Privacy policy

Accounts and learning

We process account identifiers, email, sign-in information and membership status to provide your account. Optional profile information includes your name, handle, avatar and biography. AWS provides hosting and authentication. Apple or Google processes sign-in when you choose that login option.

Signed-in study activity, quiz results, path progress and preferences are sent to our services to save your learning history. Guest progress and pending uploads may also be stored in your browser. The initial external iPhone and Android tests are for invited adults aged 18 or older.

Audio and contributions

Sound ID in the iPhone and Android apps analyzes microphone audio on your device; that audio is not uploaded to identify birds. Your Recordings and My Bird Sounds store audio and saved detections locally. Saving a clip or choosing a license preference does not upload or publish it. Local recordings are not an account-synced cloud backup. Exporting or downloading a clip shares a copy only with the destination you choose. Exporting to eBird in the Android app creates a checklist file on your device with the birds you confirmed and the recording's date, time, duration and location; BirdBrain does not send it to eBird, and you choose where to share it.

Choosing Identify in the clip editor uploads selected audio for server analysis. Choosing Submit separately sends a clip and its metadata for contribution review under the permissions and agreement shown at submission. Review and trim recordings before uploading to remove voices or other private information.

Contribution metadata can include recordist credit, species, date, equipment, permissions, place name and coordinates. Audio can contain voices or other private information. Listen and trim before uploading, and clear GPS if you do not want to share precise coordinates.

Accepted recordings may appear in the library with credit and metadata under your selected permissions. Public profile information can be visible to others. Removing a clip from BirdBrain cannot recall copies already obtained under a Creative Commons license.

This version does not offer enrollment in model training. Choosing to donate a recording for learning is not a separate agreement to future model training.

Location

Location permission and the Sound ID geotagging control let you choose whether new recordings receive location tags. Turning geotagging off does not erase tags already saved. Nearby library sorting uses location on your device to determine a region.

Uploaded contribution metadata may contain precise coordinates or a place name. Accepted recording metadata may be displayed with the recording; do not assume submitted coordinates stay private. Review or remove location before sharing a clip. Files you export may retain saved metadata.

Payments and service providers

AWS hosts account and application services. Modal processes audio you upload for identification and related audio processing. This is separate from on-device Sound ID. Processing services may keep request information after analysis. See the retention and deletion section below for your choices.

Where membership checkout is available, Stripe handles payment details and supplies transaction and membership information to BirdBrain. External checkout can charge real money even when the app is installed through TestFlight or a Google Play test track. Do not send card details in an issue report.

Network services receive connection information such as IP addresses. Issue reports include your description, content identifiers and app/device context. Apple separately operates TestFlight and its feedback and diagnostics. Google separately operates Google Play, its testing programs and app installation. Provider notices describe their own practices.

Browser storage

BirdBrain uses browser storage for sign-in, preferences, guest progress, pending synchronization and cached media metadata. See Cookies & browser storage for controls. Clearing site data can discard guest progress and unsynced work.

Retention and deletion

Local recordings stay until you remove them or remove the app’s local data. Uploaded clips, including Identify clips that you never submit, do not automatically expire after analysis. Account data and uploads can remain until removed through an available deletion process. A download link expiring does not delete its recording.

Service logs and processor records have different retention periods. Some expire automatically; others have no set expiry. Account deletion does not promise immediate removal of every provider log, backup or legally required payment record.

In the iPhone or Android app, use Delete account in the account menu to request deletion of your cloud account and associated data. Account deletion includes processing associated membership renewal cancellation. A receipt confirms that the request was received, not that every deletion has finished. Processing errors and ownership checks can delay completion. Contact contact@suncostlabs.com to request deletion or check an outstanding request. Instructions, including how to request deletion without the app: https://www.birdbrain.academy/delete-account/

Phone-only recordings remain unchanged. A minimal account identifier is retained to prevent old sign-ins or billing updates from restoring a deleted account. Required payment records and licensed copies already obtained by others are handled separately. Signing out, clearing browser storage or uninstalling the app does not delete cloud accounts or cancel membership.

Your choices and privacy contact

You can use guest features without an account, decline microphone or location permission, omit GPS, and choose which clips to upload. For access, correction, deletion questions or a delayed request, contact contact@suncostlabs.com. We may need to verify account ownership before acting.

Any future model-training enrollment would come with separate information and permission. Contact us if you have questions about how your recordings are used.

Where information is processed

Our account and application services use AWS infrastructure in the United States. Other providers may process information in the United States or other countries where they operate. Their retention practices differ from local storage on your device.

Children and beta access

The initial external iPhone and Android betas are invitation-only for adults aged 18 or older. It is not intended for children. Contact contact@suncostlabs.com if you believe a child has supplied personal information so we can investigate and address it.

Changes to this policy

We will update the effective date when this policy changes. If we introduce a materially different use that requires additional notice or permission, we will provide that notice or request permission before applying that use.

Provider privacy information

AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/

Apple: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/

Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Stripe: https://stripe.com/privacy

Modal: https://modal.com/legal/privacy-policy

Modal processing and retention: https://modal.com/docs/guide/security