Privacy Policy

1 Introduction & Scope

Welcome to GiveMood Radio ("we", "us", or "our"). We operate the website and service available at givemood.com and its subdomains (collectively, the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you visit our website or use our Service to create and listen to synchronized radio stations.

This policy applies to all users of the Service regardless of how they access it — via web browser, progressive web app (PWA), or any other client. By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the collection and use of your information as described herein.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, services, or applications that may be linked from our Service, including but not limited to YouTube. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services before engaging with them.

2 Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories:

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you create a radio station using our Service, you provide:

• Station name and description: The name and optional description you choose for your radio station.
• YouTube playlist URLs: Links to public or unlisted YouTube playlists or albums that you configure as your station's source material.

We do not require you to create an account, provide an email address, or submit any personally identifiable information to listen to or create a radio station.

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you interact with the Service, we and our infrastructure providers automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• IP address: Used to route requests and, in aggregate, to understand geographic distribution of our user base. IP addresses are not stored in association with any user profile.
• Browser type and version: Collected via HTTP User-Agent headers to ensure compatibility and diagnose technical issues.
• Operating system: Inferred from the User-Agent string for compatibility purposes.
• Referring URL: The URL of the page you visited before arriving at our Service, if applicable.
• Pages visited and time spent: We may log which pages of the Service you visit and for how long, in aggregate and anonymized form.
• Date and time of access: Standard HTTP request logging that includes timestamps of interactions with the Service.
• Listener presence signals: When you are actively listening to a station, our Service records an anonymous heartbeat signal every 10 seconds to count concurrent listeners. This signal is associated with a randomly generated, temporary client identifier stored in your browser's sessionStorage — it is not linked to any personal identity and expires when you close your browser tab.

2.3 Listener Count Data

Our real-time listener count feature records anonymous presence signals (heartbeat pings) to display how many people are currently listening to a given station. These pings contain:

• The station identifier (a short alphanumeric ID).
• A randomly generated client ID unique to your browser tab session.
• A server-side timestamp of the last ping.

Listener data older than 25 seconds is automatically purged from our servers. We do not build listener profiles or associate listener signals with individuals.

2.4 Information Stored Locally on Your Device

We use your browser's localStorage to store:

• Recently Played track history: Titles of tracks played on a station during your sessions, stored locally per station ID. This data never leaves your device unless you explicitly share it.

We use your browser's sessionStorage to store:

• Anonymous client identifier: A randomly generated string used solely to count concurrent listeners. This is cleared automatically when your browser tab is closed.

3 How We Use Your Information

We use the information collected for the following purposes:

• To provide and maintain the Service: Technical data is used to serve web pages, synchronize radio playback across listeners, and ensure the Service functions correctly.
• To display real-time listener counts: Anonymous heartbeat signals are aggregated to show how many users are actively listening to a station at any given moment.
• To improve the Service: Aggregated, anonymized usage data helps us understand how the Service is used, identify bottlenecks, and prioritize improvements.
• To ensure security and prevent abuse: Server logs and IP addresses may be reviewed in the event of suspected malicious activity, abuse of the Service, or server attacks.
• To comply with legal obligations: We may retain and use certain data if required by applicable law or in response to lawful requests by public authorities.
• To communicate with you: If you contact us directly (e.g., via email), we will use your contact information to respond to your inquiry.

We do not use your information to:

• Serve targeted or behavioral advertising.
• Build individual user profiles.
• Sell, rent, or trade your data to third parties.
• Make automated decisions that have legal or significant effects on you.

4 Cookies & Local Storage

The Service does not currently use traditional HTTP cookies for tracking or analytics purposes. We use browser-native storage mechanisms as follows:

4.1 sessionStorage

sessionStorage is a browser storage mechanism that persists only for the duration of a browser tab session. We store a randomly generated anonymous client identifier (_gmcid) to count concurrent listeners. This identifier is:

• Generated fresh each time you open a new tab.
• Never transmitted alongside personally identifiable information.
• Automatically deleted when you close your tab or browser.

4.2 localStorage

localStorage persists across browser sessions until explicitly cleared. We store:

• Recently Played history (gm_history_<stationId>): Track title history for stations you listen to. This data is stored entirely on your device and is never transmitted to our servers.

