Last updated: 2026-10-07. Contact us for any privacy question.
Who is responsible
Arkbyte operates Soundweave. Send privacy requests to soundweave@arkbyte.dev.
Information we use
| When | Information and purpose |
|---|---|
| Website visit | Our hosting provider processes your IP address, request time, requested page and browser details in server logs to serve and secure the website. The same logs record requests from the app to our licensing server (for example /v1/usage and /v1/reports), with the IP address of the sender. The site does not set its own analytics or advertising cookies. |
| Licence purchase | Stripe handles checkout and payment details. The licensing service receives the order and payment identifiers, paid status, amount and purchase email to issue a licence and handle refunds or disputes. Soundweave does not receive card numbers. |
| Virtual Cables licence purchase | Virtual Cables is donationware: you choose what to pay, above a minimum for each plan. The licensing service receives the same order data as for the app licence, including the amount paid. We use the amount to check that it is not below the minimum. An order below the minimum, or with other mismatching details, is not issued automatically. It is held for manual review, and we may e-mail you about it. The plan comes only from the checkout link you used, never from the amount. |
| Licence delivery | Resend sends the licence key and transfer codes to the purchase email. The licensing service stores the purchase email, a protected hash of the key and delivery status. A pending delivery key is encrypted until the email is sent. |
| Activation, renewal and transfer | The desktop app derives a pseudonymous device binding from Windows publisher identification and sends that binding and its source class to the licensing service. The service records certificates and transfer counts. It does not receive the raw Windows identifier. When a licensed app renews its certificate, the service also records the day of that contact for the licence (no time, no IP address) to count active licences. This is kept as long as the licence record, and it happens even if usage statistics are off. |
| Usage statistics (on by default) | At most one message a day from the app with: a random install ID, the dates (no times of day) the app was used in the last 14 days, the app version, whether the app is licensed, and your Virtual Cables plan (none, or 6, 8, 15 or 30 cables). Never sent: your licence key or device binding, e-mail, computer or user name, Windows version, device, profile or strip names, settings, file paths, audio, language or time zone. The server also records the hour (not the minute) of the first message from a new install, to detect and remove fake bulk installs. It does not store your IP address with this data. See Usage statistics. |
| Problem reports (only when you press Send) | Your note and optional contact e-mail, the Soundweave, engine and driver versions, your Windows build, your audio settings, whether the app is licensed (a licensed PC also sends its licence ID, never the licence key), the names of the audio devices and apps in use (device names can contain a name you gave them, such as "Sam's headphones"), audio health counters for the moment and the 30 seconds before it, the model of your processor and graphics card, how much memory the PC has, and how busy they were, and the names of the 20 programs using the most processor time, each with its processor load, memory use and number of copies running. Never sent: audio, files or file paths, your licence key, your computer or user name, strip, bus or profile names. See Problem reports. |
Soundweave's voice analysis works locally in the desktop app. The licensing flow does not upload your audio. The website has no account sign-in or contact form. Development and test builds of the app send no usage statistics.
Legal basis
- Licences and purchases: performing the contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). This includes issuing and delivering your licence, handling refunds and disputes, and the manual review of Virtual Cables orders.
- Accounting records: a legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) to keep purchase records.
- Usage statistics and problem reports: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Our interest is to understand how many people use Soundweave and to find and fix audio problems in a donationware app. We keep the data small. The usage ID is random and is not linked to your licence or hardware. You can opt out, reset the ID and ask for deletion at any time, and a problem report is only sent when you press Send. On that balance we consider the impact on you low. You can object at any time (see Your choices and rights).
- Website and server logs: legitimate interest in running and securing the service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Usage statistics
Usage statistics are on by default. You can turn them off at any time in Settings › General › Share usage statistics. Turning them off stops sending and asks the server to delete the data stored for your ID.
- What: the fields in the table above. They are sent once a day at most. The server stores the date of each day of use and, once per install, the hour of the first message. It uses that hour only to spot and remove fake bulk installs. If you were offline, the missed days are sent later.
