Privacy policy

The short version

• Your Fingerprint is written with help from an AI model. Your song and your answer are sent to it only to write your Fingerprint, never to train it or to sell.
• The leaderboard is your choice. Nothing about you is shown publicly unless you tick the leaderboard box. It's off unless you turn it on.
• Your email stays private. It is never shown on the site.
• We never sell your data. And we don't show ads.
• You can have it all deleted. Email jason@tryfrisson.com and we'll remove your answers.

Who we are

Frisson (tryfrisson.com) is run by Jason Howard. When this page says "we" or "us", it means Frisson. For anything about your information, email jason@tryfrisson.com.

What we collect

• What you tell us. The song you name, what you write about it, and whether you play an instrument.
• What you give us to save it. Your first name, your city and your email address.
• What we make from it. Your Fingerprint (the written description and its scores) and the facts we look up about your song.
• Your leaderboard choice. Whether you ticked the box to be included.
• If you compare with a friend. The invite code that links your two entries, so each of you can see the comparison.
• What your browser tells us. Your time zone, so we can date your entry. When you save your answer, we also log the approximate city, region and country of your connection, worked out from your IP address, so we can see where people are listening from. We don't store the IP address itself with your answer, and we never show this location publicly. Google Analytics and HeyCatch also record how the site is used: which pages are viewed, clicks and form submissions (not what you type into them), your type of device and browser, your IP address, and an approximate location based on it.

We don't ask for a password, and we don't collect payment details.

How we use it

• To write your Fingerprint and keep your Fingerprint page, which grows as you add songs.
• To show your entry on the public leaderboard and tribute pages, only if you opted in.
• To show you people who feel music the same way you do. Only people who opted in to the leaderboard are ever suggested.
• To email you the link to your Fingerprint page, and to send Frisson news such as the launch and new features. You can ask us to stop at any time.
• To count totals, like the number of songs named so far, and to understand how the site is used so we can make it better.
• To keep Frisson safe and working, for example by limiting abuse.

What is public

The leaderboard box is off unless you tick it. If you tick it, your first name, city, song and Fingerprint can appear on the public leaderboard, on tribute pages if you named a song for one, and in other people's matches. If the name you gave looks like an email address, we show "Anonymous" instead. Your email address is never shown.

If you don't tick the box, your song still counts toward public totals, but nothing that identifies you is shown.

Your Fingerprint page lives at a private link that only you get. Anyone you share that link with can see it, so share it with people you trust.

The Weekly Drop and research

The Weekly Drop is one song every Monday. The email box is off unless you tick it, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe link. When you answer, we save whether it gave you chills, where in the song, how strong, how you were listening, and any line you write. A line you write is scored by Anthropic's Claude, the same way your first answer was, and it updates your Fingerprint.

The research box is also off unless you tick it. If you tick it, Frisson may share your answers with academic research partners studying musical chills, with your name and email removed. You can untick it at any time on your Fingerprint page, and answers you give after that are not shared.

Who helps us run Frisson

We use a small number of services to run Frisson. They only get what they need to do their job.

• Anthropic provides the AI model that helps write your Fingerprint. It receives your song, your answers and the facts we looked up. Under Anthropic's commercial terms for its API, it does not train its models on this data.
• Supabase stores your entries and sends the sign-in links that open your Fingerprint page.
• Netlify hosts the site, runs our server code, and keeps a backup copy of each submitted form.
• HeyCatch provides product analytics. It receives the usage events above along with your IP address and device details, and processes them in the United States with its own providers: PostHog, which stores the data, and OpenRouter, which runs HeyCatch's AI analysis of usage patterns. It doesn't record your screen or what you type.
• Google provides Google Analytics, the fonts on some pages, and the email account we write to you from.
• Resend sends the Weekly Drop email if you ask for it. It receives your email address and tells us whether each email was delivered and whether its link was clicked. We don't track opens.
• Spotify, MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Discogs are public music sources we check your song against. They only receive the song title and artist, or what you type in the song box while we suggest matches.

These providers may process data in the United States and other countries. We may also share information if the law requires it, or if Frisson is ever sold or merged, in which case this policy would still apply to your information.

Cookies and browser storage

Google Analytics and HeyCatch use cookies and browser storage to count visits and tell sessions apart. HeyCatch keeps a random visitor ID in your browser's local storage and in a first-party cookie, and Google Analytics sets its own "_ga" cookies. If you're in the EU, the UK or Switzerland, neither runs until you choose Accept on the cookie banner. Elsewhere they run by default.

You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings, linked at the bottom of most pages. Choosing Decline stops both and clears the cookies and storage they left. You can also block them in your browser settings. Frisson itself stores a few small things in your browser: your light or dark mode choice, your cookie choice, the email you last used, whether you've already submitted, your sign-in session, and your progress while you answer. We don't use advertising cookies.

Frisson does not currently respond differently to "Do Not Track" browser signals.

How long we keep it

We keep your answers and Fingerprint for as long as Frisson runs, because your Fingerprint page builds on them over time, or until you ask us to delete them. When you do, we delete your entries, your profile and the backup form copies. Analytics data is kept according to our Google Analytics settings, and by HeyCatch for as long as we use it plus up to two months.

Your choices and rights

Email jason@tryfrisson.com from the address you used on Frisson to:

• get a copy of what we have about you
• fix something that's wrong
• take your entry off the leaderboard
• delete your answers and your Fingerprint page
• stop getting emails from us

We'll reply within 30 days. We won't treat you differently for asking.

California. You have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to correct it, and to have it deleted. We do not sell your personal information.

Europe and the UK. We use your information to provide the Fingerprint you asked for, with your consent for the leaderboard, and with your consent for analytics, and on our legitimate interest in running and improving Frisson and sending emails about Frisson. You can access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your data, ask for a copy to take elsewhere, and withdraw consent at any time. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

Frisson is not for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information. If you're under the age where your country lets you agree to this on your own (up to 16 in parts of Europe), please ask a parent first. If you think a child has given us information, email us and we'll delete it.

Keeping it safe

Our database keys stay on our servers and never reach your browser, and connections to the site are encrypted. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect what you give us and will tell you if something goes wrong that affects you.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change matters, we'll email you before it takes effect. See also our terms.