SoundGuessr Play the beta

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 12 October 2026

1. Controller

This policy explains which personal data SoundGuessr processes when you visit www.soundguessr.com, play the web game at soundguessr.com/play (open beta) or use the SoundGuessr iPhone app (in testing). The web game and the iPhone app use the same accounts and the same game server.

The controller responsible for this processing is:

Simon Noack
Germany

Email: info@soundguessr.com

Further details are in the Impressum.

2. Overview

  • Website and web game: run on the same server as the game (below), at www.soundguessr.com. The web game runs in your browser and exchanges data with the game server. The map on the homepage also loads its list of places from the game server.
  • Game server: the game's API, its PostgreSQL database and uploaded files (audio and profile photos) run on a server we rent from Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany). The server is in Hetzner's data centre in Helsinki, Finland (EU), at api.soundguessr.com. The same server also holds the database for the email list for the iPhone app (section 14) and for the optional website analytics (section 13).
  • Email delivery: Apple (iCloud Mail) sends the emails for the iPhone app email list.
  • OpenFreeMap: map tiles for the maps on the website and in the web game (section 11).
  • Apple: maps and place names in the iPhone app (sections 8 and 11).

We do not sell personal data. We do not show ads, and we do not use third-party analytics or advertising trackers.

3. Your account

You need an account for most of the game; the Daily five can be played without one (see below). When you sign up, the game server first keeps your sign-up for up to 7 days: your email address (encrypted), your password as a bcrypt hash, and a link and a six-digit code, each stored only as a hash. We email you the link and the code. Your account is created when you open the link or enter the code; sign-ups that aren't confirmed within 7 days are deleted. For your account the game server stores:

  • your username (3 to 30 characters), which other players can see (section 5)
  • your email address, which you can use to sign in and which we use to contact you about your account
  • your password, stored only as a bcrypt hash. We cannot read your password.
  • the date you created the account and the date your profile was last changed
  • whether your profile is public or private (public by default)
  • whether the account has admin rights
  • your profile photo, if you add one

The Daily five and Daily sounds without an account: your guesses are sent to the game server, scored and not stored there. Your browser keeps your rounds of the day (section 13), so the website can show them until the next day's games. To slow down abuse, the server counts these requests per IP address in its memory (section 12).

Profile photo: adding a photo is optional. Before uploading it, the web game and the iPhone app redraw the photo as a JPEG image of at most 1024 pixels per side. This removes the data stored in the photo file (EXIF), such as the place where the photo was taken. The server stores the image it receives and deletes the previous photo when you change or remove it. Anyone who knows the address of the image file can open it; the file name is random.

Signing in: when you sign in, the server issues a sign-in token that is valid for 30 days. The web game keeps the token, your user ID, username and email address in your browser's localStorage under the key soundguessr.session. Signing out deletes it. The iPhone app keeps the token in the iOS Keychain on your device.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(b), providing the game you signed up for.

Retention: until you delete your account (section 17).

4. Game data

When you play, the game server stores:

  • for each game: the mode (for example the daily challenge or a category), when it started and finished, and your score
  • for each round: your guess (a position on the map or the answer you picked), the distance to the correct place, whether the guess was correct, your points and the time you took. In category rounds, the wrong answers you picked before the round ended are stored as well.
  • if you rate how hard a round's sound was (optional): your rating (easy, medium or hard) for that sound. The player who uploaded it sees how many players chose each rating, not who. Ratings are kept until you delete your account.

Your daily streak, your statistics and your scores on the Scores page are calculated from these games. You can delete all your games with Reset stats in Profile. This does not affect the sounds you uploaded.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(b).

Retention: until you reset your stats or delete your account.

