Who this covers
This policy covers the Sound Cache desktop app, the pairing relay at api.soundcache.io, this website (soundcache.io), and the iOS shortcut. Sound Cache is an independent project by Leland Dutcher and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to TikTok, ByteDance, Instagram, Meta, YouTube, Google, or Spotify.
What stays on your machine (all of it, basically)
- Your sound library. Every sound you save, its metadata, artwork, transcript, and your notes are stored as plain files in a folder you choose. They never touch our servers.
- Your TikTok session. TikTok only serves a sound's audio to a logged-in browser, so the app keeps a one-time login locally to fetch on your behalf. That session is stored on your device with restrictive permissions and is never uploaded to us or anyone else.
- Your pairing code and settings. Stored in a private, locked-down config directory on your machine.
The relay: a link, briefly, then gone
To get a sound from your phone to your desktop, your phone hands a link (never your audio, never a file) to a small relay keyed to your personal pairing code. Here is the whole deal:
- The relay stores the submitted link only long enough for your desktop to pick it up, with a 24-hour time-to-live, then it expires.
- It holds a link and a pairing code. It does not hold your files, your library, your name, an email, or a profile of you.
- Submitted links are validated (http and https only; private, reserved, and cloud-metadata addresses are rejected) so the relay cannot be tricked into reaching internal systems.
- Server logs redact the actual URLs and never store your free-form notes. Request fields are length-limited and rate-limited to keep your inbox clean.
- You can stop the relay connection in one click from the app.
The leaderboard (optional, anonymous, off by default)
The app has an opt-in "hive mind" leaderboard that surfaces which sounds are trending among people who choose to share. If, and only if, you turn it on:
- It sends a sound id, a title, and a platform name for sounds you save. That is the entire payload.
- It sends no account (there isn't one), no device secret, no file paths, and nothing that identifies you.
- You can opt out again in one click, any time, in the app.
We are nosy about sounds, not about you.
This website
soundcache.io uses Simple Analytics, a privacy-first analytics service that does not use cookies, does not fingerprint you, respects your browser's Do Not Track setting, and does not build a cross-site profile. The "Get a sound" tool resolves TikTok links in your own browser and the audio is fetched by the app on your own machine, so nothing you paste is uploaded to us.
What we never do
- We do not sell, rent, or trade your data. There is essentially no data to sell.
- We do not run advertising trackers or third-party ad networks.
- We do not require an account, an email, or a phone number to use the app.
- We do not read your library, your notes, or your TikTok session. They stay on your device.
Children
Sound Cache is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Because the app collects essentially no personal information from anyone, this rarely comes up, but if you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will address it.
Your choices
Because your data lives on your own machine, you are always in control: delete the app's folder and it is gone. Turn the leaderboard off and nothing leaves your computer. Stop the relay and the phone-to-desktop handoff ends. If you are in a region with data rights (GDPR, CCPA, and similar), note that we hold no account and no personal profile to export or erase; the relay's brief link storage expires on its own within 24 hours.
Changes
If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we will update the effective date above and post the new version here. Continued use after an update means you accept it.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email leland@lelanddutcher.com.
See also: Terms of Use.
