Privacy Policy
The Acoustic Guitarist has no accounts and no sign-up. The tuner's microphone audio is analysed inside your browser and is never recorded, stored or sent anywhere, and your settings (such as left-handed view or last tuning) are saved only in your own browser.
Summary
| What | What happens to it |
|---|---|
| Microphone (tuner) | Used only after you press Start and allow it. Analysed in your browser, never recorded or uploaded |
| Songs you analyse (key finder, BPM finder) | Files, microphone and browser-tab audio are analysed in your browser. Never uploaded or stored |
| Sounds you play (chords, scales, reference tones) | Generated in your browser. Nothing is sent |
| Your settings | Saved in your browser’s local storage on your device only |
| Accounts, forms, payments | None on this site |
| Cookies | Google Analytics cookies only if you accept them in the cookie banner; none otherwise |
| Server logs | Kept by the hosting provider for security and operation (see below) |
| Analytics | Umami (cookieless page and tool-use counts); Google Analytics only with your consent |
| Ads | None at present; this policy will be updated before any are added |
The tuner and your microphone
The guitar tuner asks your browser for microphone access only when you press Start. Your browser shows its own permission prompt, and you can refuse it; the tuner then still offers reference tones to tune by ear.
When you allow it, the audio is processed in your browser’s memory to measure the pitch of the string you play. The site does not record the audio, does not save it and does not send it to any server. Processing stops when you stop the tuner or leave the page. You can withdraw the permission at any time in your browser’s site settings.
The song key finder and BPM finder
The song key finder and BPM finder work out the key and tempo of a song entirely inside your browser, whichever way you give them the audio:
- An audio file you drop or choose is read from your device into the browser’s memory. It is not uploaded; the page has no upload function and makes no network request with your audio.
- Listen with the microphone asks your browser for permission when you press Listen, and listens for about 20 seconds.
- Listen to a browser tab (desktop Chrome and Edge) asks you to pick a tab in your browser’s own sharing dialog. Only that tab’s sound is used; the picture of the tab is ignored.
The audio is analysed in memory and discarded when the result appears, when you press Stop or when you leave the page. It is never recorded to disk, stored or sent to any server. The result (for example #key=Bm&bpm=96) goes into the page address only so you can copy a link to it; a link contains the result, not the audio.
Settings saved in your browser
Some pages remember your choices so you do not have to set them again, for example left-handed view, note labels, the last tuning you used, the A4 reference pitch, a capo position or a tempo. These are saved in your browser’s local storage, under names starting with tag., on your device only. The site cannot read them from its server, and they are never sent anywhere. Clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
Sound
Chord strums, scale notes and reference tones are synthesised in your browser when you tap. No audio files are downloaded on page load.
Hosting and server logs
The site is a set of static pages. When your browser requests a page, the hosting provider’s servers receive standard technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and the page requested. This is needed to deliver the page and protect the service from abuse.
The site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages by Cloudflare, Inc. Cloudflare processes this request data to deliver the pages and to protect the site from attacks, and keeps it only as long as its own policy allows. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy. The site itself does not keep server logs of your visits.
Analytics
The site uses two analytics services to see which pages and tools are used, so they can be improved.
Umami counts page views, referrers, the device type, browser, the country and the use of tools (for example “tuner started” or “metronome started”). It sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device. Your IP address is used only to work out the country and, combined with the browser details, to tell visits apart within a month; the address itself is not stored. Umami runs on a server operated for this site, through the address /a/ on this site, and the data is not shared with anyone. It respects your browser’s Do Not Track setting.
Google Analytics 4 (Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC) runs only if you press Accept in the cookie banner. It then sets cookies (_ga, ga*) that last up to 2 years and measures the same kinds of things in more detail, including returning visits. Advertising features and ad personalisation are off. If you press Reject, or never answer, Google Analytics is not loaded at all. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page. Google’s policy: How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
Advertising
The site does not currently show ads. Before ads are switched on, this section will name the ad network, explain the cookies it may use and link its privacy policy, and visitors in the EU, EEA and UK will be asked for consent first.
Affiliate links
The site does not currently use affiliate links. If they are added, this section will say so: clicking one may let the retailer know you came from this site, and the retailer’s own privacy policy then applies.
Emails you send
If you email the site, your address and message are used only to reply to you. They are not added to a mailing list or shared, and are deleted within 12 months of the last message in the conversation.
Children
The site does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children. It has no accounts or forms.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU and UK, or state laws in the US), you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal data held about you, and to object to its use. Because the site holds almost no personal data, most requests will concern emails you have sent. Contact the site through the contact page.
The data controller is The Acoustic Guitarist (theacousticguitarist.com), run by its editorial team in Finland. Contact: hello@theacousticguitarist.com. If you are not satisfied with an answer, you can complain to your local data protection authority; in Finland that is the Data Protection Ombudsman (tietosuoja.fi).
Changes to this policy
When this policy changes in substance, the date below is updated. Material changes, such as adding ads or analytics, will be made here before they take effect.
Last updated: 6 November 2026.