Some users have accused Audacity of being spyware after recent changes to its privacy policy. Open-source software now collects user data to "app analytics", "improving our application" and "for legal enforcement."Muse Group acquired Audacity in April. The company also owns Ultimate Guitar, and the notation app MuseScore. Foss Post reported that Muse Group collects information about users' operating systems, country, processor and country. This is based on IP addresses, crash reports, non-fatal error codes, and messages. According to the policy processing this data is in the "legitimate interests" of the company to "offer and ensure the proper functioning” of the app.It collects data on law enforcement purposes, but this is less clear. Muse Group will collect "data necessary to law enforcement, litigation, and authorities' requests (if applicable)." It can share personal data with any competent law enforcement agency, regulatory, government agency or court where disclosure is required. Potential buyers may also have access to data.Servers in the European Economic Area (EEA) store personal data of users. Muse Group may "occasionally" need to share personal data with its main office in Russia or our US counsel. Muse Group stated that personal data that is transferred outside of the EEA to countries not deemed appropriate by the European Commission receives adequate protection according to [the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation].According to the policy, IP addresses of users are stored in an identifiable manner for one day before being hashed. This leaves users open for government data requests or law enforcement to identify them.Other points in the privacy policy raised eyebrows, such as a ban on Audacity use by children under 13. Foss Post points out that this violates the license under whose Audacity is distributed. Software use is not allowed to be restricted by the General Public License. Engadget reached out to Muse Group for comments.Audacity users who respect their privacy and those who allow pre-teens to play with the audio in the app are not forgotten. Some users are calling for a fork, which is a new version that uses the source code. It would not be surprising for the community to move Audacity in this direction.Privacy-conscious users may want to look for alternative software or block Audacity's access to the internet until that fork arrives. It's a desktop application that doesn't offer any online functions.