- The ID: a random number made on your PC. It is not derived from your hardware, and it is not linked to your licence, licence key, device binding or e-mail. It is stored in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\. It is pseudonymous data, and we treat it as personal data.dev.arkbyte.soundweave\ usage.json - Why: to see how many people use Soundweave (free and licensed), whether they keep using it or come back, which versions are in use (to plan updates and support), and how often the paid plans are used. We do not use it for advertising, profiling of individuals or automated decisions, and we do not sell or share it.
- Opt out: Settings › General › Share usage statistics. Sending stops at once and the app asks the server to delete everything stored for your ID. Reset ID deletes it and starts a new one. If you turn sharing on again, you get a new ID that is not linked to the old one.
- Your ID in Settings: the ID is shown there. E-mail it to soundweave@arkbyte.dev if you want to see or delete your data.
- IP address: not stored with usage data. It is used only in memory to limit abuse, for at most 24 hours.
- Where: our own server at our hosting provider. There is no analytics company and no third-party tracking code.
- Kept apart: usage data is stored separately from licence data and is never combined with it. In theory the operator could try to match a rare combination (for example a licensed app with the 30-cable plan) to licence records. We do not do this.
- Retention: every day of use is kept for 395 days. An install record is deleted 395 days after its last use. After that, only counts without any ID remain, and these are kept. Deletions are complete on the server within 6 hours.
- Backups: the usage database is not backed up.
Problem reports
If you press Capture this moment and then Send report, the report goes over an encrypted connection to our server. You can see the full content before sending, and nothing is sent unless you press Send.
- Why: to diagnose audio problems, and to reply to you if you gave an e-mail address. The e-mail address is optional, is only used to reply about that report, and is deleted with it. A licensed PC also sends its licence ID. It lets us look up the licence status and the purchase e-mail, so we can check the licence and contact the buyer about the report.
- Recipient: our own server at our hosting provider. No third party and no e-mail provider is involved.
- Report ID: you get an ID like
R-7K3M9QX2. Mention it when you contact us. - IP address: not stored with the report. It is used only in memory to limit abuse, for at most 24 hours.
- Retention: 180 days, then the report is deleted automatically. You can ask for earlier deletion: e-mail soundweave@arkbyte.dev with the report ID. Deleting a report also removes its link to the licence.
- Backups: the reports database is not backed up. A report that was deleted or has expired is gone.
- Device names: these can contain personal names. Check the preview before you send.
- Programs: the report lists the names of the 20 programs using the most processor time (for example
chrome.exe), with their processor load, memory use and number of copies, as file names only: never their folders, windows or command lines. Program names can say something about you. They are shown in the preview before sending, and you can choose not to send the report.
Service providers
Payment checkout is hosted by Stripe. Transactional licence messages are sent through Resend. The website and licensing API run on the seller's hosting infrastructure. Each provider may process data under its own notice and contractual role. Usage statistics and problem reports go only to our own server, not to Stripe or Resend.
Opening Stripe checkout moves you to Stripe's site. Its cookies and payment controls are separate from this website.
How long data is kept
| Data | Kept |
|---|---|
| Usage statistics, per install | 395 days of use per install. The install record is deleted 395 days after its last use, or earlier if you opt out or ask. Not backed up. |
| Usage statistics, counts without an ID | Kept. They cannot be linked to a person. |
| Problem reports | 180 days, or earlier on request. Not backed up. |
| Licence and purchase records, including Virtual Cables orders | While the licence remains active, and as needed to meet accounting, fraud and dispute obligations. The day of the last licence check-in is kept as long as the licence record. The licence database is backed up. Backups are kept for at most 7 years, in line with Dutch tax record rules, and then deleted. |
| Website and server access logs (IP address, time, requested path) | 30 days. |
| IP addresses used for abuse limits | In memory only, at most 24 hours. Never written to the usage or reports data. |
| Transfer codes | Expire after ten minutes. The stored challenge is cleared on a successful transfer. |
Your choices and rights
You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability, and you may object to processing that is based on legitimate interest, including usage statistics and problem reports. To make a request about usage statistics, include your usage ID. For a problem report, include the report ID. You may also complain to your data protection authority. In the Netherlands this is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. Some purchase records must be kept for legal obligations. Email soundweave@arkbyte.dev for requests.
Read the purchase terms or return to Soundweave.