Data Collection

[Guest]

Hello, do you guys collect the content created in Poweramp such as songs added and library stats? I run the website version and have no connection to Google with a degoogled phone and this app being tracker free. Therefore Google play statistics can't be gathered and it's quite beautiful to run with it offline as well to ensure no contact with servers. I have read the privacy policy but couldn't find a clear answer. Anyways an answer would be greatly appreciated as Google (the tracking giant) which is evil tech collects the content you create in there apps which includes things you add!

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by MWalton

[andrewilley]

Poweramp itself does not "phone home" with any ongoing details of your personal music listening habits or storage contents if that's what you mean.

Play Store installs will allow Google to access details about who installed what, permissions, etc. Website installs don't pass anything to Google, however in order for the licence to be validated, some basic purchase details (including your declared email address) obviously need to be retained in the account.

Clearly if you use scrobbling, your music information gets uploaded to external sites each time you play anything. Also things like cover artwork and lyric searches will need, by definition, to send data about the song in question to external sites.

Also there is a facility to send error reports/logs for debugging purposes, which is normally done by email. That action is always prompted though, so you can choose what you want to do - usually you'd pass it over to your chosen email client.

I don't know whether any anonymous data is collected to aid future product development - e.g. to know what type of devices or audio formats are most commonly in use in the wild, geographical stats, or Output method popularity - but Max would be able to provide more information on that.

Andre

[Guest]

Thank you so much Andre for being frank! I actually verified my license before adding my library to ensure no data collection then denied internet and added it. Better to be safe then sorry:) At least now I know all is good but I'll still run offline and I obviously based off that don't use scrobbling with scrobbling and error reporting disabled. I do try to post bugs to help Max out since I'm not giving any data to him:) Anyways thanks a lot and I have to say the forums is much better than email because no matter how kind you are one of the staff got nasty! 

Edited February 4, 2023 by MWalton

[Guest]

If anybody is reading this with same question I'd like to add to Andre's comment. Never use Chromecast and disable it if your concerned about data collection along with error reporting and scrobbling. Chromecast is Google and immoral as usual. I'm blown back by Max's morality in mainstream technology! 

[andrewilley]

Personally I treat big data as something of a fact of life these days. OK so you can jump through complex hoops to prevent your phone or computer telling Google stuff - but at the loss of so much genuine functionality that I find useful (location history, cross-device search and website history, and our family's shared locations for example). And every time I use my credit card for purchases, or a loyalty/discount card in a shop, or even just browse a shopping website or engage with social media, they gather a ton of data anyway - so what really is the point in lobotomising my devices? My one concern is loss of certain parts of that data though - addresses, banking info, passwords, etc - to hackers from the identity-theft or crime point of view.

And I've been 'online' since well before the internet even existed (I've been using dial-up bulletin boards since probably the early 80s, and then bang-path email routing via UUCP on what was basically still the ARPAnet) so I think secrecy is probably a lost cause for me by now.

Andre

[Guest]

Living a degoogled life is work but I've managed to do it through finding alternatives just as benefical but sometimes better than Google services. A degoogled phone takes time to get used to but it is far superior with the proper setup which includes Poweramp as many open source apps are buggy if you don't choose wisely. Google hands our data over to be analyzed and makes money through advertising which is creepy based on what they collect and immoral people make it worse. As far as finances gift cards and cash when possible. Banks aren't very moral either and in the US they are trying if not still trying to pass bank monitoring. Also a VPN is a must when searching the internet!

Edited February 4, 2023 by MWalton

[andrewilley]

Yes, it is creepy and perhaps even immoral, and yes data sales make money from targeted advertising. But then that's what pays for the convenience of having the internet and websites work these days. I don't generally search for anything I wouldn't want anyone else to know about, but if I ever do then I might turn my VPN on. Mostly my VPN protects my NAS's internet connection though, which is where some background P2P tasks live.

But as I said, after 40+ years of being online, that horse has well and truly bolted - and is down the road, across the motorway, and several cities away by now.

And if I did de-Googled my phone, the first thing I'd need to do would be to root it which would instantly and irrevocably break Samsung Knox and thus a whole host of apps that I use daily (from banking to controlling my cable TV box) would fail. That didn't used to be the case (first thing I would do with a new phone would be to root it, for backup purposes if nothing else) but so many apps have now got root-prohibiting code.  

Andre

[Guest]

Targeting advertising makes advertisers richer and big tech companies. I can't specifically say if it pays for the Internet but I'm sure it does websites but be un-invasive gee. I don't care what anybody says there is no excuse to stalk for big bucks destroying technology over little privacy. Allowing targeted advertising is like allowing someone to fish through your personal belongings large scale. Who wants that? It can be stopped! Everybody enjoys tech differently but should take care for their privacy. If I were you I would run a stalked phone in a way that the data harvested is meaningless to you with a degoogled phone as a main driver perhaps a Pixel as custom ROMs can't implement Volte on Samsung phones (something to do with Samsung's code for Volte being proprietary I think and not being able to include it in the ROM). Anyways many people struggle letting go of Google over the love and convenience but I'll tell you right now there is alternatives that are worth the extra effort! A stalked phone in my opinion is not necessary!

[maxmp]

@MWalton Andre pretty much summarized it. Poweramp has no any code/logic/frameworks nor intention to track anything.

I would add following:

• on the devices with Google Play installed, Play reports anonymized app crashes (if user have a consent somewhere in Play app settings)
• web site/forum -uni- build sends 1 request with email/order id/device model to our servers during website purchase confirmation
• album art search uses Google image search, but cookies are not used and anonymized headers used
• Poweramp exposes current played track data via API (both Android system APIs, and own simple API)

[andrewilley]

I forgot about the external API. While PA doesn't use it for anything nefarious, I guess it would be possible for a malicious app to hook in and interrogate the database to find out about your music habits and collection details. For the overly paranoid, would it be possible to provide a switch that blocked any such external access? I know a lot of useful stuff like @flyingdutchman's Music Playlist Manager wouldn't then work, but it might be handy for people who value absolute privacy over functionality.

Andre

[Guest]

I'm a little confused here so to my understanding I need to go no internet connection always after my library is loaded? If not currently playing track data will be sent to a server belonging to Max? I'm not technology dumb but not that familiar with API which allows two applications to communicate sending data to a server. If this holds true Max would obtain no library info other than currently played song?

[andrewilley]

Max does not receive any data about the music playing - or anything else about your setup. However the local Android OS (and any other app that wants to see it) does get provided with currently-playing info via the playback API.

I rather doubt Max would have the time, or even be remotely interested in, finding out what any particular user out of tens of millions might be listening to right now...

Andre

[Guest]

I feel super dumb as I took it wrong from ignorance. Thanks for the info.

[Guest]

@andrewilley @maxmp Thank you both for answering this as it was a concern of mine based on some apps and man did I fall off in this conversation towards the end in tech:) API is clearly something I struggle with as it's techy for me. Anyways you both keep up the great work:) 

[andrewilley]

API stands for Application Programming Interface, but all it really means is a documented way for one app to send and receive stuff to/from other apps, or the Android operating system. Basically an app-to-app message broadcasting protocol.

Andre