Snapshot of the source text at fetch time, not a live mirror of the policy page.
Plain-English summary
SoundCloud requires users to agree to its privacy policy to use the platform. It leverages AI tools for customer support, which may process inquiries, and collects data from third-party websites integrating SoundCloud widgets. Personal data, including that from Facebook Connect, is used for personalized content and advertising, often combined with data from business partners. Your public profile and activity are shared with artists and other users, and transaction metadata is shared with third parties for fraud prevention and economic stability. Notably, for EU/EEA/U.K. users, rightsholders' interests in viewing personal data may prevail over user privacy interests. The policy also explicitly states that SoundCloud is not responsible for the privacy practices of external linked sites. Users retain choices over personal data management in their settings, and the policy states a commitment to providing clear information.
89% confidence
Ask Verbaterm
Follow up on findings with grounded answers from this review. Not legal advice.
Risk Flags
1 finding
High-severity concerns that could lead to significant harm for the user, such as financial loss, privacy breaches, or limitations on their rights.
Not clearly stated: The policy does not clearly state whether users are informed before their support inquiries are processed by AI, or if there are specific types of inquiries that are exempt from AI processing.
high90% confidence
AI tools used in customer support may process user inquiries.
When you contact our customer support, we may use artificial intelligence tools, including large language models provided by third-party service providers, to analyze your inquiry and generate or suggest responses. You may request to be assisted by a human support agent at any time.
Why it matters: Customer support inquiries may be analyzed by AI tools, including large language models from third-party service providers, which could expose personal information to AI processing, though users can request human assistance.
When you contact our customer support, we may use artificial intelligence tools, including large language models provided by third-party service providers, to analyze your inquiry and generate or suggest responses. You may request to be assisted by a human support agent at any time.
How We Use Your Personal Data, paragraph 9 · Citation strength: strong
Data Use
1 finding
This section highlights how your data is collected, processed, and shared, especially noting practices that might be extensive or involve third parties.
Not clearly stated: The policy does not clearly state the specific types of personal data accessible to AI customer support tools beyond analyzing inquiries. It also doesn't specify if and how users are notified when their data is used for personalized content outside of general activity tracking.
medium85% confidence
Service providers, including those using AI, may process personal data on SoundCloud's behalf.
We use a variety of service providers, some of whom may be located outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), to provide services to us or to our users on our behalf. These service providers have access to your personal data solely to perform these tasks on our behalf, and are contractually bound to implement appropriate organizational and technical security measures to protect against unauthorized disclosure of personal data, and only to process personal data in accordance with our instructions and to the extent necessary to provide their services to us. We need to share your personal data in order to ensure the adequate performance of our contract with you. For instance, we work closely with service providers in the area of customer service (i.e. help center, content moderation), including Decagon AI, Inc., which provides an AI-powered customer support platform that uses large language models provided by OpenAI to assist in processing and responding to your support inquiries, with technical service providers (e.g. running computer centers) or music service providers (i.e. rights administration) and payment service providers. These service providers may generally only process your personal data on our behalf under special conditions. Decagon AI, Inc. and OpenAI are located in the United States; the applicable international data transfer safeguards are described in the "International Data Transfers" section below.
Why it matters: Your personal data is shared with various service providers, some outside the EEA, who process it on SoundCloud's behalf. This includes customer support providers using AI and large language models, meaning your data may be processed by third-party AI systems.
We need to share your personal data in order to ensure the adequate performance of our contract with you. For instance, we work closely with service providers in the area of customer service (i.e. help center, content moderation), including Decagon AI, Inc., which provides an AI-powered customer support platform that uses large language models provided by OpenAI to assist in processing and responding to your support inquiries, with technical service providers (e.g. running computer centers) or music service providers (i.e. rights administration) and payment service providers. These service providers may generally only process your personal data on our behalf under special conditions.
How We Share Your Personal Data, paragraph 5 · Citation strength: strong
Cancellation & Renewal
Not clearly stated
Information regarding subscription management, cancellation procedures, and automatic renewals. No relevant clauses were found in the provided text.
?
Not clearly stated
No cited billing terms — wording is unclear
The policy does not clearly state details regarding subscription cancellation, renewal terms, or refund policies.
