Your measurements stay yours.

Who we are

SPL Reference is provided by Direct Sound Records Ltd, company number 16356420, registered at 28 Parry Road, London, England, SE25 6RJ. Questions about this policy can be sent through our contact page.

At a glance

• No account is required to use SPL Reference.
• We do not use third-party advertising or cross-app tracking.
• Measurements, projects, notes, calibration records and reports are stored locally unless you choose to export or contribute them.
• Public contribution is optional, reviewed field by field, and never automatic.

Information handled on your device

Microphone and audio measurements

SPL Reference uses microphone input to calculate sound-level and frequency information. Measurement results and related evidence are stored locally. Event audio is captured only when that feature is explicitly enabled.

Projects, notes, calibration and reports

Project names, session notes, microphone profiles, input-path evidence, calibration records and generated reports remain on your device unless you choose to export or share them.

Photographs and camera

Camera and photo-library access is used only when you choose to attach survey photographs or calibration evidence. Source photographs remain local unless you expressly include a rendered derivative in a public contribution or export.

Location

Location access is optional and requested only while using the app when you choose location-related evidence. Precise coordinates are not included in the public contribution record.

Preferences and entitlement state

The app stores settings, free-tier usage, contribution receipts and interface preferences locally. Apple processes purchases and restore requests under Apple’s own privacy terms; SPL Reference receives entitlement status but not your payment-card details.

Optional public contributions

If you choose Contribute Measurement, the app builds a separate public record and shows it for review before anything is sent. You choose the public title, general location fields, notes, attribution options and whether an eligible photograph is included. You must also authorise publication under the stated data licence.

A contribution can include reviewed sound-level results, measurement time and duration, environment category, non-precise location text, selected technical metadata, optional public notes, optional attribution and an optional metadata-stripped image derivative.

Public contributions do not include precise GPS coordinates, private project identifiers or names, excluded notes or photographs, source photo paths, Apple IDs, email addresses, contacts or account identifiers. Published contributions become openly accessible through the SPL Reference Public Measurement Library and its GitHub repository.

Network services and logs

The app connects to Apple for in-app purchase services and may connect to Direct Sound Records infrastructure when you submit an optional public contribution. The public library is hosted by GitHub Pages. These providers may process ordinary network information such as IP address, request time, device/browser information and security logs under their own terms.

SPL Reference does not include third-party advertising SDKs and does not sell personal information.

Retention and deletion

Local records remain until you delete them in the app or remove the app and its data. Exported files are controlled by the destination you choose.

Because accepted public contributions are deliberately published as open records and may be replicated through GitHub, complete removal from every copy cannot be guaranteed. To request correction or removal from the maintained public library, contact us with the public measurement ID. We will assess the request while preserving required legal, security and data-integrity records.

Your choices and rights

You can deny or revoke microphone, camera, photo-library and location permissions in iOS Settings. You can use the app without making a public contribution. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to processing of personal information. Contact us to exercise those rights.

Children and international access

SPL Reference is a technical measurement tool and is not directed to children. Public GitHub records and service providers may be accessed or operated internationally, with safeguards determined by the relevant provider and applicable law.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app or legal requirements change. The effective date above identifies the current version. Material changes will be reflected on this page.