Fonica privacy policy

1. Who we are and scope

This Policy applies to personal information processed by us in connection with the Service.

• Controller. We are responsible for your personal information.
• Children. Fonica is not intended for anyone under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you are under 16, you may not create an account or use the Service. Our Terms of Use set the same 16+ requirement. If we become aware that we hold personal information collected from a person under 16, we will delete that information and terminate the associated account. If you believe a person under 16 has provided us with personal information, contact us at privacy@fonica.io and we will take steps to remove it.
• Anonymity and pseudonymity. Where it is lawful and practicable, you may interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym (for example, when browsing certain parts of the Service without logging in).
• Apple platform disclosures. Permission prompts on Apple platforms use clear purpose strings that explain why data is requested and how it will be used. We follow data minimization practices and respect device-level privacy choices.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

• Account and profile details (e.g., name, username, email, date of birth, avatar, short bio).
• Music preferences and activity (wishlists, ratings, reviews, playlists, follows/followers).
• Communications with us (support requests, feedback, reports).
• Payment identifiers for subscriptions (processed by payment partners; we do not store full card details).

Information from third parties

• Accounts you link. When you choose to link a third-party account like a music streaming service or social media account, we may collect information based on the permissions you grant. This can include your public profile information, your library of saved artists and albums, your playlists, and your recent listening history to help bootstrap your Fonica profile and recommendations.
• Partners, rights-holders, or public sources (e.g., metadata and critic bylines) only where we have the necessary rights or your explicit consent where required. We do not compile personal information about you from third-party sources (including public databases) without your explicit consent.

Information collected automatically

• Device and log data (IP address, browser, OS, app version, crash logs, usage).
• Cookies and similar tech for sign-in, personalization, analytics, ads (where applicable).
• Approximate location (from IP); precise location only with consent. If you enable location services, we use approximate or precise location solely to support features you choose (e.g., localized charts or events). The app’s permission prompt states this purpose. You may use the Service with location disabled, with reasonable alternatives (such as manual entry) where available.

We may aggregate or de-identify data so it no longer reasonably identifies you.

We request device permissions only when needed for core features and, where possible, use out-of-process pickers or share sheets (e.g., for photos/contacts) instead of requesting broad access.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information to:

• Provide and improve the Service.
• Personalize discovery and recommendations.
• Publish and share community contributions (reviews, lists, ratings).
• Communicate with you about the Service.
• Moderate, detect, and prevent misuse or violations of our Terms.
• Deliver and measure advertising for non-subscribers or where permitted.
• Comply with law and enforce our agreements.
• Manage subscriptions and enable you to exercise statutory consumer rights (such as withdrawal, refunds, or other protections required under consumer protection laws).
• Support online safety obligations, including handling harmful or unlawful content in accordance with applicable laws.

We do not repurpose personal information for materially different purposes without obtaining fresh consent, unless otherwise permitted by law. We do not attempt to identify you from aggregated or de-identified data or build user profiles from Apple-provided APIs beyond what is necessary to operate the Service.

4. Legal bases

Where required by law, we process your information on the following bases:

• Contract (to provide the Service).
• Legitimate interests (secure operation, improvement, preventing abuse).
• Consent (optional marketing, cookies, precise location, linked accounts).
• Legal obligation (tax, compliance).

If we rely on legitimate interests for certain analytics or fraud prevention, we do so in compliance with applicable law and provide in-app controls to object where required.

5. When content is public

Reviews, ratings, reactions, lists, likes, and profile elements you share are public by default and may be indexed by search engines. This public activity is a core part of the Fonica community experience.

We provide privacy controls in your account settings to manage the visibility of your profile. We will honor your selections for future content, but prior public content may persist in caches or third-party services outside of our control.

You can also delete your account and request deletion of personal information from within the app, as described below.

6. How we share information

We may share personal information with:

• Other users: anything you make public.
• Service providers: hosting, analytics, payments, support, ads.
• Third-party integrations you choose (e.g., linked social or music accounts), consistent with your permissions.
• Advertising/measurement partners (for free tiers or where permitted).
• Affiliates / corporate transactions.
• Authorities where required by law or to protect rights/safety.
• Legal compliance: We may also use or disclose personal information as reasonably necessary to comply with harmful digital communications laws, including responding to complaints, supporting investigations, or assisting regulators.

We may also share aggregated or de-identified data.

Third-party processors and partners with whom we share personal data are required by contract to provide the same or stronger protections for personal data as described in this Policy and as required under the Apple App Store Review Guidelines.

On Apple platforms, any activity that constitutes “tracking” is subject to App Tracking Transparency (ATT). We will request permission before tracking and honor your choice; access to paid functionality is not conditioned on enabling tracking.

We do not harvest contacts or photos to build a contact database or to contact others. We only send messages to your contacts at your individualized direction, and we do not offer a “Select All” default.

7. Cookies, analytics, and ads

We and our partners use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Service, remember preferences, keep you signed in, prevent fraud, measure performance, and (for free tiers or where applicable) deliver ads.

Where advertising is shown, we will clearly label it as such and provide meaningful information about the advertiser and the main parameters used to determine why you are seeing that advertisement, consistent with applicable laws.

