MuseGroup, the owner of the open source audio editor Audacity, published an updated privacy policy and an apology today. The company became the owner of the Audacity repository back in May 2021 and has stumbled from one PR catastrophe to the next since then.
It started with the plan to introduce Telemetry in the open source editor. Audacity is an offline program for various platforms, and Muse Group suggested that Telemtry, which would be opt-in, would help focus development.
The plans to introduce Telemetry were dropped after Muse Group was criticized for the plan. Audacity would still contain an option to provide error reports, but users would be in command of the sending.
A Privacy Notice published in the beginning of July started the next controversy. It listed information that Audacity might collect, e.g. when the built-in automatic updating functionality is used.
Muse Group tried to clarify the newly published privacy policy and admitted back then that some phrases were unclear.
Today, Muse Group published an update to the privacy policy and an apology on the official Audacity GitHub repository. The updated privacy policy of Audacity is available on the official site.
The update addresses the main points of criticism leveled against the previous version of the privacy policy.
In particular, the following points are changed:
- The provision that discourages users that are younger than 13 years to use Audacity has been removed.
- The purpose of the error reporting and update checking functionality is explained.
- The full IP address is never stored (either truncated before hashed, or discarded).
- The "collecting personal data for law enforcement" paragraph makes it clear that no additional data is collected.
The following table was published on the Audacity website:
| Network feature | Data collected | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Check for updates | • User-Agent string (Audacity version, OS name and version) • Country from IP address |
Audacity will periodically check to see if a new version of the application is available.
This feature is on by default. We provide clear links to disable it when the app is first opened. |
| Error reports | • Basic technical data (CPU info, Audacity version, OS name and version) • Error codes • Stack trace |
If a serious error occurs in Audacity, you are shown the relevant information and given the option to send it or not sent it to us as a report.
We use this information to help us detect serious issues and fix them quickly. |
Closing Words
It remains to be seen if the revised Privacy Policy and apology will result in a calming down of the entire situation. A potential next issue, concerning a Muse Group employee, is currently being discussed on Twitter and elsewhere.
Now You: what is your take on the revised policy and apology?
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