Cut Loose Media™Privacy policy
Effective November 8, 2026
Cut Loose Media ("Cut Loose," "we," "us") makes the Cut Loose Media app. This policy explains what the app does with information. The short version: your collection stays on your phone, we don't have accounts, and we don't sell or share your information for advertising.
Your collection stays on your device
Everything you enter (titles, ratings, notes, prices, locations, loan details and so on) is stored on your phone. We don't have user accounts and we don't receive a copy of your collection.
Lookups
When you scan a barcode or search for a title, the app sends the barcode number or the words you searched to look up the item. These requests go to public catalogs, some directly from your phone and some through our lookup server, which adds our access keys:
| What | Sent to |
|---|---|
| Books | Open Library, Google Books |
| Music | MusicBrainz and the Cover Art Archive; Discogs (through our server) |
| Movies, games and other products | UPCitemdb; IGDB for games (through our server) |
These requests contain the barcode or search words, not your name or contact details. Like any internet request, the service receiving it can see your device's IP address. Our lookup server, hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States, passes requests along and does not keep a record of who looked up what beyond standard, short-lived service logs used to keep it running.
Shared barcode memory: to make movie and game lookups faster and more reliable for everyone, our server remembers the product details found for a barcode (for example, the title and picture of a DVD). This shared list contains only the barcode and its product details. It is not linked to you, your device or your collection.
Barcodes you add: when you add an item yourself and include its barcode, the app shares that barcode with the shared memory so other collectors can find it. Only product facts are shared: the barcode, title, brand or creator, collection type, format, year, piece count for puzzles, and a cover picture link if the item has one from an online catalog. Your notes, ratings, prices, locations, loans and your own photos are never shared, and the entry is not linked to you or your device. You can turn this off in Settings → Share barcodes I add.
Camera and photos
- Barcode scanning happens on your phone. Camera images are not saved or sent anywhere.
- Reading a cover or label: when you take or choose a photo, the printed words are read on your phone.
- Recognizing a picture: if a cover has no readable words, or you tap "Recognize the picture," the photo is sent through our server to Google Cloud Vision to find matching images on the web. We don't store the photo, and Google processes it under its Cloud terms to return the result.
- The app only looks at photos you choose. It doesn't browse your photo library.
Contacts
When you lend an item or note who recommended it, you can pick a name from your contacts. Only the person you pick is used, and it's saved with the item on your phone. Your contacts are never uploaded.
When you lend something, you can also add the borrower's phone number or email address, typed in or taken from the contact you picked. These stay on your phone and in the backups you make; they are left out of Excel and CSV exports and are never sent to us. If you tap "Text a reminder," "Email a reminder" or "Send another way," the app opens your own Messages, Mail or share sheet with a note filled in, and nothing is sent unless you send it yourself. The app keeps a list of the reminders you start, with the date and time, on your phone only.
Backups and exports
Backups, Excel files and .csv files are created on your phone and saved wherever you choose: your phone, a USB drive, or a service such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive. Those copies are handled by that service under its own privacy policy. We never receive them.
Purchases
Free trials, subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are handled by Apple's App Store or Google Play. We don't see or store your payment details. The app checks with the store whether you have an active purchase.
What we don't do
- No advertising, and no advertising or tracking code in the app.
- No selling or renting of information to anyone.
- No user accounts or profiles.
Children
Cut Loose Media is a general-audience app and is not directed to children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children.
Future features
If we add optional features that need an account, such as sharing with friends or syncing between devices, we'll update this policy and ask before any of your information leaves your device.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, mention it in the app.
Contact
Questions about privacy: ownit@cutloosemedia.com. Help with the app: loose-ends@cutloosemedia.com.