Waxly

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 27, 2026

This policy explains what the Waxly app ("Waxly", "we", "us") collects, how it is collected, what it is used for, and who processes it. Waxly is built to collect as little as possible: there is no sign-up, no advertising and no tracking.

In short

  • The record photo you scan is sent for AI analysis only after you allow it, and it is not stored.
  • The app never asks for your name, email address, location or contacts.
  • No ads and no tracking. Your advertising identifier is never read.
  • You can delete your data at any time in Settings → Delete my data.

1. What we collect and how

Record photos

When you scan, the photo you take or pick of a record's cover or center label is sent to our server and to a third-party AI service provider, which reads the text printed on it (such as artist, title, catalog number, record label and country). Before it leaves your device, the app makes it smaller (at most 2000 pixels on the longest side) and removes its metadata (EXIF data, which can include location and device details). The photo exists only while your request is being answered: it is not saved on our server, and our server keeps no log of the request. The AI service provider receives only the photo and your language and region code, never your account ID.

Record catalog lookup

To find the album and the exact pressing, our server sends only the text read from your photo (such as artist, title, catalog number, record label and country) to a music catalog database service. No photo and no personal data are sent there. The pressing details in the result come from that catalog.

Exchange rate lookup

To show the value in your local currency, our server asks a public exchange-rate service for the current rate. Only the currency code (for example "JPY") is sent, nothing about you or your scan.

Anonymous account ID

On first launch the app creates an anonymous account with a cloud hosting and authentication provider. It is a random identifier that is not tied to your name, email address or Apple Account. Our server uses it to confirm that a request comes from a real installation of the app with an active subscription. It also connects your subscription status and usage analytics.

Subscription status and purchase history

Purchases are made through Apple. A subscription management service receives your subscription status and purchase history from Apple together with the anonymous account ID, so the app and our server can tell whether your subscription is active. We never see your payment details.

Product interaction analytics

We use an analytics service provider (United States data region) to understand how the app is used, for example which screens are opened, whether a scan succeeded, and whether a purchase was started or completed. These events are linked to the anonymous account ID and include basic device information such as device model, operating system version, app version and language. They never contain photos, your name or your email address. The analytics service is set not to use your IP address to estimate your location. The advertising identifier (IDFA) is never read.

Your answer to "Where did you hear about us?"

During onboarding the app asks where you heard about Waxly, with a few options such as the App Store or social media. Your answer is sent to our analytics service provider as an analytics event.

Device language and region code

Each scan includes your device's language and region code (for example "en" and "US") so that the result is written in your language and the value is shown in your region's currency. This is a device setting, not your location. The app does not use GPS or location services.

Support messages

If you use the form on our support page, the name, email address, topic and message you enter are forwarded to us by a support form delivery service so that we can reply.

What we do not collect

The app never asks for your name, email address, phone number, location, contacts or any photos other than the ones you choose to scan. The camera is used only while you are scanning. The app has no ads and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites, so it never shows Apple's tracking permission prompt.

2. How we use the data

  • To read the text on your record photo, find the album and the pressing, estimate its collector value and show it in your local currency.
  • To check your subscription and give you access to scanning.
  • To protect the service from abuse, for example with a daily scan limit per anonymous account and with an app integrity check that confirms requests come from the genuine app.
  • To understand and improve the app through usage analytics.
  • To answer your support requests.

We do not sell your data, use it for advertising or share it with data brokers. We do not use your photos to train AI models.

3. AI photo analysis and your consent

Before your first scan, the app clearly tells you that the photo will be sent to our server and a third-party AI service provider to identify the record, and asks for your permission in the app. If the main AI model does not answer, a backup model from another AI provider may be used for the same purpose. If you decline, no photo is sent; scanning needs this permission.

You can withdraw your permission at any time in the app under Settings → Photo analysis permission. After you withdraw it, no more photos are sent.

Results are AI estimates, not formal appraisals or offers to buy. The collector value is always an estimated range by condition (Good, Very Good, Very Good Plus and Near Mint), because condition changes the price. The AI estimates the value from the pressing details only (as text, without your photo), and the range is saved per pressing, so the same pressing always gets the same range. Waxly does not check whether a pressing is original, authentic or counterfeit.

