dbession privacy policy

Last updated 8 November 2026

dbession collects nothing, sends nothing. It has no way to. The app does not request the INTERNET permission, so it cannot transmit data off your device even in principle.

The one way your data can leave the phone is Android's own backup, which you control. It goes to your Google account, encrypted so that nobody else can read it, and it is never sent to the developer. See Backups.

dbession listens to the microphone to measure sound levels and to detect pitch for the tuner. Audio is analysed continuously in memory and discarded as it goes. No audio is ever recorded, saved to storage, or transmitted. Any sound being captured is converted into numbers that turn into readings for you.

• Session history For sessions one minute or longer: the start time, the duration, the averaged and peak decibel levels, and any name or notes you choose to add.
• Your settings User configured options that are configured in the settings screen of dbession are stored on your device.

Both are held in the app's own private storage on your device, and in your own Android backup if you have backup turned on. Nothing is stored anywhere else.

There is no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising, no tracking. No account is required and none can be created, and we don't create any profile of you. Your data is never sold or shared, because the developer never receives it.

dbession takes part in Android's own backup, so your session history and settings come back when you set up a new phone.

• Google backup If backup is turned on in your phone's settings, Android includes dbession's history and settings in your Google account backup. It is only uploaded when it can be end-to-end encrypted with your screen lock, so neither Google nor the developer can read it. dbession never sees or handles the backup itself.
• Phone-to-phone transfer When you move to a new phone, the same data can be copied directly from the old phone to the new one.
• Not backed up: the offset The offset is matched to your phone's microphone, which reads differently from any other. It stays on the phone you set it on, and starts at zero on a new phone.

To keep dbession's data on this phone only, turn off backup in your phone's settings.

• Microphone To measure sound levels and detect pitch.
• Foreground service (microphone) So a running session keeps measuring while the app is in the background or the screen is off.
• Foreground service (media playback) So the metronome's click keeps playing while you are in another app or the screen is off. The click is generated on the device; nothing is streamed or downloaded.
• Notifications We want to make sure you didn't forget and leave a session or the metronome running in the background.

You can delete individual sessions in the app, or clear all of dbession's data through your phone's settings. Uninstalling the app also removes everything it has stored on the phone.

The developer holds no copy, so there is nothing to ask us to delete. If you use Google backup, the backup is replaced with the phone's current data the next time Android backs up, and you can delete the backup itself from your Google account.

dbession is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone.

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new date.

Questions about this policy: dbession@ianneilson.com