5. What other players can see

  • Scores: if your profile is public, other signed-in players see your username, profile photo, rank and score in the daily challenge rankings for today and for the current week, and in today's ranking also your points per round. If your profile is private, your name is not listed for other players, but your score still counts towards the ranks and the number of players.
  • Statistics: if your profile is public, signed-in players can also request your overall statistics from the game server, for example the number of games you played and your average score.
  • Your sounds: after a round with a sound you uploaded, players see the credit "Recorded by" followed by your username. This credit is shown even if your profile is private (section 6).
  • Your guesses: players who uploaded a sound see how often it was played, how far away the guesses were and the share of close guesses. Once a sound has been played at least 5 times in map rounds, they also see where players guessed, rounded to a grid of 0.5 degrees of latitude and longitude. They do not see who guessed.

6. Sounds you upload

You can upload your own recordings: in the web game as a file, in the iPhone app by recording in the app. For each sound, the game server stores:

  • the audio. The server re-encodes every upload to AAC (m4a). This removes all other data stored in the file, such as a GPS position, names or cover art. The original file is deleted after re-encoding.
  • a SHA-256 checksum of the original file, so the same file cannot be uploaded twice
  • the place name you entered
  • the map position, if you set one: the point you picked on the map, or the position of your device if you used "Use my location" in the web game or recorded with location access in the iPhone app. The position is stored as received, without rounding.
  • your note and category tags (for example a bird or a language), if you add them
  • your account, the time of the upload and the file size

Who can see it:

  • Before anyone else hears it, an admin of SoundGuessr listens to the sound and checks its place, tags and note. If it isn't approved, you see the reason under Sounds; it stays stored until you delete it.
  • Once approved, the sound is played to other players in game rounds. After a round, they see the place name, the map position and the credit "Recorded by" followed by your username.
  • For sounds used in map rounds, the game server publishes a list with the place name and the map position rounded to about 11 km. It contains no link to the audio, no note and nothing that identifies your account. Anyone can retrieve this list without signing in. The homepage and the Play page show these places on a map.

Treat the place name and the map position as public: after a round, players see the exact position you set. If you record at home, the position of your home becomes visible. Do not upload recordings from places whose position you do not want to share.

A sound from a video: the video is not uploaded. Your browser or the iPhone app takes its sound and one frame you choose as a photo, and only those are sent, with the place. The server encodes the photo again, which removes all data stored in it (such as a GPS position or the camera). Before it is stored, the map position is moved to a random point within 500 m of the one you set, or within about 10 m if you choose "More exact"; the exact point is not stored. An admin checks the photo with the sound before approving it. Once approved, the photo is shown to players with a sound of their own in the game who open it as a hint in a map round, through a link that works for an hour. Do not choose a frame with faces or number plates up close, and do not use "More exact" at or near your home. Deleting the sound deletes the photo.

Each account can upload a limited number of sounds per day.

Deleting a sound: you can delete your sounds in the web game and in the iPhone app. This deletes the sound, its audio file, its tags and the reports about it from the server and takes it out of the game. Rounds that players have already played keep their results, including the place name, the map position and the credit shown in that round. The audio is no longer available.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(b). If you share your device location, this is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), which you give in your browser or on your iPhone and can withdraw there at any time. A position that is already saved with a sound stays until you delete the sound.

Retention: until you delete the sound or your account, or until we remove the sound (see the Terms).

7. Reports

After a round, players can report a sound, for example if the answer is wrong or the sound is offensive. We store the reason, an optional note (up to 500 characters), the account that reported it and the time. The player who uploaded the sound sees the number of open reports and their reasons, but not who reported it. A sound with 3 open reports from different players is taken out of new games until we have reviewed it. We then either dismiss the reports or remove the sound.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(f). Our legitimate interest is to keep wrong or unlawful sounds out of the game.

Retention: until the sound is removed or the account that reported it is deleted.

