1. What we collect
The complete list of personal data Drum Buddha collects, across the website and the app:
- Standard server logs — when you visit this website, our host (Cloudflare) logs the request: IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp. These logs are retained by Cloudflare per their own policy and used only for security and abuse prevention. We do not access them for analytics.
- Website tips — if you choose to leave a tip through the support page, checkout is handled entirely by Stripe on its own hosted page. We never receive your card number, billing details, or any confirmation that a tip succeeded — there is no server-to-server connection between this site and Stripe.
- Android launch notifications — if you choose to leave your email on the one-email signup, it's stored on a server we run (Cloudflare) and used for exactly one thing — that notification. Email hello@drum-buddha.com any time to be removed.
- Anonymous app analytics — only if you opt in inside the app (off by default). These are aggregate usage events tagged with a random, install-scoped identifier and basic technical context — never your grooves, audio, notes, or anything that identifies you personally. See The app.
That's the whole list.
2. What we don't collect
To be explicit:
- We don't have user accounts. We don't know who you are.
- On this website, we don't use Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Segment, Amplitude, or any analytics service. In the app, analytics are off by default; if you turn them on, they're anonymous and aggregate (see The app).
- We don't have advertising trackers, conversion pixels, or third-party cookies.
- We don't collect your grooves, takes, recordings, notes, or any audio you capture — ever, opted in or not.
- We never see the specific grooves you play or anything you make. (If you opt in to analytics, events carry only coarse context — a groove's style bucket and tempo, which tools get opened — never a groove's name, your notes, or your audio.)
- We don't have a "feedback" or "crash report" auto-uploader. Bug reports happen only if you choose to email us.
3. The website (this page)
This site is hosted on Cloudflare. Cloudflare receives standard HTTP request logs when you visit. Those logs are governed by Cloudflare's privacy policy.
The site loads fonts from local files only — no external font CDN is contacted. Aside from the tip checkout you can choose to start (handled by Stripe), your browser does not communicate with any third party to render this page.
We do not set any analytics or marketing cookies. The only client-side storage we use is a single localStorage entry (db-theme) that remembers your chosen visual theme. Nothing about you is in that value — just "sand", "strata", "terra", or "obsidian".
4. The app
The Drum Buddha mobile app is local-first. This means:
- All your grooves, takes (audio recordings), ideas, settings, and library data are stored in the app's local sandbox on your device.
- None of this data is synced to a server. There is no Drum Buddha server.
- The app does not require an account or login, and practising needs no internet connection at all.
- The groove catalog, rudiments, drum kits, and jam band are all bundled with the app. Anything you add — your own grooves in the grid editor, notes, recordings — you create yourself. The app never contacts a server to fetch grooves, rudiments, or audio.
- Two things use the network even with analytics off. On iPhone and iPad, once you're past onboarding, the app asks Apple's public App Store lookup endpoint whether a newer version has been released — when it opens and when it returns to the foreground, but at most once every four hours. That request carries exactly two things: the app's own bundle identifier, and your device's region code so it reads the right regional store. It carries nothing about you or your practice, and no identifier we assign — we don't create one. Apple receives that request (and, as with any web request, your device's IP address); we never see it. The Mac app doesn't check for updates. Separately, the User Guide in Settings opens this website — in an in-app browser on iPhone and iPad, in your default browser on Mac.
- Optional analytics are off by default. Leave the toggle alone and the app sends nothing at all — no identifier is ever created. If you turn them on (Settings → Privacy → "Help improve Drum Buddha"), the app sends a small, fixed set of events — app opened, a tool opened, a groove played, an idea saved, and similar — to PostHog (US Cloud). Those events carry coarse context only: a groove's style tag and tempo, an idea's type and length. Never a name you typed, your notes, or any audio. PostHog's SDK also attaches an identifier it generates randomly when you first opt in — not your name, email, Apple ID, or advertising identifier, but stable for as long as the app stays installed — along with a per-session identifier and standard technical context such as app version, device model, OS version, screen size, language, timezone, and connection type. As with any web request, PostHog sees your IP address. Screen recording is switched off. PostHog's rapid-repeat-tap detection is left at its default, so tapping the same spot several times in a row can register as an event.
- Audio you record stays in app storage. It is not uploaded anywhere. You can export takes as audio files to share them yourself.
- If you uninstall the app, all data is deleted by the operating system as part of normal uninstall behavior.
5. In-app purchases
Drum Buddha is free. The app contains an optional "tip jar" with three consumable in-app purchases ($0.99, $4.99, $9.99). These tips support development and unlock nothing.
In-app tip purchases are processed entirely by Apple's App Store. We never see your payment method, card number, name, or billing address. Apple shares with us only aggregate, anonymized transaction counts so we can see how much support comes in. Apple's handling of your purchase data is governed by its own privacy policy, not ours.
The optional tip jar on this website is handled by Stripe instead (see The website and Third parties). It, too, never exposes your payment details to us.
6. Third parties
The third parties involved in operating Drum Buddha:
- Cloudflare — hosts this website. Cloudflare privacy policy.
- Stripe — processes optional website tips. We never receive your card details. Stripe's privacy policy.
- Apple App Store — distributes the app, handles in-app purchases, and answers the app's version check on launch. Apple's own privacy policy applies to those interactions.
- PostHog — product analytics, only if you opt in inside the app (off by default; US Cloud host). Events carry a random, install-scoped identifier, a per-session identifier, and standard technical context (app version, device model, OS, screen size, language, timezone, connection type) — no name, email, Apple ID, or advertising identifier, and never your content. PostHog also sees your IP address. See PostHog's privacy policy.
7. Your rights
Because we collect so little, most data-rights requests resolve quickly:
- Right to access — email us. We'll tell you what we hold, which is nothing: we don't collect personal data about you.
- Right to deletion — we don't store personal data about you, so there's nothing to delete. If you've emailed us directly, ask and we'll delete that correspondence.
- Right to correction — email us with the update.
- Right to portability — your in-app data already lives entirely on your device; you can export takes as standard audio files at any time.
- Right to object — we don't do marketing, profiling, or automated decision-making, so there's nothing to object to. Email us with any concern.
If you are a resident of the EU (GDPR), the UK, California (CCPA/CPRA), or another jurisdiction with formal data-rights laws, these rights apply to you under those laws.
8. Children's privacy
Drum Buddha is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The app itself collects no personal information from anyone, child or adult.
9. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a material way, we will update the "last updated" date at the top of this page. There is no other notification channel.
10. Contact
Questions, complaints, or data requests:
We aim to respond within 7 days.