Privacy Policy
Scope
This policy applies to the Kindred Code website and to all Kindred Code apps for iPhone, or on any other devices or platforms.
Access
Your privacy is critically important to us, and we believe private information is a liability, not an asset. Therefore our website and apps do not collect any private or personally identifiable information. Anything our apps access stays on your own device and under your control; it is never sent to Kindred Code, and the only network requests our apps make go directly from your device to the services described under “Third Parties” below.
Storage
Our apps store your data locally on your devices and optionally synchronize it between your devices using your iCloud account if you are logged in to iCloud. Only you have the ability to access or share your data with others.
Everything an app works with happens on your device and is never sent to Kindred Code. If an app lets you connect a third-party account (see “Third Parties”), the information it reads from that account is used only on your device, anything you save is stored alongside the app’s other data, and any sign-in token is kept only in your device’s secure Keychain and is never shared.
Third Parties
Apple
Kindred Code’s apps run on devices made by Apple and are distributed through the Apple App Store. Your use of those devices and of the App Store is also subject to Apple’s own policies, including the Apple Privacy Policy and the Licensed Application End User License Agreement that governs apps you download from the App Store. Syncing between your devices uses your own iCloud account, an Apple service covered by the Apple Privacy Policy.
Some of our apps, currently QueueTube for iPhone and iPad, use YouTube API Services. They work primarily with YouTube’s public data and do not require you to sign in. Signing in to your Google account is entirely optional and powers a single convenience feature: importing the channels you are already subscribed to on YouTube.
Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Google’s handling of your data is described in the Google Privacy Policy, and your use of YouTube is governed by the YouTube Terms of Service.
YouTube data used without signing in: When an app uses YouTube API Services, it requests public YouTube catalog data directly from Google’s servers: for each channel you add, the channel’s ID, name, description, and artwork, and for that channel’s videos the title, description, thumbnail, duration, publish date, and view count. This is the only YouTube data the app accesses and collects when you are not signed in. None of it identifies you, and the app gathers no identifiers, usage analytics, or advertising data about you at all.
How that data is used, processed, and shared: The catalog data above is used for exactly one purpose: showing you the channels, videos, and queue you asked for. All processing happens on your device. The data is stored locally so your feed loads quickly, and optionally synced through your own private iCloud account. It is never sent to Kindred Code (we operate no servers), and it is never shared with any internal or external party. The only YouTube-related network requests the app makes travel directly from your device to Google (API requests and video playback), and Google’s handling of those requests is described in the Google Privacy Policy.
What is stored on your device: The app stores information on your device: the YouTube catalog data above, the things you create in the app (your channel list, queues, watch history, playback positions, and settings), and, if you connect your Google account, sign-in tokens in your device’s encrypted Keychain. Videos play in an embedded YouTube player (YouTube’s privacy-enhanced embed) inside the app. Like any web-based player, YouTube may place, access, or recognize cookies or similar technology on your device to provide playback, and information YouTube collects through the player is governed by the Google Privacy Policy and the YouTube Terms of Service. The videos themselves are third-party content served by YouTube, and YouTube may show advertisements within the videos it plays; Kindred Code does not control these advertisements and receives nothing from them. Our own website and apps place no cookies and contain no advertising, analytics, or tracking technology of their own.
How long cached YouTube data is kept: While you use the app, cached YouTube data is refreshed against the YouTube API (typically every thirty minutes per channel) so what you see stays current. Any cached item that the API has not re-confirmed within thirty days is deleted automatically. Content you have explicitly saved, such as videos in your queue or your watch history, is kept for you until you remove it or delete the app.
The following paragraphs describe in full how an app accesses, uses, stores, shares, retains, and deletes data from your Google account (“Google user data”) when you choose to connect it:
1. Data Accessed: If you connect your
YouTube account, the app signs you in with Google in
your device’s system browser and requests
read-only access using the
youtube.readonly scope. The only Google
user data the app reads is your list of YouTube channel
subscriptions. For each subscription, this provides the
channel’s ID, name, and thumbnail image. The app
does not access your watch history, liked videos,
playlists, comments, email address, name, or any other
information from your Google account, and it never
creates, changes, or deletes anything in your YouTube
account.
2. Data Usage: Your subscriptions are shown to you in a list so you can choose which channels to add to the app. The channels you select are saved as the list of channels you follow, so the app can show you their newest videos. This exists only so you do not have to add channels one at a time. The sign-in tokens are used solely to read your subscription list when you import it or choose to sync it again; the app makes no other authenticated requests. All of this processing happens on your device.
3. Data Sharing: We do not share your Google user data with anyone. Kindred Code operates no servers of its own and never receives this data. It is not sent to us, sold, or transferred to any third party. It stays on your device and, if you use iCloud, in your own private iCloud account.
4. Data Storage & Protection: Your sign-in tokens are stored only in your device’s encrypted Keychain, marked device-only so they are never included in an iCloud backup, and they are never written to logs. The sign-in itself runs in the system browser and uses PKCE; the app embeds no client secret and never sees your Google password. The channels you import are stored alongside the app’s other data on your device and, optionally, in your own private iCloud, which Apple encrypts in transit and at rest and which only you can access.
5. Data Retention & Deletion: Your sign-in tokens are kept until you disconnect. In the app, open Settings, then YouTube Account, then Disconnect: this revokes the token with Google and deletes it from your device’s Keychain. You can also revoke the app’s access at any time from the Google security settings page of your Google account. Channels you imported can be removed individually in the app, and deleting the app removes all of its data from your device; data you synced through iCloud is governed by your iCloud settings. Cached YouTube data follows the refresh and deletion schedule described above. Deleting data stored by the app does not, in any way, affect the data YouTube itself holds; to manage or delete your data on YouTube, use YouTube directly. To ask us to help you delete your data, email privacy@kindredcode.com.
Consent
By using our website or apps, you consent to our privacy policy.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy, you may email privacy@kindredcode.com.
Changes
We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time.