4. Who processes your data

We use the categories of service providers below. Each one receives only the data it needs for the purpose described, processes that data only to provide its service to us, and gives it the same or equal protection as described in this policy.

  • Third-party AI service provider

    Purpose
    Reads the text printed on your record photo, and estimates the collector value of the pressing from its details. A backup model from another AI provider is used only if the main model does not answer.
    Data
    Record photo, language and region code; for the value estimate, only the pressing details as text. Never your account ID, name or email address.

  • Music catalog database service

    Purpose
    Finds the album and the exact pressing that match the text read from your photo.
    Data
    Only the text read from the photo (artist, title, catalog number, record label, country). No photo and no personal data.

  • Exchange-rate service

    Purpose
    Provides the daily exchange rate used to show the value in your local currency.
    Data
    Only the currency code. No personal data.

  • Cloud hosting and authentication provider

    Purpose
    Anonymous sign-in, an app integrity check that confirms requests come from the genuine app (using Apple's device verification), and hosting of this website.
    Data
    Anonymous account ID, app and device tokens used for the integrity check, and the IP address of website visitors.

  • Subscription management service

    Purpose
    Tells the app and our server whether a subscription is active.
    Data
    Anonymous account ID, subscription status and purchase history, app version and App Store country.

  • Analytics service provider

    Purpose
    Product analytics (United States data region).
    Data
    Anonymous account ID, in-app events, your onboarding answer, device model, operating system and app version, language.

  • Apple (App Store)

    Purpose
    Payments, subscriptions and App Store distribution.
    Data
    Purchases are handled under your Apple Account. We receive no payment details.

  • Server hosting provider

    Purpose
    Hosts our own server, which checks each scan request, passes the photo on to the AI service provider and the text read from it on to the music catalog database service.
    Data
    Scan requests while they are processed, and the saved value ranges per pressing. Photos are held in memory only and are not stored.

  • Support form delivery service

    Purpose
    Forwards messages from our support form to our email inbox.
    Data
    The name, email address, topic and message you enter, and your IP address as part of the web request.

5. How long we keep data

  • Photos: not stored. They are discarded as soon as the answer is sent. So that scanning the same photo again is answered faster, the result (not the photo) may be kept for up to 6 hours, linked to a one-way fingerprint of the photo and not to you.
  • Anonymous account: kept until you delete it with Delete my data. If you only remove the app, the account stays unused and is no longer connected to your device.
  • Abuse protection: a daily count of scans per account, stored as a one-way hash of the account ID and replaced every day.
  • Subscription records: kept by Apple and our subscription management service for as long as needed to provide the subscription and as required by tax and accounting law.
  • Analytics: kept by our analytics service provider while needed to understand how the app is used. Delete my data resets the analytics ID on your device, so future events are not linked to past ones. To have past events deleted as well, contact us through the support form.
  • Value ranges: the estimated value range of each pressing is kept on our server so that the same pressing always gets the same range. These records are per pressing (catalog entry, estimated values, date) and contain no personal data, no photo and no account ID.
  • Support messages: kept in our inbox for as long as needed to handle your request.

6. Deleting your data and your rights

In the app, open Settings → Delete my data. This deletes your anonymous account, clears everything the app stored on your device, and resets the identifiers used by the subscription management and analytics services. The app then starts fresh, as on first launch.

Deleting your data does not cancel a subscription. To cancel, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, tap your name, then Subscriptions.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export your data, and to object to or restrict its processing. To make a request, use our support form. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

7. Where data is processed

Most of our service providers are based in the United States, and your data is processed on servers in the United States and possibly other countries where they operate. These countries may have different data protection laws from yours. We rely on the providers' contractual safeguards for these transfers.

8. Security

All data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Every request to our server must carry a valid sign-in token, and an app integrity check is used to confirm that requests come from the genuine app. The keys for the AI, music catalog and subscription services are kept on our server and never ship inside the app.

9. Children

Waxly is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has given us data, contact us and we will delete it.

10. This website

This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics. It remembers your language choice in your browser's local storage. Pages and fonts are served by a cloud hosting provider, which receives your IP address as part of ordinary web requests.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version on this page and update the date at the top.

12. Contact

For questions or requests about your privacy, use the form on our support page.