Privacy policy
Last updated 20 October 2026
Encore Audio is made by Winston Joseph-Ward, trading as Encore Audio, in England ("we", "us"). This policy covers the Encore Audio server for Windows, the Encore Audio app for Android, and this website. If you have any question about it, email contact@encoreaudio.co.uk.
The short version
- Encore Audio has no adverts, no analytics and no tracking. We don't sell or share data.
- Your music library, playlists, settings and listening history stay on your own devices. We never receive them.
- Encore only contacts other services to do things you've asked for, such as looking up album artwork or playing a radio station.
The Encore Audio server (Windows)
Stored on your PC only: your library database (track details, artwork, sound measurements), settings, playlists, radio favourites, a log file, and the names of the phones and tablets you've paired (with a secure fingerprint of each one's access key).
Services it contacts:
- MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and the Cover Art Archive: album and artist names, to fetch album details, biographies and artwork. You can turn this off in Settings.
- radio-browser.info: your searches in the Radio section, to list stations. Radio stations themselves, when you play one.
- ipify.org: only when you use "Away from home", to find your home's public internet address.
- Your router (on your own network): only if you ask Encore to open a port for remote access.
Like any internet request, these services see your public IP address. Each has its own privacy policy.
The Encore Audio app (Android)
Stored on your device only: the connection to your Encore server (its address and an access key), your settings and sound settings, headphone profiles you've chosen, and any albums you download for offline listening.
What it connects to: your own Encore server, at home or (if you turn on remote access) over the internet, encrypted. It also fetches headphone correction profiles from the public AutoEQ project on GitHub when you choose one.
Permissions it asks for, and why:
- Music and audio files: only if you choose to play music stored on the device itself.
- Notifications: to show playback controls and download progress.
- Nearby devices (Bluetooth): to show which Bluetooth codec your headphones are using, such as LDAC.
- Network access and Wi-Fi multicast: to find Encore on your home network and stream from it.
- Audio settings: to set up a USB DAC's output format when you turn that option on.
- Running in the background: so music keeps playing and downloads finish with the screen off.
The app contains no advertising, analytics or crash-reporting services, and collects no personal data.
This website
This site uses no cookies, analytics or tracking. It's hosted by GitHub Pages, which, like any web host, records technical information such as IP addresses to deliver and protect the site; see GitHub's privacy statement. Downloads are served by GitHub too.
When you email us
If you email us (for example with beta feedback), we keep your email and anything you attach, such as logs, to reply to you and improve Encore Audio. We delete it when it's no longer needed, and don't use it for anything else.
Purchases
Encore Audio is free during the beta. When licences go on sale, payment will be handled by a specialist payment provider, and this policy will be updated to explain what that involves before any sale is made.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Email contact@encoreaudio.co.uk. If you're unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Children
Encore Audio isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect data from them.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.