In short
- Your files are private to your workspace until you publish them.
- Every upload gets a tamper-evident fingerprint, timestamped on the Bitcoin blockchain once a day.
- What you publish, export or download in another format carries an inaudible watermark. Your original never changes.
- Before you publish, you say whose music it is. Covers need a licence or written permission and never appear on our Discover page.
- Anyone can report illegal content; a person reads every report.
- We don't sell your data, show no ads, and don't train AI on your uploads.
Who can see your files
A file you upload belongs to a workspace — yours or your band's. Only the members of that workspace can open it. Every time a file is requested, our servers check that the person asking has access, and then hand out a link that stops working within hours. Guessing or copying a file address doesn't get anyone in.
Owners of a workspace can hide a file from some members, or show it only to some. Owners themselves always see everything in their workspace. A hidden file can't be shared or published.
When you share a single file with a link, anyone who has that link can play it, and we show you when it was opened. You can withdraw a link at any time. Links don't expire on their own and have no password yet, so only send them to people you mean to.
The people who run audo.fi can technically reach your files. We only do so to keep the service working, to handle a report, or when you ask us for help; when we sign in as you to help, that is logged.
Proof of what you uploaded, and when
When a file arrives, we record a fingerprint of it: an exact hash of its bytes (SHA-256) and a content code (ISCC, ISO 24138) that stays similar when the sound is re-encoded. Together with who uploaded it and when, each record is chained to the one before, so an old record can't be changed without it showing. Once a day we timestamp the latest records on the Bitcoin blockchain through OpenTimestamps — only hashes go there, never your file or your name.
We use this to prove that a file existed in your workspace at a certain time, and to notice when the same recording is uploaded again in the same workspace. We don't compare your files with other people's workspaces or with outside music catalogues. There is no screen for it in the app yet: if you need the proof, ask us and we'll send it.
A watermark on what leaves
Copies that leave audo.fi for good carry an inaudible watermark in their sound (SilentCipher): the version of a song or video you publish, a download you convert to another format, and the mixes, stems and video renders you export from the studio. The watermark is a number that points to our record of that copy: which file it was made from and, for a download or export, who received it. No personal data is in the sound itself.
Your original upload is never altered, and neither is a download in its original format. Playing a file in the app or through a share link uses an unmarked copy, and images and documents are not marked. The watermark is built to survive compression and re-encoding, but it is evidence, not a lock: someone determined can damage it. To check a file you found, send it to us.
Publishing and other people's music
Before you publish a recording, you choose one of three: it's your own work, it's a cover you have a licence for (for example from BumaStemra or the publisher), or it's a cover with the rights holders' written permission — and for a cover, whose song it is. We keep that with the file. Only your own work can appear on the audo.fi Discover page; covers can be on your own band page but never on Discover. A video of a cover also needs permission for the video (a sync licence).
Music you add to an album or gallery on your band page doesn't ask this question yet; the same rules apply to it.
Reporting content and how we moderate
Anyone can report content they believe is illegal, and rights holders can use the copyright page; no account needed. A person reads every report — we don't scan uploads automatically. When we take something down, we tell the person who published it why and how to object, and we tell the reporter what we decided.
Where your files live, and backups
- Everything travels over HTTPS.
- New uploads are stored in Cloudflare R2, which encrypts stored files; some older uploads are still on our own server at Leaseweb. Published files are copied to a separate public storage, under a name that doesn't reveal the file name.
- Our database (your account, workspaces, comments, the records described here) runs on our server at Leaseweb. It is not separately encrypted on disk.
- We save a full copy of the database before every update of audo.fi. These copies are kept on the same server. We don't make scheduled or off-site backups yet, and your files are not backed up separately: keep your own copy of originals that matter to you.
- Deleted files go to the Trash and stay there until you empty it.
Your account
- Passwords are stored only as a strong one-way hash; we can't read them.
- Repeated failed sign-ins are slowed down.
- You can see the devices you're signed in on and sign any of them out. A device stays signed in until you sign it out, for up to a year.
- Two-step sign-in is not available yet.
Your privacy, briefly
- We don't sell your data and show no advertising.
- Visits to public pages are logged with a shortened IP address and deleted after 30 days; aggregate statistics after 90 days. These clean-ups run automatically every day.
- Google Analytics sets cookies only after you agree in the cookie banner.
- You can delete your account yourself. For a copy of your data, or complete erasure, email privacy@bandedit.com — we answer within a month.
AI features
AI runs only when you start it. Stem separation, song structure and video rendering run on rented GPUs (RunPod) and transcription on Cloudflare; they receive the file to process. Page design, the studio assistant and Clean up with AI send text only — your request and names — to Anthropic. We don't train AI models on your uploads, and these providers process them for your request only, under business terms that exclude training on them.
Questions people ask
Proof of your uploads
How do you prove a file is mine and when I uploaded it?