Gotchas
1 finding
Unexpected or subtle clauses that might disadvantage the user, such as waivers of rights, broad indemnification clauses, or complex terms regarding content ownership.
Not clearly stated: The policy does not clearly specify the duration for which transaction and subscription metadata is retained when shared for fraud prevention and economic stability, nor does it detail the specific types of data used in automated decision-making processes beyond general content relevance.
medium90% confidence
SoundCloud is not responsible for the privacy practices of linked third-party websites or services.
Please note that this Privacy Policy only applies to the Website, Apps and Services (together, the “Platform”). When using the Platform, you may find links to other websites, apps and services, or tools that enable you to share information with other websites, apps and services. SoundCloud is not responsible for the privacy practices of these other websites, apps and services and we recommend that you review the privacy policies of each of these websites, apps or services before connecting your SoundCloud account or sharing any personal data.
Why it matters: SoundCloud disclaims responsibility for the privacy practices of any third-party websites, apps, or services linked from their platform, requiring users to review external policies and potentially exposing them to different privacy standards if they engage with linked content.
Please note that this Privacy Policy only applies to the Website, Apps and Services (together, the “Platform”). When using the Platform, you may find links to other websites, apps and services, or tools that enable you to share information with other websites, apps and services. SoundCloud is not responsible for the privacy practices of these other websites, apps and services and we recommend that you review the privacy policies of each of these websites, apps or services before connecting your SoundCloud account or sharing any personal data.
- [Changes to this Privacy Policy](https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy#changes-to-this-privacy-policy), paragraph 3 · Citation strength: strong
Protections
3 findings
User-friendly policies or commitments that safeguard user rights, data, or provide beneficial options.
Not clearly stated: The policy does not clearly state if a user's consent is explicitly required for all data processing related to personalized content and recommendations, especially when based on legitimate interests. It also does not explicitly state how long personal data is retained if a user deletes their account.
Protection90% confidence
SoundCloud provides choices for managing personal data and settings.
We believe users should also have meaningful choices over the personal data we collect, use and share as described in this Privacy Policy, your [Settings](https://soundcloud.com/settings) and the [Help Center](https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/sections/46003571244571-Privacy). We encourage you to take full advantage of these tools.
Why it helps: Users are empowered with meaningful choices over their personal data collection, usage, and sharing through provided settings and a help center, allowing for greater control over their privacy.
We believe users should also have meaningful choices over the personal data we collect, use and share as described in this Privacy Policy, your [Settings](https://soundcloud.com/settings) and the [Help Center](https://help.soundcloud.com/hc/en-us/sections/46003571244571-Privacy). We encourage you to take full advantage of these tools.
- [Changes to this Privacy Policy](https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy#changes-to-this-privacy-policy), paragraph 6 · Citation strength: strong
Protection90% confidence
SoundCloud commits to clear and actionable information on privacy practices.
SoundCloud is committed to putting its users first and believes you should know what personal data we collect about you, why we collect it, and how we use and share it. That’s why we’ve designed this Privacy Policy to give you simple, clear, and actionable information about our privacy and data protection practices.
Why it helps: SoundCloud states its commitment to providing users with simple, clear, and actionable information about its privacy and data protection practices, which helps users understand how their data is handled.
SoundCloud is committed to putting its users first and believes you should know what personal data we collect about you, why we collect it, and how we use and share it. That’s why we’ve designed this Privacy Policy to give you simple, clear, and actionable information about our privacy and data protection practices.
- [Changes to this Privacy Policy](https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy#changes-to-this-privacy-policy), paragraph 5 · Citation strength: strong
Protection95% confidence
Mobile information for marketing/promotional purposes will not be shared with third parties/affiliates.
No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
Why it helps: This clause ensures that mobile information, including text messaging opt-in data, will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes, protecting user privacy regarding their mobile data.
No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
How We Share Your Personal Data, paragraph 6 · Citation strength: strong
Report an issue
Flag a citation problem, stale policy text, or incorrect company match.
Verbaterm boundaries
This public review is informational only and is not legal advice. Verbaterm shows only findings tied to the cited source snapshot above.