You can manage cookies in browser/device settings or consent tools.

Where required by law, we will request your consent before using cookies or similar technologies for advertising or analytics. You can manage or withdraw your consent at any time through our cookie banner or account settings. We honor ‘Do Not Track’ and global privacy control signals where legally required.

On Apple platforms, we use ATT to request permission for tracking, and your choice is respected. We do not require tracking to access content or paid features.

8. Data retention

We retain personal information as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with law, and enforce our agreements.

When you delete your account, we will either delete or anonymize your contributions. Where anonymization is used to preserve community discussions, we will ensure the data cannot reasonably be re-identified. You may also request full deletion of your contributions, subject to lawful exceptions (e.g., for fraud prevention or compliance).

You can initiate account and data deletion directly within the app (Settings > Account > Delete Account) or by contacting us. We will complete deletion in accordance with applicable law and our retention obligations.

9. Security

We implement technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risk to protect your personal information, consistent with applicable data protection laws. However, no system can be guaranteed 100% secure. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials safe.

10. International data transfers

We may process data in countries outside your own. If we transfer your personal information outside your home country, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as approved standard contractual clauses, approved international data transfer agreements, or transfers to countries formally recognized as providing adequate protection.

11. Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under local privacy laws. These may include:

• Access: to know whether we hold personal information about you and receive a copy.
• Correction: to request updates to inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Deletion: to request deletion, subject to lawful exceptions.
• Restriction/objection: to ask us to limit or stop certain processing.
• Portability: to receive certain information in portable form. When you exercise this right, we will provide an export of your key personal data and user-generated content, such as your profile details, ratings, reviews, and lists, in a commonly used machine-readable format (like JSON or CSV).
• Marketing/cookies: to opt out of marketing or targeted advertising, and to control cookies.
• Profile and content visibility: to manage the visibility of your profile and contributions through your account settings.

We honor these rights as required by law. Some may not apply in all situations. To exercise rights, contact privacy@fonica.io. We may need to verify your identity. You may also complain to your local privacy regulator.

You can withdraw or modify consents from within the app (Settings > Privacy), including marketing preferences, analytics, tracking (ATT status), and linked accounts. You can also change device permissions (e.g., location, contacts) in system settings. If you decline a permission, we offer reasonable alternatives, such as manual entry or reduced functionality, where possible.

12. Third-party services and links

The Service may link to or integrate with third-party services. Your use of them is governed by their terms and privacy policies. If you link a social or music account, you can revoke that connection within the app. We do not store social network credentials or tokens off-device, and such tokens are used only to connect while the app is in use.

13. Automated tools

We may use automated systems to detect spam, abuse, or manipulation. These tools may affect content visibility or account status. Where our automated tools significantly affect your ability to use the Service (for example, account suspension), you have the right to request human review and to contest the decision.

14. API and developer use

If you use Fonica’s APIs, you must process personal data in compliance with this Policy, our API terms, and applicable law. API clients must not build contact databases from user data, re-identify de-identified data, or engage in cross-app or cross-site tracking without all required consents.

15. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If changes are material, we will notify you (e.g., via email or in-app notice). Continued use after changes means acceptance.

16. Contact us

Fonica Limited, privacy@fonica.io.

17. United States residents

In the past 12 months, we may have collected the following categories of personal information:

Category	Examples	Sources	Purposes	Disclosure (past 12 months)
Identifiers	Name, username, email, IP, device IDs	From you; automatically from device	Account, authentication, personalization, security	Service providers; advertising/analytics partners
Commercial info.	Subscription records, purchases	From you when subscribing/using Service	Billing, subscriptions, support, analytics	Payment processors, support, analytics
Internet / network	Browsing, usage logs, crash data	From your device and interactions	Service operation, analytics, personalization, advertising (where applicable)	Hosting, analytics, security, ad partners
Geolocation data	Approximate location (IP); precise (if consented)	From device/IP or with consent	Localization, compliance, personalization	Analytics, hosting, ad partners (approximate only)
Audio/visual/UGC	Reviews, ratings, playlists, avatars	From you when you submit	Community features, personalization, display to users	Public display; hosting, moderation
Inferences	Preferences, recommendations	Derived from use of Service	Personalization, recommendations, analytics, advertising (where applicable)	Analytics, personalization, ad partners

Rights for US state residents (California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas):

• Know what categories and pieces of personal information we collect, use, disclose, sell, or share.
• Access, delete, correct, and port data.
• Opt out of sale/sharing or targeted advertising.
• Limit sensitive personal information (if collected).
• Appeal a denied request.
• Be free from discrimination for exercising rights.

To exercise rights, contact privacy@fonica.io.

We are committed to ensuring this Policy and our privacy tools are accessible to all users. If you need this Policy or related information in an alternative format, contact us at privacy@fonica.io. We are also committed to processing personal information in ways that do not unlawfully discriminate, consistent with applicable equality and disability laws.

We do not “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined by applicable US state laws without providing you with the right to opt out. We also honor platform-level privacy and tracking choices (including Apple’s App Tracking Transparency) where applicable.