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Privacy policy: Sound Meter: Decibel dB Level

Last updated: 14 October 2026

This privacy policy applies to the Android app Sound Meter: Decibel dB Level (Google Play package name schallmessung.app, formerly published as "Schallmessung"). It explains which data the app processes, why, on what legal basis, and what rights you have.

In short:

  • The app measures the sound level with your phone's microphone. Measuring, recordings and PDF reports stay on your phone; nothing is uploaded to us, and we don't run servers of our own for the app. You don't need to sign up.
  • The app is free and funded by ads from Google AdMob.
  • To keep the app stable it uses Google Firebase (crash reports and technical usage data).
  • Purchases are handled by Google Play. We never receive your payment details.

1. Controller

Tobias Marks
MarksFinanceGroup (sole proprietorship), brand "stillmeasure."
Sponheimer Str. 14
55595 Mandel
Germany

Email: contact@stillmeasure.com
Contact form: www.stillmeasure.com/contact/

We have not appointed a data protection officer because we are not legally required to (Section 38 German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), Art. 37 GDPR).

2. Microphone and recordings stay on your phone

To measure the sound level and to record, the app needs access to the microphone. The decibel values are calculated on your device. Audio recordings, measured values and PDF reports are not sent to us, to Google AdMob or to Firebase.

  • Measuring in the background: If you start a measurement and lock your screen, the app keeps measuring. This only happens after you start it yourself; Android shows an ongoing notice in the status bar while the microphone is in use.
  • Saving and sharing: You can save measurements, rename and delete them, and download the audio file and a PDF report to your phone. If you share a file (e.g. by messenger or email), Android's share menu opens and the file goes to the app you choose; that app's privacy policy applies.
  • Calibration and dark mode are settings stored on your device.

You can refuse or withdraw the microphone permission in your Android settings; the app cannot measure without it.

Legal basis: storing measurements and settings is necessary for the features you use (Section 25(2) no. 2 German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG); Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

3. Ads with Google AdMob

Ads in the app are served by Google AdMob (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Google LLC, USA). Google processes the data for advertising as an independent controller.

According to Google, the ads SDK processes your IP address (from which Google may estimate your approximate location), device and app identifiers (e.g. the Android advertising ID), interactions with ads, diagnostic data about the app and SDK, and technical details such as device type, Android version and language. Audio data and PDF reports are never passed to AdMob.

In the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google may only use personalised ads and read information on your device for that purpose with your consent. Without consent Google only shows non-personalised or limited ads. You can reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in your Android settings under "Privacy → Ads".

Legal bases: consent for storing and reading information on your device and for personalised ads (Section 25(1) TDDDG, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); for non-personalised ads and fraud prevention our legitimate interest in offering the app for free (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

More from Google: How Google uses information from apps · Google Privacy Policy

4. Google Firebase (crash reports and technical usage data)

To keep the app stable and to fix errors quickly, the app uses Google Firebase (Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC, as our processor), in particular Firebase Crashlytics. Processed are technical diagnostic data only: device model and brand, Android version, app version, crash reports (where the error occurred, app state, time) and technical usage data with random installation IDs. Microphone and recording data are not part of it.

Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a stable app that works well (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object at any time; write to us.

5. Purchases via Google Play

Paid features are handled entirely by Google Play (Google Play Billing); Google's terms and privacy policy apply to the payment.

  • We never receive payment details (no card number, no bank account, no billing address).
  • The app asks Google Play which purchases belong to your Google Account and unlocks them on your device, using the purchase token and product ID.
  • In our developer console we see order information from Google (e.g. order number, product, date, price, country, status). We use it to handle requests and to meet tax obligations.

Legal bases: performance of a contract, Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR; statutory retention, Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR.

6. Contacting us

If you write to us, we process your message, your email address and anything else you tell us. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (questions about a purchase), otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

7. Recipients and transfers to the USA

Recipients are Google (Google Ireland Limited; Google LLC) as an independent controller for ads and Google Play and as our processor for Firebase; the apps you choose when sharing; our email provider Hostinger International Ltd. (Cyprus) for support messages; tax advisers and authorities where required by law. We do not sell personal data.

Google may transfer data to the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, for which there is an adequacy decision of the European Commission (Art. 45 GDPR); Google also uses the Commission's standard contractual clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR). More: policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks

8. How long data is kept

Data Retention
Measurements, recordings, reports and settings on your device until you delete them, clear the app data or uninstall the app
Crash reports (Crashlytics) 90 days
Advertising data at Google according to Google's retention periods
Order information from Google Play until the end of the statutory retention period (up to 10 years)
Support messages until your request is resolved, at the latest 3 years after the end of the year of the last message

9. Your rights and deletion requests

You have the right to access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), to object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21) and to withdraw consent with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR).

Deletion: Recordings and everything else stored on your device are removed when you delete them in the app, clear the app data or uninstall the app. Files you downloaded or shared stay where you saved them. To have Firebase data deleted, write to contact@stillmeasure.com. Because the app has no user accounts we usually cannot identify you; we will tell you which details we need. We reply within one month.

Right to lodge a complaint: You can complain to a data protection supervisory authority, e.g. where you live, or to the authority responsible for us: Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Rheinland-Pfalz, Hintere Bleiche 34, 55116 Mainz, Germany, www.datenschutz.rlp.de

10. Children

The app is not directed at children. We do not ask for your age.

11. Changes

We update this policy when the app or the law changes. The current version is always available at www.stillmeasure.com/apps/tools/sound-meter-decibel/privacy/. The German version is here. Back to the app: Sound Meter: Decibel dB Level.