Suroda

Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 4, 2026

1. Scope

This policy describes what Suroda Inc. collects through the Suroda applications (iOS, Windows, Mac, Raspberry Pi, and Linux), the Suroda platform (portal.suroda.com), and suroda.com, and how we use it.

2. What We Collect

Audio — When you use a Suroda application to record or capture audio, we collect and process the audio you choose to capture, for acoustic detection and event logging on your account. Suroda San captures short recordings on demand from your phone. Suroda Kai runs recurring, user-scheduled captures across smartphones, Windows, Mac, Raspberry Pi, and Ubuntu Linux; nothing is captured outside the schedule you set. What is captured, and when, is determined by the tier you subscribe to and the settings you choose.

What we look at in audio. Suroda processes audio into numeric signal data and analyzes that data for a specific, narrow class of acoustic signatures. We do not analyze, transcribe, or interpret speech or conversation, and we do not build voiceprints or perform speaker identification. Natural and ambient sound — voices, traffic, weather, animals, household noise — is not analyzed for content. Anything that is not a signature the system is built to detect is not examined further and is deleted on the schedule in Section 5.

Video (Ronin and Sensei tiers) — Suroda does not supply cameras and does not operate them. Ronin and Sensei analyze video you already hold — typically your own existing surveillance footage — which you submit to Suroda for processing through the web portal. The Suroda mobile app does not capture, upload, or have access to video.

What we look at in video. Suroda processes video into numeric signal data and analyzes that data for a specific, narrow class of optical characteristics associated with air-propagating pressure disturbance. We do not identify, track, or classify people, vehicles, or animals, and we do not perform facial recognition, object recognition, license plate reading, or any form of subject monitoring. Anything in the frame that is not a signature the system is built to detect is not analyzed.

Retention of submitted footage. If no event is detected, submitted footage is automatically deleted 3 days after processing. If an event is detected and confirmed, the recording behind that event follows the same retention rules as media captured through a Suroda application.

Account Identity & Contact — name, email address, and your message, when you create an account or submit an inquiry.

Payment information — Web memberships, monitoring services, donations, and non-iOS purchases are handled by Stripe. iOS app subscriptions are handled through Apple In-App Purchase. We never receive or store your full card number.

Technical data — Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) collected by our hosting provider for security and operation of the site and app.

We do not collect biometric data. We do not run advertising trackers.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

3. Service Providers

We use processors to operate the site, app, and platform: Google Cloud and Firebase (including Hosting, Auth, Firestore, Cloud Storage, and Cloud Run/API for secure data storage and backend processing), Apple Services (for iOS app distribution), Formspree (contact form delivery), and Stripe (payment processing). Each processes data under its own privacy terms.

4. How We Use Data

To detect and log acoustic and optical events, generate reports, respond to inquiries, provide and bill memberships, secure and operate the service, and meet legal obligations. That's it.

Legal Bases for Processing (EEA/UK users)

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process personal data on these bases:

  • Performance of a contract — providing the detection service, your account, and your membership.
  • Legitimate interests — securing and operating the service, preventing abuse, and maintaining evidence integrity, balanced against your rights.
  • Consent — where you enable optional features such as location, or where consent is otherwise required. You may withdraw consent at any time.
  • Legal obligation — retention required by law, court order, or evidence-custody obligation.

What We Do Not Do

The limits described in Section 2 govern everything we do with your media. We analyze audio and video only for the narrow class of signatures Suroda is built to detect. We do not analyze, transcribe, or interpret speech; do not build voiceprints or identify speakers; and do not identify, track, or classify people, vehicles, or animals in video. Media that does not produce a confirmed event is not examined further and is deleted on the schedule in Section 5.

5. Retention — We Minimize by Default

Our default configuration is built to keep as little as possible, for as short a time as possible:

  • Source Media (audio and video) is stored in the tenant’s space. Suroda cannot access this data. Processed audio and video, not tied to a detected event: Retained for 3 days from processing, then automatically deleted.
  • Processing and Filename Metadata: Retained for up to 7 days from processing, then automatically deleted.
  • Account Data: Retained for the life of the account, then deleted immediately upon a verified deletion request.
  • Payment Records: Retained as required for tax and accounting purposes.

