A2Z Equalizer Privacy Policy
- Your sound profiles and settings stay on your phone. Profile names, slider settings and output choices are never uploaded.
- A2Z Equalizer does not use your microphone and never records or captures audio. It only changes sound through Android’s audio effects.
- It needs no account. It may show ads from Google AdMob (see section 8); apart from Google’s ad code it contains no third-party analytics or tracking code.
- Anonymous usage statistics and crash reports are sent only if you agree. You can turn them off and delete what was sent at any time in Settings.
1. Who we are
A2Z Equalizer is published by A2Z Gear (a2zgear.com), which is responsible for the data described here. You can contact us in the app under Settings → Send feedback.
2. What stays on your phone
- Your equalizer settings, saved profiles and their names, and which profile you chose for each output (speaker, Bluetooth, wired, USB).
- Your choices for automatic switching and the experimental modes.
You can export profiles to a file you choose; that file goes only where you save it. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data deletes everything.
To pick the right profile, the app asks Android which audio outputs are connected (for example “Bluetooth headphones”). This information is used on the phone only and is never sent to us, except the type of output (speaker, Bluetooth, wired, USB or other) in usage statistics if you agree to share them.
3. What is sent to our server
Always (needed for the app to work)
When the app opens, it may ask our server for current settings and whether a newer version is available. This request contains only the app’s version number; no identifier is sent.
Some screens may show our own banners. Their pictures are downloaded from our server (a2zgear.com) without any identifier and kept in the app’s cache. A banner made of HTML may also load pictures or content from another website, which then receives your IP address like any web page would. Tapping a banner opens its link in your browser.
Only if you agree to share usage statistics
When you first open A2Z Equalizer, you choose whether to share anonymous usage statistics. If you agree, the app sends:
| Data | What exactly | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Installation ID | A random code created on your phone. It is not linked to your name, account, phone number or any hardware identifier. Reinstalling the app or clearing its data creates a new one. | To count users and active installations without knowing who you are. |
| App and device facts | App version, Android version, phone manufacturer and model, a memory size range (for example “6–8 GB”), and what your phone’s audio effects support (number of equalizer bands; whether bass boost, loudness and dynamics processing exist). | To know which phones and Android versions to support and test. |
| Usage | When the app is opened and closed, which screens are viewed, turning the equalizer on or off, which built-in preset was chosen (custom profiles are counted only as “custom”), that a profile was saved (with its output type) or deleted, how many profiles were exported or imported, use of the test player, the type of audio output when it changes, the equalizer’s status (for example “working” or “not available”), switching modes on or off, and which of our banners (by number) you tapped. | To understand which features help people and where the equalizer does not work. |
| Crash and error reports | The type of error, the app code location where it happened, the app and Android version, and the time. Before sending, the app removes file paths, file names, web addresses, email addresses and long numbers from the report. | To find and fix bugs. |
| Your choice | When you agreed or declined, and which version of this policy you saw. | To respect and prove your choice. |
Usage statistics never include your profile names, the names of your Bluetooth or USB devices, other apps you use, audio, contacts, location, your advertising ID, or identifiers such as IMEI, serial number, MAC address or phone number.
Only if you send feedback
If you use Send feedback, we receive your message, the category you chose and the app version. We also receive your email address if you enter one; it is used only to reply to you. If you have agreed to share statistics and tick the option, we also receive your installation ID so we can look into a problem.
Network information
Like any website, our server receives your IP address when the app connects to it. We do not store IP addresses with your data and do not use them to work out where you are. For abuse protection we keep a scrambled (keyed hash) form for up to 2 days, and with feedback to block spam. Our web server’s standard access logs (IP address, time, address requested and app details) are kept for about 5 weeks for security and troubleshooting, then deleted.
4. How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Detailed usage events, sessions and crash reports | 90 days |
| Daily totals, and a record of the days each installation was active | 13 months |
| Installation ID with its app and device facts and consent history | Until you delete it, or 13 months after the app last connected |
| Feedback messages and any email address you gave | Up to 24 months |
| Web server access logs | About 5 weeks |
5. Your choices and rights
- Stop sharing: turn off Anonymous usage statistics in Settings. The app stops sending statistics and crash reports, deletes any still waiting on your phone, and tells our server.
- Delete what was sent: Settings → Delete my usage data from the server erases the statistics, crash reports and feedback linked to your installation ID, then gives the app a new random ID.
- Access or other requests: because we do not know who you are, we can usually only find your data using the installation ID shown to us through the app. Contact us using the details in section 1 and we will help as far as we can.
- Depending on where you live (for example in the EU, UK or California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict your data, to withdraw consent at any time, and to complain to a data protection authority.
6. Legal basis
We process usage statistics, crash reports and the installation ID on the basis of your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. We handle feedback to answer your request. Settings checks, abuse protection and security logs are based on our legitimate interest in running a safe, working service. Showing ads funds the free app; where required, personalised advertising relies on the consent you give in Google’s consent form.
7. Sharing
We do not sell the data we collect, share it with advertisers, or use it to build profiles. Our server is operated by us and is not used by any analytics company. (Google’s ad software collects its own data directly, as described in section 8.) Only our authorised team members can view the data in our administration panel, which is password-protected, locks after repeated failed sign-in attempts, and logs every action. We would disclose data only if required by law.
A2Z Equalizer is distributed through Google Play. Google’s own privacy policy covers what Google Play collects when you download and update apps.
8. Advertising
A2Z Equalizer may show ads to keep the app free. Ads are provided by Google AdMob, whose software inside the app (the Google Mobile Ads SDK) sends information directly to Google to choose, show and measure ads and to prevent fraud. According to Google, this can include your device’s advertising ID and app set ID, IP address (which Google may use to estimate a general location), device and app information, and your interactions with ads.
- Your profiles never reach advertisers. A2Z Equalizer does not share its own usage statistics with Google or any advertiser.
- Consent: where the law requires it (for example in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland), Google’s consent form asks for your choice before ads are personalised or certain data is used. You can change it at any time under Settings → Ad privacy choices.
- Personalised ads: you can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ads personalisation, in your phone’s Android settings (Privacy → Ads, or Google → Ads).
- Ads never appear on the welcome and privacy screens, the feedback screen or the update screen.
Google acts as an independent controller for this data. See How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Google’s Privacy Policy.
9. Permissions A2Z Equalizer uses
| Permission | Used for |
|---|---|
| Change audio settings | Using Android’s audio effects (equalizer, bass boost, loudness) on supported audio. It does not give the app access to what you listen to. |
| Internet | Checking for updates and settings, sending statistics, crash reports and feedback as described above, and loading ads. |
| Advertising ID | Used only by Google’s ad software, as described in section 8. A2Z Equalizer itself never reads or sends it. |
A2Z Equalizer does not request access to your microphone, files, contacts, location, camera, SMS, call log or accessibility services, and it does not capture or record audio.
10. Security
All connections use encryption (HTTPS). The server only accepts specific, limited kinds of data and rejects anything else, such as unexpected text that could contain personal details. Access to our database and administration panel is restricted and protected.
11. Children
A2Z Equalizer is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has sent us feedback containing personal details, contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes
If we change what data we collect, we will update this page, its version number and its effective date. If a change would send new kinds of usage data, we will ask for your choice again in the app before collecting it.