8. Location

  • Upload page (web game): your browser asks for your location only when you click "Use my location". The position then sets the pin on the map.
  • Place name suggestion (web game): when you set a pin on the upload page, by clicking the map or with "Use my location", the web game sends the position to our game server, which suggests a place name from an offline copy of the GeoNames database. No other service is contacted. The position is only stored if you upload the sound.
  • Play page (web game): if you have already allowed location access for soundguessr.com, the Play page reads your position to tell you whether anyone has recorded near you. This is calculated in your browser, and the position is not sent to the server. The Play page never asks for location access.
  • iPhone app: the app uses your location while the recording screen is open, to place the sound. The suggested place name comes from Apple's geocoding service, so Apple receives this position. The app's Play screen uses your position only if you have already allowed location access, and only on your device, to tell you whether anyone has recorded near you.

You can withdraw location access at any time in your browser or in the iPhone settings.

9. Feedback

You can send us feedback from the web game. We store your message, your account, the page you were on, the client ("web"), your browser's user-agent string and the time. We use feedback only to improve the game.

If you delete your account, your messages are deleted with it. Otherwise we delete feedback when we no longer need it to improve the game, or earlier if you ask us to.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(b) for your message. For the page and browser information, Art. 6(1)(f): our legitimate interest is to find and fix problems.

10. Messages on the Play page

We can publish a message that is shown at the top of the Play page. These messages contain no personal data of players. When you close a message, the web game stores its ID in localStorage (soundguessr.dismissedAnnouncement) so that it stays closed. The iPhone app stores it in the app's settings on your device.

11. Maps

Website and web game: the maps on the homepage and in the web game load map tiles and map styles from the OpenFreeMap project (tiles.openfreemap.org, openfreemap.org). Your browser connects to these servers directly, so OpenFreeMap receives your IP address, information about your browser and which parts of the map are loaded. On the homepage, the map loads when you scroll to it.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(f). Our legitimate interest is to show the maps the game needs.

iPhone app: the app uses Apple Maps (MapKit). Apple receives the map requests from the app. Apple's privacy policy applies: apple.com/legal/privacy.

12. Security, server logs and rate limits

Connections to the website and to the game server are encrypted with HTTPS. No method of transmission over the internet or of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Game server logs: the game server logs each request with its method, path, status code and duration. It does not log IP addresses. Errors are logged with the request path and the error message. The web server in front of the game server (nginx) writes no access log for it, but its error log can contain the IP address of a request that failed. The error log is rotated daily and kept for 14 days; the game server's own log keeps at most about 50 MB of recent entries.

Activity log: to run the game and find problems, the game server keeps a log of account and content activity: when an account is created, confirms its email address, asks for or completes a password reset, or is deleted; when sounds are uploaded, reviewed or reported (with the report reason); when feedback is sent; when our account emails are sent or fail; and the server's own warnings and errors. Each entry names the account by its number only. It contains no IP address, no email address and nothing you wrote. Only our admin can see it. Entries are deleted after 90 days, also those of deleted accounts; copies in the backups expire 14 days later. Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(f). Our legitimate interest is to run the service safely and find problems.

Rate limits: to slow down password guessing and abuse, the game server counts sign-up, sign-in and account deletion attempts per IP address, and place name lookups and feedback messages per account. The website counts submissions of the email form for the iPhone app and clicks on the links in our emails per IP address, and the game server counts requests to the Daily five and Daily sounds without an account per IP address. These counters are kept only in the server's memory and are not saved in a database or a log.

Website: the web server in front of the website (nginx) writes no access log. Its error log can contain the IP address of a request that failed; it is rotated daily and kept for 14 days.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(f). Our legitimate interest is to run the website and the game securely and to find errors.

13. Cookies, browser storage and website analytics

Cookies are small pieces of data stored in your browser. Websites can also store data in your browser's localStorage and sessionStorage. We show a consent banner before loading optional analytics. You can accept or decline.

Storage that is always used

The following entries are needed for functions you use. They do not require consent (Section 25(2) no. 2 of the German TDDDG) and are not used for tracking.