We maintain backups of tenant account and dashboard data for continuity and disaster recovery. Source media is not included in these backups. When you delete your account, your account data is removed from live systems immediately and cycles out of backups within 14 days, after which it is not recoverable. Deletion is otherwise final, with two exceptions described below.

We are actively working to shorten these windows further as we refine our processing pipeline. We do not want to hold your data any longer than is operationally necessary — that is a deliberate design choice, not a default we inherited.

Source Files Behind a Detected Event

When a recording produces a confirmed event, Suroda retains a short excerpt of the source media — approximately the seconds on either side of the event — under the license you grant in our Terms of Service. That excerpt is preserved in your account's evidence record for as long as your account is active, so you can review it. The rest of the recording is not kept and is deleted on the standard 3-day schedule.

If you delete your account, we retain our copy of that excerpt, but it is permanently stripped of anything that could tie it back to you — your account, tenant ID, and location. It cannot be associated with you, and we never use it to identify you or anyone else.

Everything else in your account — your identity, your tenant data, all media not tied to a confirmed event, and the evidence record's link to you — is deleted permanently.

Exception — Legal Holds and Evidence Custody

Where data is subject to an active legal hold, court order, or evidence-custody obligation, we retain the affected data — including custody records, cryptographic hashes, and matter-linked metadata — for as long as the obligation requires, and delete it under this schedule once the obligation ends. This may extend retention beyond the periods above, including after account deletion.

Cross-Account Event Correlation

If your account and another Suroda account detect matching events in the same ZIP code at the same time, we combine those events into an elevated investigation record, so the evidence can help establish a relationship between the two detections.

To support this, an event record linked to your tenant ID is temporarily maintained in your account's workspace for as long as your account is active. This link is what makes correlation possible. It is not shared with the other account holder directly — only the evidence itself, and only in the context of an elevated investigation, may be presented as part of that process.

When you delete your account, this tenant-linked event record is deleted along with everything else identifying you. The only thing that can remain, as described above, is the de-identified source excerpt with no tenant ID or location attached — and because it carries no identifying information, it cannot be used for correlation after your account is deleted.

6. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights over your personal information:

  • Know / Access — what we collect, why, and who we share it with, and a copy of it.
  • Delete — removal of your personal information, subject to the legal-hold exception above.
  • Correct — fix inaccurate personal information.
  • Portability — receive your personal information in a portable format.
  • Opt out of sale or sharing — we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information beyond the purposes described in this policy.
  • Limit use of sensitive personal information — see above.
  • Object to or restrict processing, and withdraw consent — where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies.
  • Non-discrimination — we will not deny service, charge a different price, or provide a different level of service because you exercised a privacy right.

How to Exercise Your Rights

Email hello@suroda.com, or use in-app deletion as described in Section 7. We will verify your identity before acting on a request. We respond within 45 days (extendable once by a further 45 days where permitted), and within one month where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies.

An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with written permission; we may ask you to verify the request directly.

Appeals

If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision. We will respond to appeals within the period required by your jurisdiction. If you remain unsatisfied, you may contact your state Attorney General, or your national data protection authority in the EEA or UK.

7. Your Choices & Account Deletion

In-App Deletion: You can permanently delete your Suroda account — including your identity data, tenant data, and all media not tied to a confirmed event — at any time from Settings > Account > Delete Account in the Suroda mobile app, or from Account Settings in the web portal at portal.suroda.com. See Account Deletion for details. As described above, de-identified source excerpts behind confirmed events are retained separately and are not affected by account deletion.

You may also request access to, or deletion of, your personal information by emailing hello@suroda.com. We honor verified requests to the extent permitted by law.

8. International Transfers

Suroda Inc. is based in the United States, and personal information is processed and stored in the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, you are transferring your information to a country whose data protection laws may differ from those of your own. Where required for transfers from the EEA or UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards, including the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

9. Children

The site, app, and platform are not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect the personal information of anyone under 16. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, contact hello@suroda.com and we will delete it.

10. Changes

Updates will be posted here with a revised "Last updated" date. Where a change is material, we will provide notice and, where required, seek renewed acceptance.

11. Contact

Suroda Inc.
7 Whittier Place, Suite 108
Boston, MA 02114
hello@suroda.com