, in decibels, with your phone's microphone. You need no account to use it. This page tells you what data the app uses, where it goes, and the choices you have.

Short version

The app never records, saves or sends sound. It turns the microphone signal into a number on your phone and keeps only that number.
The microphone is on only while the meter is on screen, or during a noise log you start (Pro). A noise log always shows a notification.
Your noise logs and settings stay on your phone. A report leaves the phone only when you share it.
The app shows no ads.
The app sends usage statistics and crash reports to Google Firebase, so we can fix and improve it. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it asks you first. Everywhere, you can turn it off in Settings (details below).
Pro is bought through Google Play. We never see your payment details.
We, Springlab, run no servers of our own.

Data the app uses on your phone

Data	Why	Leaves the phone?
Sound levels shown on the meter (numbers only)	To show the level, average, minimum, maximum and the last 60 seconds	No. They are not saved either
Noise logs (Pro): one level and one maximum per second, with the start time, phone model, weighting and calibration	To show the log and make a report	Only when you share a PDF or CSV report yourself (Android may also include logs in your own device backup)
Your settings and calibration	To remember your choices	No (same backup note as above)

Permissions

Permission	Why
Microphone	To measure the sound level. The sound is measured on your phone and never recorded, saved or sent. Without it, the app cannot measure.
Notifications	To show that a noise log is running, with a Stop button. You can say no; the log still runs.
Foreground service (microphone), wake lock	So a noise log keeps measuring with the screen off. Only while a log you started runs, for 24 hours at most.
Internet	So Google Play can confirm a Pro purchase, and to send usage statistics and crash reports (you can turn these off).

Sharing a report (Pro)

When you tap Share PDF or Share CSV, the app writes the report on your phone and opens Android's share sheet. You choose where it goes, for example email or a cloud drive. That app's own privacy policy then applies. We never receive the report.

Usage statistics and crash reports (Google Firebase)

To see which features people use and to fix crashes, the app uses Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics. Google runs them for us, as our service provider. While usage data is on, they collect:

Data	Details	Why
App interactions	Screens you open, and events such as “noise log started”, “report shared” (PDF or CSV) or “calibration done” (the correction in dB). Sound and sound levels are never sent	To see which features are used
Crash logs and diagnostics	Where the app crashed, app version, phone model, Android version	To fix crashes
App instance ID	A random ID for this install. It is not your advertising ID	To count users and sessions
Approximate location	Country or region, which Google works out from your IP address	To see where the app is used

Never collected: sound or recordings, your name, your email, the advertising ID, your precise location, or anything you type. The app turns off Google's advertising features in Analytics.

Your choice. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks you before it sends anything. Everywhere, you can turn it off in Settings → Share usage data. Then the app stops sending, deletes crash reports it has not sent yet and resets its usage data on your phone. Google's use of this data is covered by Privacy and security in Firebase and the Google Privacy Policy.

Purchases

Pro is a one-time purchase through Google Play, with no subscription. Google Play handles the payment under Google's own terms and privacy policy. The app only asks Google Play whether you own Pro, and keeps that answer on your phone. We never see your payment details, and the app sends no purchase data to us.

Children

The app is not made for children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

Your choices

Pause the meter at any time; the microphone turns off.
Delete any noise log in the app.
Turn off Settings → Share usage data at any time.
Take back the microphone or notification permission in Android Settings at any time.
Uninstall the app to delete everything it stored on your phone.

Changes

If this policy changes, we update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Springlab · hello@springlab.app

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Sound Meter privacy.