Privacy Policy

Overview

Unreleased Island ("we", "us", or "our") operates the Unreleased Island platform (the "Service"), a private marketplace for artists to share and exchange unreleased music with curated access and traceable distribution. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use the Service.

1. Information We Collect

• Account Information: When you register, we collect your username, email address, stage name, and a link to your social media profile. Registration is subject to manual review and approval.
• Profile Information: You may optionally provide a profile image, bio, Bandcamp/Discogs links, SoundCloud URL, Telegram ID, location, years active, preferred DAW, and equipment setup.
• Payment Information: If you are an artist, you may provide a PayPal email address for receiving payouts. We do not store credit card numbers or bank account details. Payment processing is handled by third-party providers (Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal).
• Content and Activity Data: We store tracks you upload, your exchange and transaction history, wishlist activity, follow/follower relationships, and leak reports you submit.
• Technical Data: We collect standard server logs which may include your IP address, browser type, and access timestamps. We use session cookies to keep you logged in.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• To operate and maintain the Service, including account registration, authentication, and profile display.
• To facilitate track uploads, exchanges, and transactions between users.
• To generate identity-tied watermarks on downloaded tracks for leak protection and traceable distribution.
• To process withdrawal requests and coordinate payouts via PayPal.
• To send transactional emails (account approval, password reset, leak report updates, account deletion notices).
• To enforce our Terms and Conditions, Community Rules, and protect the integrity of the platform.
• To respond to your contact form inquiries.

3. Watermarking and Traceability

Unreleased Island embeds identity-tied watermarks into every track download. This means each downloaded file is uniquely associated with the recipient's account. This is a core feature of the platform designed to protect artists' unreleased work and deter unauthorized distribution. By using the Service, you acknowledge and consent to this watermarking practice.

4. Data Sharing and Third-Party Services

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: We use Amazon Web Services (AWS S3) for secure file storage, SendGrid for transactional email, Buy Me a Coffee for subscription processing, PayPal for artist payouts, and Heroku for application hosting. These providers process data on our behalf and are subject to their own privacy policies.
• Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information if required by law, legal process, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Unreleased Island, its users, or others.
• Leak Investigations: If a track leak is reported, watermark data may be used to identify the account associated with the leaked download. This information may be shared with the affected artist.

5. Cookies

We use essential cookies only — specifically, Django session cookies and CSRF protection cookies to keep you logged in and protect form submissions. We do not use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party tracking cookies. See our Cookie Policy for full details.

6. Data Retention

• Your account data is retained for as long as your account is active.
• If you request account deletion, your account enters a 7-day grace period during which you may cancel the deletion. After 7 days, your account and associated tracks are permanently deleted.
• Watermark records and transaction logs may be retained after account deletion for platform integrity and leak investigation purposes.
• Server logs are retained in accordance with our hosting provider's policies.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information, including:

• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit.
• Private AWS S3 storage with signed URLs (30-minute expiry) for media files.
• CSRF protection on all forms.
• HTTP security headers (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, XSS protection).
• Rate limiting on sensitive endpoints.

However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights:

• Access: You can view your personal information through your profile page at any time.
• Correction: You can update your profile information through the Edit Profile page.
• Deletion: You can request account deletion from your account settings. This initiates a 7-day grace period before permanent deletion.
• Data Portability: You may contact us to request an export of your personal data.
• Objection: You may contact us to object to certain processing activities.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for users under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 16, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

10. International Data Transfers

Your data may be processed and stored in the United States, where our hosting and storage providers are located. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes via email or a notice on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.