dBLog - Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 20, 2026

Overview

dBLog ("the App") is a noise complaint documentation tool that measures sound levels, logs incidents, and generates reports. Your privacy is important to us. This policy explains what data the App collects and how it is used.

Data Collection

dBLog sends no personal data to the developer. It shares data with third parties only as described below: Google AdMob for ads, your phone's address lookup when it turns a location into a street address, and OpenStreetMap's map servers when the Site Map draws a street map.

Specifically:

• No analytics - We use no analytics service. The AdMob SDK performs ad tracking as described under Third-Party Services.
• Limited network use - The app connects to the internet to load ads, to turn a location into a street address (see Location below), and to draw the street map on the Site Map (see Site Map Street Map below). The incidents, recordings, and photos it stores for you are not transmitted.
• No accounts - No sign-up or login is required.
• No cloud storage - All data stays on your device.

Data Stored on Your Device

The App stores the following data locally on your device only, in a SQLite database:

• Noise incidents - Date, time, decibel readings, severity level, and notes you enter about noise events.
• Audio recordings - Audio clips captured during noise measurement sessions, stored as .m4a files on your device.
• Location data - GPS coordinates and/or addresses you associate with incidents. Location is only captured when you explicitly log an incident, not continuously.
• Photos - Images you choose to attach as evidence to incidents.
• Calibration data - Microphone calibration settings for your device.
• App preferences - Your settings (theme, notification preferences).

This data never leaves your device unless you explicitly choose to export a report or share data using your device's share functionality.

Permissions

The App requests the following permissions:

• Microphone - Used to measure ambient sound levels in decibels and to record audio clips as evidence. Audio recordings are saved locally on your device alongside incident data. Audio is never transmitted to any server or third party.
• Location - Used to geo-tag noise incidents with your current location. Location is only read when you save an incident or a meter check, or tap to detect your city on the Ordinances screen; never in the background. The locations you save are stored locally only. To fill in a street address, the App asks your phone's built-in address lookup (Android's geocoder) to convert the coordinates; on most Android phones that lookup is a Google service, so those coordinates are sent to Google for the conversion. On iPhone and iPad the lookup is Apple's geocoding service, so the coordinates are sent to Apple instead. The Ordinances screen does the same when you tap to detect your city. You can turn off Auto-Detect Location in Settings and type an address yourself.
• Camera - Used to take photos to attach as evidence to noise incidents. Photos are stored locally on your device only.
• Photo Library - Used to select existing photos from your library to attach to incidents.

Site Map Street Map

When you open the Site Map with a signal, the App downloads street-map pictures (map tiles) for the area on screen from the OpenStreetMap Foundation's tile servers (tile.openstreetmap.org). Each request names the map square it needs, so it reveals the general area of the logs you are looking at, and, like any internet request, your IP address. The App does not send your logs, readings, recordings, photos or saved coordinates. Tiles are downloaded only for what is on screen and are kept on your phone for up to 7 days. Before loading tiles, the App reads a small settings file from griswoldlabs.com that names the map source; that request carries nothing about you beyond your IP address. Hide streets on the Site Map turns the street map off for that visit. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy.

Data Export

The App allows you to generate PDF reports of your logged incidents. When you choose to export or share a report, it is processed entirely on your device. The App does not transmit reports to any server. Sharing is handled by your device's native share functionality.

Advertising

The free version of dBLog displays advertisements provided by Google AdMob. AdMob may collect device identifiers and usage data to serve relevant ads. You can learn more about Google's data practices at Google Privacy Policy. The paid (Pro) version of dBLog contains no advertising.

Ads on iPhone and iPad. On iOS the ads are also served by Google AdMob, under Google's privacy policy. Before the first ad is requested, the app runs Google's consent step, which presents Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt asking whether the app may track you. If you do not allow tracking, or the prompt is not shown, iOS does not give the app or Google your device's advertising identifier (IDFA), and ads are not personalised using it. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

In-app purchases. Any purchase inside the app (such as the upgrade that removes ads) is handled by Google Play Billing on Android and by the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPad. Google or Apple processes the payment and keeps the record (Apple under Apple's Privacy Policy); the app only learns whether the purchase is active. We never see your payment details. Restoring a purchase checks your Google Play or App Store account.

Third-Party Services

The free version of dBLog uses Google AdMob for advertising. Street-address lookup uses your phone's built-in geocoder, which on most Android phones is a Google service and on iPhone and iPad is Apple's (see Location above). The Site Map's street map is loaded from OpenStreetMap's tile servers (see Site Map Street Map above). No other third-party services, SDKs, or APIs that collect user data are integrated into the App.

Children's Privacy

The App does not knowingly collect any information from children under 13. Note that the AdMob SDK collects device and advertising identifiers from all users, as described under Third-Party Services.

Data Deletion

All data is stored locally on your device. To delete all App data:

• Use the data management options within the App's Settings screen, or
• Clear the App data in your device's application settings, or
• Uninstall the App from your device.

Changes to This Policy

If we update this privacy policy, the changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at: [email protected]