When a file arrives we record a fingerprint: a SHA-256 hash of its exact bytes (FIPS 180-4, ISO/IEC 10118-3) and an ISCC, the International Standard Content Code (ISO 24138:2024), computed with the open-source reference implementation. The ISCC has three units we keep: the Instance-Code (the exact bytes), the Data-Code (similar bytes) and the Audio-Code, made from a Chromaprint acoustic fingerprint, which stays the same when the sound is re-encoded. Together with who uploaded it and when, that record is written once and never changed.
What stops you from changing a record later?
Every record is sealed with a hash over all its facts and the hash of the record before it — a chain. Once a day the new records are folded into one Merkle root (SHA-256, built the way Bitcoin builds one), and that root is stamped on the Bitcoin blockchain through OpenTimestamps, an open timestamping protocol, via four public calendars. The proof is completed with the block number once the block is mined. Only hashes leave us, never audio or personal data.
Can a label or an engineer check this without trusting you?
Yes. For every upload there is a proof file: plain JSON with the record's statement, its hash, its Merkle path and the day's stamped statement with the .ots proof (from the file's info in the apps, or GET /~/api/explorer-item/<id>/provenance/proof while signed in). Hash the statement with any SHA-256 tool, fold it along the path and you reach the root; verify the .ots with the open ots client against the Bitcoin blockchain. Run shasum -a 256 on your own copy to match the hash, and the open iscc-core tools to reproduce the ISCC. None of it needs us.
What does the proof not say?
A timestamp proves that a file with this fingerprint existed in your workspace by a certain day. It does not by itself prove who wrote the song. We do not embed C2PA manifests in files and do not use eIDAS qualified timestamps.
The watermark
What is in the watermark, and where?
Copies that leave audo.fi — what you publish, export, render or download in another format — carry an inaudible SilentCipher watermark in their sound. The message is a 40-bit number: the copy's record id with a check byte, so a found file names the copy it came from: what kind, for whom, when. Your original is never marked; the measured signal-to-distortion ratio in our tests is about 49 dB.
Does it survive a re-encode or a cut?
Measured: it survives MP3 at 128k, AAC at 96k, a 12 dB drop, a phone-like band-pass, a mono downmix and a 9-second cut. It does not survive a tempo change, a pitch shift, or being mixed 6 dB under another track. Heavy processing can lose it; that is why the fingerprint and the timestamp exist beside it.
How do I check whether a file out there is one of ours?
Signed in, hand us the audio file and we read the mark back (“Is this file ours?”). You get the kind of copy, when it was made and, when you may see it, which file; another workspace's copy is reported as found without naming it.
What the law asks of us
Copyright on a shared platform (EU Copyright Directive art. 17, Dutch Auteurswet art. 29c)?
A young, small platform must try to get licences and act quickly on notices; filtering uploads is not required. We ask for a rights declaration before publishing, keep covers off Discover, and a person handles every notice from the copyright form.
Content moderation (Digital Services Act)?
A point of contact, clear terms, a way to report illegal content, and reasons when content is removed; small platforms are exempt from transparency reports. We have support@bandedit.com as point of contact, the report form, and reasons plus a way to object for every removal.
Privacy (GDPR / AVG)?
A privacy policy, security fitting the risk, agreements with processors, set retention periods, and answering your requests within a month. We have the Privacy Policy, the measures on this page, automatic clean-ups, and answers from privacy@bandedit.com.
AI (EU AI Act)?
Tell people when they deal with AI; mark AI-generated content (from the AI's provider). Our AI features are named as such and only run when you start them; we don't generate music.
Are watermarks and fingerprints required?
Not for music people make themselves. We do both anyway, to help you prove and trace your work.
What we don't offer yet
Is there two-step sign-in (2FA)?
Not yet. Passwords are stored as strong one-way hashes and repeated failed sign-ins are slowed down; a second factor is on the list.
Are my files backed up off-site, on a schedule?
Not yet. The database is backed up before every release and kept on the server; the files themselves are not copied elsewhere on a schedule today. Keep your own originals.
Can a share link expire or have a password?
Not yet. A share link works until you take it down. Until it does, share with people you trust, and unshare when you are done.
Can I download all my data myself?
Not as a button yet. Ask us and we send you everything we hold about you and your workspaces.
Is there a “Report” button on every page?
Not yet. Use the report form; a person reads every report.
Can I check a file's fingerprint or watermark on the website myself?
Not on a screen yet. The proof file and the watermark check exist (see the questions above); ask us and we walk you through.
Do you match uploads against music catalogues, like Content ID?
No. We ask for a rights declaration before publishing and act on notices; we do not scan uploads against catalogues.
This is our own reading of the rules and of our code as of October 21, 2026, not legal advice.
Questions
Ask us anything about this page at support@bandedit.com, or about your personal data at privacy@bandedit.com.