Privacy policy

DRAFT. This is a draft under legal review. It describes what the app does today, but its wording may change before the app is released.

Last updated: 15 October 2026 (draft)

AthenaComm is a push-to-talk intercom ("comms") app for crews working on live productions. It is provided by Athena Theatrical LLC ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect when you use AthenaComm, why, how long we keep it, and your choices.

1. The short version

• We never record or store what anyone says. Audio travels live between the people in a room and is never saved, by us or by our audio provider.
• Crew members join with a room code and a name they type. No account, email or phone number is needed.
• Hosts, the people who start rooms, have an account (Apple, Google or email sign-in).
• We keep a record of who joined which room and when, and what kind of phone they used, to run the service, prevent abuse and fix problems. Most of it is deleted after 12 months or sooner.
• We don't sell your information, show ads, or use it for advertising.

2. What we collect

Audio: none stored. When you hold Talk (or lock it on), your voice is sent live to the others in your room through our audio provider (LiveKit). It is not recorded, saved or transcribed. When you are not talking, nothing from your microphone is sent.

From everyone who joins a room (hosts and crew):

• The display name you type (for example "LX" or "Deck L"). Others in the room see it; we keep it with the records below.
• Room activity: which room you joined, when you joined and left, and how the connection ended. If you were removed from a room, we record that and the name you used.
• Device information: your phone's platform (iPhone/iPad or Android), its operating-system version, and the app version.
• Network address (IP address) when a room code is tried, kept 30 days. We use it only to stop people guessing room codes and to limit abuse. We don't use it to find your location, and we don't keep it with the record of the rooms you joined.
• What happened in a room, for fixing problems: joins and leaves, a join that was refused and why, and host actions (for example "the host muted LX"), with display names. Kept 30 days. It never includes audio, the text of calls, or email addresses.
• A random ID for your phone's session. Crew members get an anonymous sign-in that isn't linked to their name, email or phone number.

From hosts, additionally:

• Your account: your email address and how you sign in (Apple, Google or email). With Sign in with Apple you may choose to hide your email, in which case we receive a private relay address from Apple.
• Rooms you start (code, start and end times, plan) and how much you use (the number of people and minutes on comms in your rooms), to apply your plan's limits. When you start a quick room we keep the network address it came from for 30 days, to stop free rooms being farmed.
• Your phone's push address, if join alerts are on: a code from Apple or Google that lets us send your phone a notice when someone joins your show (the show's name and their display name). Removed when you sign out, switch alerts off or delete your account.
• Messages you save in the Calls tab (for example "Places").
• Calls sent in a room: the message, who it went to, and when each person's phone received it and when they tapped Acknowledge, so the room's hosts can see who has acknowledged. Kept only while the room is open and deleted when it ends. We also keep a count of calls for one day, to prevent flooding.
• Shows (paid plans): a show's name and code, kept until the host closes it. The app lists a show to the people who have joined it before (from the join records above), with how many are on comms in it right now.
• Channels and saved shows (Production and Company plans): the room's channels and who is on each while the room is open. If a host saves a show, it keeps the channel setup and, for each person who was on it, the display name they used and the random ID of their sign-in, so the same people land on the same channels next time. A saved show is kept with the host's account until the host deletes it or the account.
• A plan given to you before you had an account (for example as a beta tester): your email address, the plan and a short note, until you first sign in with that email and the plan is applied.
• Your plan and, once paid plans launch, your subscription status.

Crash reports. If the app crashes, a report goes to our crash-reporting provider (Sentry): the error, the phone model, operating-system and app versions, and the random ID of the sign-in (so we can match a crash to a report from a user). Crash reports never include names, screenshots or audio.

What we don't collect: contacts, photos, location (GPS), camera, recordings, or advertising IDs. The app asks for two phone permissions:

• the microphone, for talking;
• notifications, for incoming calls and, on Android, the "On comms" notice that keeps comms working with the screen locked. The notifications carry no information to anyone else.

3. Why we use it

• To run rooms: connect you, show who is in the room and who is talking, and let the host manage the room.
• To apply plans and limits, such as room size and time limits.
• To prevent abuse, for example guessing room codes or overloading the service.
• To fix problems and improve the app, using join records, device and app versions, and crash reports.
• To answer you when you contact us.

4. Who we share it with

We use these service providers to run AthenaComm. They process information only on our behalf:

We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We may disclose information if required by law, or to protect people's safety or our rights.

The people in your room see your display name, when you are talking, and any calls the host sends you. The room's hosts also see whether your phone received each call they sent and whether you acknowledged it.

5. How long we keep it

6. Your choices and rights

• Hosts can delete their account in the app (Account, then Delete account). This ends their rooms and erases their account, their rooms' records and their saved messages.
• Crew members can delete their records in the app (Account, then Delete my data). Without the app, ask on our website's "Delete my data" page or by emailing info@bck-stg.com: because crew don't have accounts, tell us the room code, the name used and roughly when. We delete the matching records within 7 days. Otherwise these records are deleted automatically on the schedule above.
• You can switch off the microphone permission in your phone's settings at any time. AthenaComm needs the microphone to join a room, so you won't be able to join until you allow it again.
• Anyone may ask what we hold about them, or ask for a correction, at info@bck-stg.com.

7. Children

Hosts must be 18 or older. AthenaComm is designed for production crews, including school productions supervised by an adult host. A host who brings students into a room is responsible for having any permission their school or local law requires. We don't knowingly collect more than the information in section 2 from anyone, and we never collect audio, contact details or location. If you believe a child's information should be deleted, email info@bck-stg.com and we will delete it.

8. Security

Information is sent encrypted (HTTPS/TLS) and stored with our providers under access controls. Only our servers can read the records described here; the app on your phone can't read other people's records. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you as the law requires if a breach affects you.

9. Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top, and for significant changes we'll tell hosts in the app or by email.

10. Contact

Athena Theatrical LLC, South Carolina, USA. Email: info@bck-stg.com