You can clear all locally stored data at any time through your browser's developer tools or settings (Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → Cached images and files / Site data).

4.3 Third-Party Cookies

Our Service embeds YouTube's IFrame Player API. YouTube (operated by Google LLC) may set its own cookies when the player is initialized. These cookies are governed by Google's Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review Google's data practices. We have no control over cookies set by YouTube.

5 Third-Party Services

The Service integrates with the following third-party providers. Each operates under its own privacy policy, which we encourage you to review:

5.1 YouTube (Google LLC)

GiveMood Radio uses the YouTube IFrame Player API to stream audio content. All audio playback is delivered through YouTube's infrastructure. When you listen to a station:

• Your browser establishes a direct connection to YouTube's servers.
• YouTube may log your IP address, device information, and playback activity in accordance with its own privacy policy.
• YouTube may serve advertisements alongside content depending on the content owner's monetization settings and your YouTube account status (if logged in).

We do not control, and are not responsible for, YouTube's data collection practices. Applicable policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

5.2 Google Fonts

We use Google Fonts to serve the "Plus Jakarta Sans" typeface. When our pages load, your browser makes a request to Google's servers to download font files. Google may collect your IP address as part of this request. Applicable policy: Google Fonts Privacy FAQ.

5.3 Hosting Infrastructure

The Service is hosted on third-party server infrastructure. Our hosting provider may collect and log standard server access logs including IP addresses and request metadata. These logs are used for security, performance monitoring, and abuse prevention and are governed by the hosting provider's own data retention policies.

6 Data Retention

We retain different categories of data for different periods:

• Listener heartbeat data: Purged automatically after 25 seconds of inactivity per listener session. No long-term retention.
• Station configuration data: Retained indefinitely as long as the station exists. Station creators can request deletion by contacting us.
• Server access logs: Retained for up to 90 days for security and abuse prevention purposes, after which they are deleted or anonymized.
• localStorage data: Stored on your device with no server-side retention. You control this data entirely and can delete it at any time.
• Direct correspondence: If you contact us by email, we may retain your messages for up to 2 years for record-keeping purposes, after which they are deleted.

7 Data Security

We take the security of your information seriously and implement a variety of technical and organizational measures to protect it:

• HTTPS encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security).
• Minimal data collection: We deliberately collect only the minimum data required to operate the Service, reducing the risk surface associated with data breaches.
• No password storage: As we do not offer user accounts, we do not store passwords or authentication credentials.
• File-level access controls: Server-side data files (such as listener count caches) are stored outside publicly accessible directories and are accessible only through controlled API endpoints.
• Input validation: All user-supplied inputs (such as station IDs and playlist URLs) are validated and sanitized before use to prevent injection attacks.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to individuals' rights and freedoms, we will notify affected parties and relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

8 Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us immediately at the address below and we will take steps to delete such information from our records.

If you are between 13 and 18 years of age, we recommend reviewing this policy with a parent or guardian before using the Service.

9 Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

9.1 Right of Access

You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. Given the minimal nature of our data collection (primarily anonymous technical logs), this may result in very limited information.

9.2 Right to Rectification

If any information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request correction.

9.3 Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")

You may request that we delete personal data we hold about you. For most users, the primary actionable step is clearing your browser's localStorage and sessionStorage, which immediately removes all locally stored data. Server-side data (such as server logs) will be deleted in accordance with our retention schedule.

9.4 Right to Restrict Processing

In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we restrict our processing of your personal data.

9.5 Right to Data Portability

Where processing is based on consent or contract and is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

9.6 Right to Object

You have the right to object to processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as a legal basis.

9.7 Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 12. We will respond to all legitimate requests within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

10 International Data Transfers

GiveMood Radio is operated from and data may be stored in various countries. If you access the Service from outside the country where our servers are located, your data may be transferred across international borders.

By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to countries which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence. We take steps to ensure that such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws, including relying on standard contractual clauses where required.

When YouTube processes data on our behalf (as part of the IFrame Player API), such processing may occur in the United States and other countries where Google LLC operates data centers.

11 Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.
• Post a notice on the Service for a reasonable period following the update.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Your continued use of the Service after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If we make changes that materially affect how we handle data you have previously provided, we will take reasonable steps to notify you before the changes take effect.

12 Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: