Effective September 16, 2026
SCOUT Privacy
SCOUT is a key, tempo and chord detector for iPhone and iPad. It is built so that nothing you play into it ever leaves your device.
What SCOUT does with audio
SCOUT listens through the microphone, which starts as soon as you open the app, or reads an audio file you choose with +FILE, and analyses it entirely on your device to determine musical key, tempo and chords. Microphone audio is never recorded, stored or transmitted: it is processed in memory and discarded as it is analysed. SCOUT asks for microphone access the first time you open it, and you can withdraw that access at any time in Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Microphone.
Files you analyse
When you pick a file with +FILE, SCOUT makes a temporary working copy so it can play the track while it analyses it. That copy is kept out of iCloud backups and is deleted as soon as playback stops. If SCOUT closes before you stop the track, the copy stays in the app's private cache — never in iCloud — until iOS clears it, the next file replaces it, or you delete the app. It is never sent anywhere.
Network
SCOUT has no server of its own and sends nothing to us. The only network traffic is Apple's: StoreKit checking your purchase and the current price with the App Store, iCloud downloading a file you pick with +FILE if it is not already on the device, and a link you tap opening in your browser. The app uses no analytics, advertising or crash-reporting SDKs.
What SCOUT stores on your device
Display preferences (Camelot, sharp or flat spelling, and the beat-pulse haptic); the LOG of the 50 most recent detections (key, tempo, chords, file name and the time), kept until you clear it with the ✕ button; whether you have completed the first-run introduction; and whether SCOUT Pro is unlocked. None of it is sent to us or shared with anyone. It sits in the app's own storage on the phone, so — unlike the temporary copy of a file, which is deliberately excluded — it is included in your device backup until you clear it. Deleting the app deletes it. When you tap COPY, SCOUT puts that reading on the system clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere; if you use Universal Clipboard, iOS may make it available on your other Apple devices.
Purchases
SCOUT Pro is a one-time in-app purchase processed by Apple through the App Store. Echelon Labs LLC does not receive your name, payment details or address; Apple's own privacy policy governs the transaction. SCOUT checks your purchase status and the current price through Apple's StoreKit framework, which contacts the App Store — never a server of ours.
Data we collect
None, in the app. SCOUT does not collect personal data, usage data, identifiers, location, contacts or anything else, and our App Store privacy label states "Data Not Collected". This website is separate: echelon.audio measures its own pages with a first-party beacon and the Meta Pixel, as our site privacy notice explains. The one thing we do receive is what you choose to send us: if you email support, we hold that message and whatever you put in it — usually your device and iOS version — for as long as it is useful to resolve the case, and we delete it on request.
Keeping and deleting your data
Everything SCOUT keeps lives on your phone, so you decide how long it is kept. The LOG stays until you clear it with the ✕ button; the temporary copy of a file goes when playback stops; your preferences, the first-run flag and the record of your Pro unlock go when you delete the app. You can withdraw microphone access at any time in Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Microphone. Your Pro purchase is held by Apple against your Apple Account, not by us, and RESTORE PURCHASE brings it back on any device you sign in to.
Children
SCOUT is rated 4+ and does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children.
Changes and contact
SCOUT is published by Echelon Labs LLC, the company behind Echelon Audio. If SCOUT ever changes how it handles data, this page will be updated and the app's version notes will say so.
Contact
Questions about this policy: info@echelonlabs.llc.