  • soundguessr_cookie_consent (cookie): your choice in the consent banner (accept or decline), for up to 12 months. The banner script stores the same choice in the cookie cookieconsent_status, also for up to 12 months.
  • lang (cookie): the language you chose on the site, English or German, for up to one year. It is set only when you pick a language in the language switcher (in the footer or in your profile settings). Without it, the site follows your browser's language.
  • soundguessr.session (localStorage): your sign-in for the web game (section 3), until you sign out.
  • soundguessr.dismissedAnnouncement (localStorage): the ID of the last message you closed on the Play page (section 10).
  • soundguessr.guestDaily (localStorage): your rounds of the Daily five when you play without an account (section 3): the places, your guesses and your points. It is replaced by the next day's game and removed on your next visit after that day.
  • soundguessr.guestSoundDaily (localStorage): your rounds of Daily sounds when you play without an account (section 3): the sounds' answers, your guesses and your points. It is replaced by the next day's game and removed on your next visit after that day.
  • soundguessr.mapDifficulty (localStorage): the difficulty you chose for "On the map" (relaxed, standard or strict), until you change it.
  • soundguessr.autoplay (localStorage): whether sounds start by themselves in a game (the Autoplay switch), until you change it.
  • soundguessr.playSection (localStorage): which game you last opened on Play and Scores ("Find the place" or "Name the sound"), until you change it.

Only if you accept analytics, the website also stores soundguessr_attribution in sessionStorage: the first page you opened in this browser tab, the referring website and the UTM parameters of the link you used. This entry stays in your browser. It is only sent to us if you submit the email form for the iPhone app (section 14). Your browser deletes it when you close the tab. Without analytics consent, the form sends the same details for the page you submit it from instead.

Optional analytics

If you click Accept, we collect usage events on our own infrastructure (stored in our database on our server at Hetzner). We do not use Google Analytics or other third-party analytics scripts. To count unique visitors, we then store a random session ID in sessionStorage (soundguessr_analytics_session), which your browser deletes when you close the tab. Analytics does not store your email address.

We may record:

  • Pages viewed, including pages of the web game, and SvelteKit routes (including in-app navigation)
  • Referring website (if your browser sends it)
  • UTM campaign parameters from the URL
  • Browser, operating system and device type (from the browser's user-agent)
  • A daily visitor hash (derived from IP + user-agent + date; we do not store raw IP addresses in analytics)
  • Custom events, for example when the email form is submitted

We filter known bots and do not merge analytics with the email addresses on the email list.

Legal basis (GDPR): your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). To withdraw your consent, use "Cookie settings" at the bottom of any page (or delete the cookies for soundguessr.com in your browser). The banner then appears again and you can decline. If you decline, the site and the game still work; only the optional usage statistics are disabled.

Retention: analytics events are kept for up to 24 months, then deleted or aggregated.

14. Email list for the iPhone app

On the website you can enter your email address to get one email when the iPhone app is released. After you sign up, we send you a welcome email. We store your email address, the time you signed up, your status (for example signed up or unsubscribed), a token for the unsubscribe link, and records of which of these emails we sent you and whether delivery failed. We do not sell your email address.

To understand which links bring signups, we also store:

  • UTM parameters from the link you used (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign)
  • The page you first opened on our site (landing_page)
  • The referring website URL, if your browser sends it (referrer)

This attribution data is linked to your email address only because you submitted the form. It is not merged with analytics data.

Clicks on the links in our emails: the links in our emails lead through our website (www.soundguessr.com/go/…), which counts how often each link was clicked, per email and day, and then forwards you. It does not record who clicked: no email address, no IP address, no cookie and no ID in the link. If you create a game account after following such a link, the website sends the name of the email with the sign-up and the game adds one to a counter for that email. This count is not stored with your account. Our emails contain no tracking images, so we don't know whether you opened them. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in knowing whether our emails are useful (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

The data is stored in our database on our server at Hetzner. The emails are sent through Apple's iCloud Mail.

Legal basis (GDPR): your consent when you submit the form (Art. 6(1)(a)).

Retention: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your data. After you unsubscribe, we keep your entry marked as unsubscribed so that we do not email you again, unless you ask for full deletion.

You can unsubscribe at any time with the link in our emails or by writing to info@soundguessr.com. This withdraws your consent. The email list is separate from game accounts: deleting your game account does not remove you from the list.

15. Contact by email

The contact form on the website opens your email program with your message. It does not send anything to our server. When you email us, we use your email address and your message to answer you.

Legal basis (GDPR): Art. 6(1)(b) if your message is about your account or the game, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f): our legitimate interest is to answer messages.

Retention: until your request has been dealt with, unless the law requires us to keep it longer.

16. iPhone app permissions

The iPhone app asks for these permissions:

  • Microphone: only while you record a sound to add to the game
  • Location (while using the app): to mark where a sound was recorded (section 8)
  • Photo library: to choose a profile photo

You can change these permissions at any time in the iPhone settings. The app contains no analytics or advertising software from third parties.

17. Deleting your account and your data

You can delete your account in Profile, in the web game or in the iPhone app. You need to enter your password. This immediately deletes from the game server, in a single step (if something goes wrong, nothing is deleted and you can try again):

  • your account: username, email address, password hash and profile settings
  • your profile photo
  • all your games and rounds
  • all sounds you uploaded, with their audio files, tags and the reports about them
  • the reports you made
  • the feedback messages you sent us

Your sounds stop playing in the game and you no longer appear on Scores. Games that other players already played with your sounds stay in their history with their results, including the place name and map position you gave each sound; the credit there changes from your username to "Recorded by a former player". The audio files are deleted. Entries about your account in the activity log (section 12) stay until they are 90 days old; they name the account by its number only. Copies in the game server's backups disappear when the backups expire (section 18).

After deletion, your sign-in token no longer works. The email list for the iPhone app is separate; to leave it, use the unsubscribe link. You can also ask us by email to delete your account or other data: info@soundguessr.com.

18. Data retention (summary)

  • Account: until you delete it
  • Games: until you reset your stats or delete your account
  • Uploaded sounds: until you delete them or your account, or until we remove them
  • Reports: until the sound is removed or the account that reported it is deleted
  • Feedback: until we no longer need it, or earlier if you ask; deleted together with your account
  • Game server logs: until they are overwritten; the server keeps at most about 50 MB of recent entries per service
  • Activity log: 90 days (section 12)
  • Backups of the game server: database copies for 14 days, copies of the audio files for two weeks, stored on the same server. Data you delete disappears from the backups when they expire.
  • Rate limit counters: only in the server's memory
  • Email list: until you unsubscribe or ask for deletion (entry marked as unsubscribed after unsubscribe unless you request erasure)
  • Analytics (if consented): event data in our database, up to 24 months
  • Consent cookies: up to 12 months
  • Website server logs: no access log; the error log is kept for 14 days

19. Service providers and transfers outside the EU

These providers process data on our behalf: Hetzner Online GmbH (the server for the website, the web game and the game, in Finland) and Apple (iCloud Mail, for sending emails). We use data processing agreements where required.

Apple may process email data in the USA. Apple Inc. is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, for which the European Commission has adopted an adequacy decision (Art. 45 GDPR). Everything else stays in the EU.

20. Children

SoundGuessr is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you are under 16, you may only create an account with the consent of a parent or guardian where the law of your country requires it. If you are a parent or guardian and learn that your child under 13 has given us personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

21. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

  • access the personal data we hold about you (Art. 15)
  • have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16)
  • have your data deleted (Art. 17)
  • restrict the processing of your data (Art. 18)
  • receive your data in a common, machine-readable format (Art. 20)
  • object to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f), for reasons arising from your particular situation (Art. 21)
  • withdraw your consent at any time, with effect for the future (Art. 7(3))

To exercise these rights, email us at info@soundguessr.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77), for example in the EU country where you live or in the German federal state where we are based. A list of the German authorities is available from the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/.

22. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the game or the way we process data changes. We post the new version on this page and update the date at the top. Changes are effective when they are posted on this page.

23. Contact

If you have questions about this policy, please contact us at info@soundguessr.com or at the address in section 1.